Israel Matzav: On the legality of Israeli 'settlements'

On the legality of Israeli 'settlements'

On Thursday, I linked a Washington Post article that unearthed a 30-year old 'legal opinion' from the Carter administration's State Department Legal Adviser that claimed that Israeli 'settlements' are 'illegal' under the Geneva Convention. It seems that opinion was based on the writings of a legal scholar who vehemently argued that 'Israeli settlements' are completely legal (Hat Tip: Daled Amos).

Those who maintain that the settlements are illegal rely on Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, August 12, 1949, which states:

Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power or to that of any other country…are prohibited…

and in the sixth paragraph:

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

They interpret this as applicable to Israel’s settlement of the West Bank and Gaza, understanding Israel to have become a "belligerent occupant" of this territory through entry by its armed forces. They also argue that settlement policy leads to the violation of Palestinian rights under international humanitarian law–specifically, their right to self-determination, equality, property, freedom of movement, an adequate standard of living, and freedom of movement.Those who maintain that settlements are legal interpret Article 49 (6) of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention as inapplicable to Israel’s settlements.

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Israel Matzav: On the legality of Israeli 'settlements'