Video: A legal masterpiece from Ralph Wilde on behalf of the Arab League - with Transcript

A legal masterpiece from Ralph Wilde on behalf of the Arab League with echoes of Rafaat Alareer #ICJ    A legal masterpiece from Ralph Wilde on behalf of the Arab League with echoes of Rafaat Alareer #ICJ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhbx6iplYNY

Transcript

0:00

I now respectfully request Mr President

0:02

that you call on Dr Ralph Wilde senior

0:04

councel and Advocate to address the

0:06

legal questions before the court thank

0:09

you I thank Mr I now give the floor to

0:12

Mr Ralph wild you have the floor

0:17

Sir Mr President distinguished members

0:20

of the court it's a great honor and

0:23

privilege to appear before you and to

0:26

represent the league of Arab

0:28

states the pales Ian people have been

0:31

denied the exercise of their legal right

0:34

to

0:35

self-determination through the more than

0:37

Century long violent Colonial racist

0:41

effort to establish a nation state

0:45

exclusively for the Jewish people in the

0:48

land of mandatory

0:50

Palestine when this began after the

0:53

first world war the Jewish population of

0:55

that land was

0:58

11% forcibly implementing Zionism in

1:01

this demographic context has necessarily

1:05

involved the extermination or forc

1:09

displacement of some of the non-jewish

1:11

Palestinian

1:13

population the exercise of domination

1:16

over and subjugation dispossession and

1:20

IM miseration of remaining non-jewish

1:24

Palestinians the immigration to that

1:26

land of Jewish people regardless of any

1:29

direct personal link and the denial of

1:33

Palestinian refugees the right to return

1:36

all operating through a racist

1:38

distinction privileging Jewish people

1:41

over non-jewish Palestinian

1:44

people this has necessitated serious

1:47

violations of all the fundamental Yos

1:51

kogan's and erga omn Norms of

1:53

international law the right of

1:57

self-determination the prohibitions on

1:59

aggression genocide crimes against

2:03

humanity racial discrimination aparte

2:07

and torture and the core protections of

2:10

IHL today I will address first

2:14

violations of international law arising

2:17

out of the regime of racial domination

2:21

aparte perpetrated against the

2:23

Palestinian people across the entire

2:26

land of historic

2:28

Palestine and then then second the

2:32

existential illegality of Israel's

2:35

occupation of the Palestinian Gaza Strip

2:38

and West Bank including East Jerusalem

2:40

since

2:42

1967 as a necessary prerequisite I must

2:46

begin with this special right granted to

2:48

the Palestinian people in the league

2:52

Covenant the legal rights of

2:54

self-determination of the Palestinian

2:56

people originates in the sacred Trust of

2:59

obligations of article 22 of the Lee

3:02

Covenant part of the Versa

3:05

treaty Palestine an aass mandate under

3:08

British colonial rule was after the

3:12

first world war supposed to have its

3:15

existence as an independent state

3:19

provisionally recognized a suig generous

3:22

right of

3:24

self-determination the UK and other

3:26

members of the Lee Council attempted to

3:29

bypass this incorporating the 1917 Bala

3:34

declaration commitment to establishing a

3:37

national home for the Jewish people in

3:39

Palestine into the instrument

3:42

stipulating how the Mandate would

3:45

operate however the council had no legal

3:49

power to bypass the Covenant in this way

3:52

it acted ultrav virus and the relevant

3:56

Provisions were legally void there was

4:00

and is no legal basis in that mandate

4:04

instrument for either a specifically

4:07

Jewish state in Palestine or the UK's

4:11

failure to discharge the sacred trust

4:15

obligation to implement Palestinian

4:20

self-determination after the second

4:22

world war a self-determination right

4:25

applicable to Colonial peoples generally

4:28

crystallized in international law for

4:31

the Palestinian people this essentially

4:34

corresponded to and supplemented the

4:38

pre-existing Covenant right regarding

4:41

the same single

4:43

territory the 1947 proposal to partition

4:47

Palestine was contrary to this the Arab

4:50

rejection and affirmation of the legal

4:53

status quo in 1948 then Palestine was

4:59

legally a single territory with a single

5:03

population enjoying a right of

5:05

self-determination on a unitary

5:09

basis despite this a state of Israel

5:13

specifically for Jewish people was

5:15

proclaimed in

5:16

1948 by those controlling

5:20

78% more than

5:22

34s of Palestine accompanied by the forc

5:26

displacement of a significant number of

5:29

the non-jewish Palestinian population

5:32

the nacba

5:34

catastrophe this illegal secession was

5:37

an egregious violation of Palestinian

5:41

self-determination Israel's statehood

5:43

was recognized and Israel admitted as a

5:47

UN member despite this

5:50

illegality Israel is not the legal

5:53

