Professor and historian Ilan Pappe is well-respected and condemned at the same time. He’s one of the new historians who has brought to light the ugly truth of the Zionists’ cleansing and colonization of Palestine. His book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, is a must read for anyone who truly wants to learn about the history of Israel / Palestine.
Unfortunately, I must disagree with Professor Pappe’s current call to jettison the term “occupation” in favor of “colonization”. Listen to his explanation here.
He’s absolutely correct …. an occupation should be considered a short-term, temporary state of affairs, and Israel’s 50-year occupation of Palestine has far-exceeded the limits of a lawful occupation.
But jettisoning the term “occupation” is not the answer. Under international law, the occupier has responsibilities and duties to those subjected to his occupation. Under international law, the victims of occupation have rights and claims against the occupier.
The State of Israel has been waging a stealth lawfare campaign for many years to convince the world that it is not occupying Palestine.
The answer is not to cave and agree with Israel that there is no occupation.
Instead, Professor Michael Lynk has the answer. He’s the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories. Professor Lynk is urging the United Nations to examine Israel’s prolonged occupation to determine if it is an unlawful occupation. This is the right strategy to pursue in my opinion. I hope Professor Pappe and others concerned about Israel’s prolonged occupation will read Professor Lynk’s report, and join his effort.
Special Rapporteur S. Michael Lynk
Professor Lynk recommends:
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government of Israel bring a complete end to the 50 years of occupation of the Palestinian territories in as expeditious a time period as possible, under international supervision.
The Special Rapporteur also recommends that the United Nations General Assembly:
- Commission a United Nations study on the legality of Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territory;
- Consider the advantages of seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the question of the legality of the occupation;
- Consider commissioning a legal study on the ways and means that UN Member States can and must fulfill their obligations and duties to ensure respect for international law, including the duty of non-recognition, the duty to cooperate to bring to an end a wrongful situation and the duty to investigate and prosecute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
- Consider the adoption of a Uniting for Peace resolution with respect to the Question of Palestine, in the event that there is a determination that Israel’s role as occupier is no longer lawful.
لماذا غزة؟ Why Gaza? 
Reblogged this on circusbuoy and commented:
why do the so-called armchair Zionist critics always try to legitimise the apartheid and genocide actions of the Israeli carpetbaggers? I am always called an antisemite by one ZIONIST BLOG whenever I mention Israel, then decried with vitriolic language, their sensitivity is getting to the extreme their aim is to have total control, censorship of thought word or deed. Believe me, his posts often contain statements directed against your good self.
Israel’s 70 year occupation of Palestine. To write that it’s 50 years, is liberal Zionism, in other words, liberal colonialism and racism, an obvious oxymoron.
Nope, I respectfully disagree. The term “Occupation” has a definite legal meaning …. and Israel has legally occupied the Palestinian territories for 50 years. But the Zionists have been colonizing Palestine for 70+ years. A subtle difference but legally significant.