CecI n’est pas une occupation

As if more proof is needed that that horrid little country called ‘Israel’ is collectively losing its conkers, here’s Noam Sheizaf in 972Mag:

Judiciary panel appointed by Netanyahu concludes: There is no occupation

The Israeli right celebration of the legal opinion that there is no occupation – written by the Supreme Court Justice that opposed the disengagement – is evidence that public debate has clearly reached a delusional moment.

A panel formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has concluded that Israel is entitled to settle the West Bank with Jews. The committee, headed by former Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, claims that Israel’s control over the West Bank cannot be seen as “occupation” since no country has recognized sovereignty over the territory. Therefore, the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prevents the transfer of a civilian population by an occupying force into the occupied territory, does not apply to the West Bank. Justice Levy recommends that the Israeli government end the temporary status of the settlements and register the settlers’ control over the territory.

This position is not new. Although the Israeli Supreme Court did cite the Fourth Geneva Convention in various rulings, Israeli legal scholars and some of their supporters have put forward this interpretation before, as part of an attempt to justify the ongoing colonization of the West Bank and the annexation of East Jerusalem and the surrounding areas (I addressed one such effort here). To the best of my knowledge, this position has never been accepted by the majority of the international legal community, or by major legal scholars.

Read the rest, including links, here. And some signs of sane lampooning, here.