{"id":171812,"date":"2020-11-02T12:01:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T12:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=171812"},"modified":"2024-06-12T21:24:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T20:24:57","slug":"high-time-for-accountability-un-expert-says-as-israel-approves-highest-rate-of-illegal-settlements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/11\/high-time-for-accountability-un-expert-says-as-israel-approves-highest-rate-of-illegal-settlements\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018High Time for Accountability\u2019, UN Expert Says as Israel Approves Highest Rate of Illegal Settlements"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"field field-name-field-news-story-lead field-type-text-long field-label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\">\n<blockquote><p><em>The international community must answer a \u201cgrave\u201d breach of international law with \u201cmore than mere criticism\u201d, an independent UN expert said on Friday after the Israeli Government announced its approval of nearly 5,000 new settlement homes in occupied Palestinian territory.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_171813\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Construction-Israeli-settlement-West-Bank.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-171813\" class=\"wp-image-171813\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Construction-Israeli-settlement-West-Bank.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Construction-Israeli-settlement-West-Bank.jpeg 304w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Construction-Israeli-settlement-West-Bank-300x164.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-171813\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction in the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. (file)<br \/>IRIN\/Annie Slemrod<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>30 Oct 2020 &#8211; <\/em>Michael Lynk, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/hrbodies\/sp\/countriesmandates\/ps\/pages\/srpalestine.aspx\u00a0\" >UN Special Rapporteur<\/a> for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/NewsEvents\/Pages\/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26452&amp;LangID=E\" >pointed out <\/a>that while \u201cIsraeli settlements continue to devour the land that is meant for the independent Palestinian State, the international community observes, it sometimes objects, but it does not act\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"paragraphs-items paragraphs-items-field-news-story paragraphs-items-field-news-story-full paragraphs-items-full\">\n<div class=\"field field-name-field-news-story field-type-paragraphs field-label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\">\n<div class=\"entity entity-paragraphs-item paragraphs-item-one-column-text\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<div class=\"field field-name-field-text-column field-type-text-long field-label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\">\n<p>Against the backdrop that earlier this month, a defense ministry planning committee approved plans for 4,948 more homes, he spelled out: \u201cIt is high time for accountability\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UN expert Michael Lynk calls for accountability as <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Israel?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#Israel<\/a> records highest rate of illegal settlement approvals: &quot;The international community must answer this grave breach of international law with more than mere criticism&quot;.<br \/>Read \ud83d\udc49 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sv2CyH6SSo\" >https:\/\/t.co\/sv2CyH6SSo<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tEmxxUEZUd\" >pic.twitter.com\/tEmxxUEZUd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UN_SPExperts\/status\/1322157453656641540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >October 30, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Expansion deteriorates human rights<\/h3>\n<p>The latest announcement means that the Israeli government has approved more than 12,150 settlements this year, said the independent UN expert.<\/p>\n<p>According to the advocacy group Peace Now, this would be the highest number of annual approvals by Israel since the group began recording figures in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile Israel may have shelved its plans for the <em>de jure <\/em>annexation of the settlements in August, it is continuing with its <em>de facto <\/em>annexation of the Palestinian territory through this unrelenting settlement growth\u201d, discerned Mr. Lynk, who was appointed as a Special Rapporteur by the UN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/HRBodies\/HRC\/Pages\/Home.aspx\" class=\"word-link\" title=\"United Nations Human Rights Council\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Human Rights Council<\/a> in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth are clear violations of the Charter of the United Nations and the 1998 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/resource-library\/documents\/rs-eng.pdf\" >Rome Statute<\/a> on the International Criminal Court\u201d and he warned that the acceleration of settlement growth \u201cworsens an already precarious human rights situation on the ground\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1979, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/securitycouncil\/\" class=\"word-link\" title=\"United Nations Security Council\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Security Council<\/a> has said on at least six occasions that the Israeli settlements are a \u201cflagrant violation under international law\u201d and have \u201cno legal validity\u201d, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/pages\/home.aspx\" class=\"word-link\" title=\"Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OHCHR<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Despite <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/undocs.org\/S\/RES\/2334(2016)\" >Resolution 2334<\/a> of 2016, whereby the 15-member organ demanded that Israel \u201cimmediately and completely cease all settlement activities\u201d, since 2017 the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sg\/en\/entities\/un-special-coordinator-for-the-middle-east-peace-process\" >UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process<\/a> has reported to the Council 14 times that no compliance steps had been taken.<\/p>\n<h3>Abiding agreements<\/h3>\n<p>The UN expert also expressed deep concern that three days ago the United States amended its existing agreements with Israel to allow joint funding for projects in illegal Israeli settlements. Previously, this was only permitted to projects within Israel\u2019s internationally recognized pre-1967 borders.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Lynk stressed that changes to bilateral agreements between the US and Israel \u201cfly in the face of Resolution 2334, which calls upon all Member States to recognize the illegality of the settlements, and to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, he underscored the importance of \u00a0the international rule of law, saying \u201cif we are to avoid the rule of the jungle, it must be obeyed\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the rule of law matters, then so must accountability\u201d, Mr. Lynk said pointedly. \u201cIf the Security Council is to speak with authority, then the disobedience of Council directions must have consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><strong>The disobedience of Council directions must have consequences<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong> &#8212; UN independent expert<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Accountability on the agenda<\/h3>\n<p>Meanwhile, new settlement approvals are accelerating as Israel\u2019s demolition of Palestinian homes and properties is increasing, according to the UN expert.<\/p>\n<p>The demolitions not only violate international humanitarian law but also \u201ccontribute to the coercive atmosphere in the Occupied Palestinian Territory\u201d, Mr. Lynk explained, upholding that \u201caccountability must be on the agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Special Rapporteur advocated for the prohibition of settlement products in the international marketplace and maintained that \u201cagreements, existing and proposed, with Israel, should be reviewed\u201d and the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2020\/02\/1057451\" >UN Database<\/a> and current investigations at the International Criminal Court \u201cbe supported\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2020\/10\/1076572?utm_source=UN+News+-+Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=43a410db68-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_10_31_12_00&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_fdbf1af606-43a410db68-105796125\" >Go to Original &#8211; news.un.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>30 Oct 2020 &#8211; The international community must answer a \u201cgrave\u201d breach of international law with \u201cmore than mere criticism\u201d, an independent UN expert said on Friday after the Israeli Government announced its approval of nearly 5,000 new settlement homes in occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":171813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[120,1829,1030,87,267,1029,487,2395,88,771,1027,427,85,109,287,1572,985,880,292,70,126,1025,886],"class_list":["post-171812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","tag-conflict","tag-coronavirus","tag-fatah","tag-gaza","tag-geopolitics","tag-hamas","tag-human-rights","tag-international-criminal-court-icc","tag-israel","tag-nakba","tag-oslo-accords","tag-palestine","tag-palestine-israel","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-settlers","tag-social-justice","tag-state-terrorism","tag-un","tag-usa","tag-violence","tag-west-bank","tag-zionism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264235,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171812\/revisions\/264235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}