Press Releases

For Immediate Release

The assurance from U.S. military and civilian authorities that international law and the Geneva conventions will now apply after revelations of prisoner abuse in Iraq is a very welcome signal.

Does this mean that international law is now recognized by members of the Coalition Provision Authority in Iraq as an essential element in resolving conflicts?  Does it also mean that high-ranking military and civilian officials will be held accountable for human rights abuses? 

Palestinians have been waiting for such a signal for decades.  Since the Palestinian Arab-Israeli conflict began in 1948, the United Nations Security Council has adopted more than 200 resolutions on the subject but the trail of unimplemented resolutions is endless. They include resolutions asking Israel to abide by obligations and responsibilities in the 4th Geneva Convention, rescind measures changing the status of Jerusalem, cease building illegal Jewish colonies on occupied Palestinian land, stop deporting Palestinians from the occupied territories, and on and on. 

Neither Security Council Resolution 242 on withdrawal of Israeli forces from 1967 occupied territories and asking for a just settlement of the Palestinian refugee problem nor General Assembly Resolution 194 on the right of return, passed annually, has been implemented.

The welcome sign that international law may become recognized as a key factor in setting standards for human and civil rights gives hope that the application of human rights norms will be extended to the Israeli occupied territories.

The belated recognition of international law reinforces a recent BADIL study of peace agreements in 12 areas of the world.  The study found that successful agreements contained provision for the application of international law, human rights law and refugee law in solving long-term conflicts.

BADIL takes a rights-based approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and encourages an understanding of this by supporting research into residency and refugee rights and international law, organizing study visits by Palestinians to regions where the reconciliation process is under way and through seminars bringing together legal practitioners, policy makers and academics to discuss peacemaking and refugee protection.

BADIL carries out awareness-raising campaigns within the Palestinian refugee community to increase its knowledge of human and refugee rights under international law and works closely with several Jewish Israeli organizations to increase an understanding of the Palestinian refugee issue within Israel.