(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - The international media repeat certain catchphrases and buzzwords in order to dictate and influence a partisan political narrative against Israel. This tendency increasingly obstructs any genuine attempt to achieve reconciliation between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. Moreover, such phrases and terms are often legally inaccurate and blatantly misleading. In fact and in law, no "State of Palestine" exists and has never existed. Attempts by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to gain recognition as a full-fledged, voting member-state of the UN have never been accepted. As part of the 1993-95 Oslo Accords, a "Palestinian Authority" was established to administer parts of the territories in the West Bank. The title "Palestinian National Authority" was never agreed to or established by the Oslo Accords and the use of the term by the Palestinian leadership constitutes a clear and deliberate violation of the accords. According to the international law and practice of armed conflict, occupation is not illegal. It is an accepted legal situation referring to a provisional status pending an agreed resolution of a conflict. Moreover, "occupation" does not reflect the case in the West Bank and Gaza, since these areas had never been considered sovereign Jordanian or Egyptian territory. The areas were not taken from states that held prior legitimate sovereign status, and legitimately came under the authority of Israel while defending itself during an offensive war imposed on it by its neighbors in 1967. The phrase "Occupied Palestinian Territory" (OPT) is incorrect both factually and legally. The territories are neither occupied nor are they Palestinian. Any use or acceptance of this term undermines the agreed commitments in the Oslo Accords. The writer, who heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center, is former legal counsel to Israel's Foreign Ministry and participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians.
2022-08-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive