Loss of Palestinian land to Israel, 1948 - 2000

Justice First!

in US Policies
for
Palestine-Israel
and the
Middle East

Seek Justice First

Justice First! in US Policies for Palestine-Israel and the Middle East was founded on the premise that a true peace between Palestinians and Israelis cannot be forged unless both peoples are first accorded justice. We believe that compliance with international law will require substantial changes in US policies for Palestine-Israel and the Middle East region.

Justice First! advocates only non-violent resistance and non-cooperation with illegal Israeli policies; some believe that violent resistance is also justified.

International Law Violations by Israel


Mass demolitions of Palestinian homes - 12,000 since 1967 - by Israel

The Geneva Conventions state, "Occupying powers are prohibited from destroying property or employing collective punishment."

Israeli settlements on Palestinian land

These have annexed 24 percent of the West Bank and 90 percent of East Jerusalem. Four hundred and fifty-thousand Israeli settlers now occupy Palestinian lands. The Geneva Conventions state, "The occupying power shall not transfer parts of its own civilian population into territories it occupies."

Israel's Wall

From stopthewall.org:

The Wall's path equates to the de facto annexation of nearly 50% of the West Bank and almost all of the Israeli settlements.

When completed, the Wall will leave less than 12% of historic Palestine for the indigenous population.

The Wall, as well as the Occupation itself, comprises a wide range of violations to international law. A major violation of the Apartheid Wall is the unilateral demarcation of a new border in the West Bank that amounts to effective annexation of occupied land (United Nations Charter, art. 2.4).

Furthermore, destruction for and building of the Wall has amounted to numerous more violations of the IV Geneva Convention (IV GC) including the destruction of land and/or property (art. 53) and collective punishment (art. 33).

The Wall also breaches the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966) and the International Covenant on Economical, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966), both of which Israel has signed. The rights violated include: freedom of movement (ICCPR, art. 12), property (ICCPR, art. 1,), health (ICESCR, art.12 and IV GC, art. 32), education (ICESCR, art.13, and IV GC, art. 50), work (ICESCR, art. 6), and food (ICESCR, art. 11).

Under Article 1 of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1979) the Wall constitutes a "Crime against Humanity". It divides populations on the basis of race and ethnicity and discrimination against residents in the West Bank to benefit illegal Israeli settlers and thus complies with the definition of "apartheid".