PNN – “Francesca Albanese”, an international lawyer and Italian university professor, who has been elected as the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories since May 2022 for a three-year term, emphasizes that according to international law, Israel cannot threat that comes from the occupied territories claims the right to defend itself.
When the war in Gaza started on October 7th, the eyes of the whole world turned towards the occupied land of Palestine. It seems that propaganda can no longer hide the crimes of the Zionist regime and the West has failed to whitewash the black nature of Israel.
Now the world is in a place where it knows that Israel has committed war crimes and must be held accountable. The Palestinians face the most important “existential threat” and Israel cannot claim the right to defend itself against the threat from the territory it occupies. Israel hides its crimes under the cover of “self-defense” and has not turned off its killing machine with this excuse.
What is the definition of self-defense?
When force is inflicted on an individual or individuals, or even to a greater extent, a nation, that is unreasonable, defensive force can be used for defense and is justified in “complete self-defense.” States use force to repel an attack or imminent threat of attack against themselves or others or their legitimate interests.
Self-defense in international law refers to the inherent right of a state to use force in response to an armed attack. According to this definition, does Israel have a share or a right? Do expressions such as “country”, “right”, “attack”, “threat” and “force” apply to Israel?
Every country has the right to defend its land and people in order to face the force outside its borders and its enemies. Although war and aggression are prohibited and sanctioned in numerous treaties, if a country violates the territorial integrity and political independence of another country, it cannot be seen that the attacked country cannot take action against the aggressor by citing the prohibition of war.
Therefore, according to the Charter of the United Nations, individual and collective legitimate defense is allowed by resorting to military force only in the event of a military attack. According to this charter and international law of the United Nations, only a country can use force to defend itself if it is attacked and its security is threatened. Now, with this interpretation, how can you give the right to defend itself to a government that has always been the aggressor and has never been violated!
A fake country that occupies a land and tries to commit genocide and expel the nation that has usurped their land with crime and murder. For more than 70 years, Israel has always been an aggressor and aggressor, but thanks to America and Europe, it has never been condemned and even supported by these countries in all kinds of ways to destroy the oppressed people of Palestine.
The occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Zionist regime’s army and the policies of ethnic cleansing and apartheid, especially the decades-long colonial operation, depriving Palestinians of the most basic rights, seriously violating the provisions of international law contained in the United Nations Charter and its resolutions, as well as the provisions of the Rome Statute and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Palestine; A country that still has no place
International law has talked about countries, not about confrontation between a UN member state and a political group or people. First, Israel and the United States should clarify their position that they accept the Palestinians as a country or still insist that they are a group?
On the other hand, a government cannot have control over the territory it has occupied and attack it militarily claiming that it is “foreign” and an exogenous threat to national security. By doing precisely this, Israel asserts rights that may be compatible with colonial rule; For this reason, Palestine is only a non-member observer state in the United Nations; Because otherwise, Israel’s brutality, aggression and killing must stop and they will also be obliged to respect the right of Palestinian territorial integrity.
Occupation does not create a right
Israel’s refusal to recognize Palestine, reinforced by US opposition to international accountability in the UN Security Council, has led to the conditions that exist today, a long-term military occupation; While the solution to occupation is to stop it.
Due to decades of military rule, Israel has characterized all Palestinians as a security threat and Jewish nationals as their potential victims, thus justifying the disparate and violent treatment of Palestinians.
Since the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, Israel has presented the idea that it is involved in international armed conflicts, except for the war in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, it argues that it can first invoke self-defense, under Article 51 of the UN Charter, and second, use force beyond the limits of law enforcement, even in the presence of occupation.
Consequently, the Court concludes that Article 51 of the UN Charter has no relevance in this case; despite the decision of the International Court of Justice, Israel continues to insist on exercising its legal right to self-defense in carrying out military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Hitler also once thought that because of his power, he could do any crime and not answer to anyone. But what was remembered in history was nothing but war, genocide and aggression. What is recorded in the minds of people all over the world from the name of Israel is crime, aggression and genocide. Regardless of what happens in the future, these titles are nothing but failure and destruction for any government and authority.