The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) has announced the launch of a study on the legality of the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
The study, mistitled The Legality of the Israeli Occupation, aims to contribute to a broader understanding of the complex legal frameworks surrounding the Israeli occupation and its implications. It has been commissioned by the Committee and prepared independently by the Irish Human Rights Centre of the National University of Ireland in Galway.
The study compares selected cases of occupation in the latter half of the 20th century, including those arising from acts of aggression. It explores Israeli occupation as a denial of self-determination to (a segment of) the Palestinian people, among other peremptory norms. It cites specific obligations of the State of Israel, including reparation, as well as the unfulfilled extraterritorial obligations of third states and other belligerent actors.
Among the study’s key features is that it is:
Independent and impartial: Resulting from research conducted by a highly respected academic institution.
Comprehensive: Examining the legality of the Israeli occupation through the lens of international law and legal precedents.
Establishing CEIRPP in 1975 by resolution 3376, the General Assembly requested that the Committee recommend a program of implementation to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights to self-determination without external
interference, national independence and sovereignty; and to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.
At the beginning of each calendar year, the Committee elects its Bureau and adopts a Programme of Work. Assisted by the Division for Palestinian Rights, the Committee organizes international meetings and conferences, conducts an annual training program at United Nations Headquarters and several other capacity-building activities, cooperates with civil society organizations worldwide, maintains publications and an information program, and holds each year, on or around 29 November, a special meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Notably, CEIRPP is the only UN body explicitly and in name covers the entire Palestinian people. This new study again deals only with a segment of that whole people.
Download the full text through the UNISPAL official website of the Committee.
Image: Cover of Legality of Israeli Occupation. Source: CEIRPP.
