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| Volume X, Winter 2003, Number 4 |
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| EXCERPT: In the Name of Security: IDF Measures and the Laws of Occupation |
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| Shane Darcy |
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Mr. Darcy holds an L.L.M in International Human Rights Law from the National University of Ireland, Galway (2002). He is currently a doctoral fellow at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, Galway.*
The genesis of the current phase
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
lies in the occupation by Israel of
the West Bank from Jordan, the Sinai (including Gaza) from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-day War.1 The West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas collectively referred to as the occupied territories, remain under effective control by Israel. This protracted conflict is now in its fourth decade and has been continuously marked by acts of political and state violence, widespread violations of human rights and a near total abandonment of the rule of law.
From the beginning of the occupation, the Israeli authorities have employed numerous controversial security measures in the occupied territories aimed at curbing Palestinian violence. Such measures have included house demolitions and sealings; curfews and closures; the construction of settlements in the territories; administrative detention; deportations; closure of educational facilities; disconnection of electricity, telephone and water supplies; targeted assassinations; and the recent construction of a “security wall" between the West Bank and Israel. While the state of Israel undoubtedly faces a real threat to its security, many of these measures and the way in which they are employed would seem to go beyond what is permitted by international humanitarian and international human-rights law.
This article will explore the legality under the laws of occupation of a number of these security measures. Specifically, Israel’s policy of demolishing and sealing the houses of persons suspected or convicted of unlawful activity; the authorities’ use of strict and prolonged curfews; the closure of educational facilities; and the closure of cities, towns and villages will be examined. The impact of each of these measures on the conflict as a whole will be considered, as frequently repressive measures serve to antagonize and create resentment among the local population, rather than effectively dealing with threats to security. But first, a brief examination of the legal regime that applies in an occupied territory and an outline of those specific norms of international humanitarian law of particular relevance to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
* Special thanks to Dr. Kathleen Cavanaugh for her helpful comments.
1 Erik Goldstein, Wars and Peace Treaties: 1816-1991 (London/New York: 1992), pp. 127-128.
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