'A State Cannot Indefinitely
Stand Against The World'
By John Dugard & Victor Kattan
17 September, 2004
Arab Media Watch
An interview with John Dugard, UN Special Rapportuer for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, by Victor KattanVK: Twenty years ago you published an article entitled "Israel and the International Community: The Legal Debate" in the South African Yearbook of International Law after you had visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Has the legal landscape changed since you published this paper in 1984 and since you became Special Rapporteur in 2001? If so, how has it changed?
JD: Strangely the legal issues have not changed much over the last 20 years. Oslo has been and gone, and the same type of human rights violations still occur, albeit with a new severity. The two major changes are, first, that the need for Palestinian statehood has been recognised. Second, the wall. The significance of the wall cannot overrated. It shows convincingly that the issue is land and expansion. Of course, it must be seen in the context of settler expansion.
(snip)
VK: As a white South African who opposed apartheid, do you ever get a feeling of déjà vu when your work is criticized by the government of Israel, a government which does not hide its dislike for the UN, ignores its resolutions, world public opinion and treats the ICJ with disdain?
JD: I certainly have a sense of déjà vu. The sad thing is that Israel is unwilling to learn from the South African precedent. A state cannot indefinitely stand against the world.
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