continuation or successor of the

5:56

Mandate this violation of Palestinian

5:59

self-determination is ongoing and

6:03

unresolved two key elements are First

6:07

Palestinian people not displaced from

6:10

the land proclaimed to be of Israel in

6:13

48 and their

6:15

descendants have been forced to live as

6:18

Citizens presently they constitute

6:22

17.2% of a state conceived to be of and

6:26

for another racial group under the

6:30

domination of that group necessarily

6:33

treated as second class because of their

6:37

race second Palestinian people displaced

6:41

from that land and their descendants

6:44

cannot

6:46

return these are serious breaches of the

6:49

right of

6:51

self-determination the prohibitions of

6:53

racial discrimination and aparte and the

6:56

right of return they must end

7:01

immediately as if this ongoing NABA was

7:04

not catastrophic enough in

7:07

1967 Israel captured the remaining 22%

7:11

of historic Palestine the Gaza Strip and

7:15

West Bank including East Jerusalem the

7:18

naxa it's maintained that use of force

7:22

to remain in control for the 57-year

7:26

period

7:28

since for more than half a century then

7:32

a state defined to be of and for Jewish

7:35

people

7:36

exclusively has governed the entire land

7:39

of historic Palestine and the

7:42

Palestinian people there and the regime

7:45

of racial domination aparte and denying

7:48

return has been extended

7:51

throughout in the case of Palestinians

7:54

living in the occupied territory this

7:57

has involved the same serious viol

7:59

violations of international law

8:01

supplemented by serious violations of

8:04

norms applicable in occupied

8:07

territory indeed these people are

8:11

subject to an even more extreme form of

8:14

racist

8:15

domination as they aren't even citizens

8:18

of the state exercising authority over

8:22

them even in East Jerusalem which Israel

8:26

has purported to Annex the majority non

8:29

Jewish Palestinian residents don't have

8:32

citizenship whereas Jewish residents

8:35

including illegal settlers are

8:39

citizens just as in territorial Israel

8:42

in occupied territory these serious

8:46

violations concerning how Israel

8:49

exercises authority over the Palestinian

8:52

people must end

8:56

immediately however here a more

9:00

fundamental matter must also be

9:04

addressed the illegality of the exercise

9:07

of authority

9:10

itself the enduring Palestinian right of

9:14

self-determination means that the

9:16

Palestinian people and the state of

9:18

Palestine not Israel are sovereign over

9:22

the territory Israel captured in'

9:25

67 for Israel the land is EXT ter

9:29

teritorial and given what I said about

9:32

the Mandate territory over which it has

9:35

no legal Sovereign

9:38

entitlement despite this Israel has

9:41

purported to Annex East Jerusalem and

9:44

taken various actions there and in the

9:47

rest of the West Bank constituting De

9:50

Ure and de facto purported annexation

9:53

including implanting

9:56

settlements it is Israeli policy that

9:59

Israel should be not only the exclusive

10:03

authority over the entire land between

10:06

the river and the sea but also the

10:09

exclusive Sovereign Authority

10:12

there this constitutes a complete

10:17

repudiation of Palestinian

10:19

self-determination as a legal right

10:22

since it empties the right entirely of

10:25

any territorial

10:28

content

10:29

actualizing this through de facto and

10:32

deor purported annexation is first a

10:36

serious violation of Palestinian

10:39

self-determination and

10:42

second because it's a uh enabled through

10:47

the use of force a violation of the

10:50

prohibition on the purported acquisition

10:52

of territory through the use of force in

10:55

the law on the use of force and so an AG

10:59

ression serious violations of further

11:02

areas of law regulating the conduct of

11:05

the occupation are also being

11:08

perpetrated notably the prohibitions on

11:11

implanting settlements and altering

11:14

unless absolutely prevented the legal

11:17

political social and religious status

11:20

quo the occupation is therefore

11:24

existentially illegal because of its use

11:27

to actualize

11:29

purported

11:31

annexation to end this serious

11:34

illegality it must be terminated Israel

11:37

must renounce all sovereignty claims and

11:40

all settlements must be removed

11:44

immediately however this is not the only

11:47

basis on which the occupation's

11:50

existential legality must be

11:52

addressed we need to delve deeper into

11:56

both the law of

11:57

self-determination and the law on the

11:59

use of

12:01

force beginning with

12:04

self-determination this right when

12:06

applied to the Palestinian people in the

12:09

territory Israel captured in '

12:11

67 is a right to be entirely

12:15

self-governing free from Israeli

12:18

domination consequently the Palestinian

12:21

people have a legal right to the

12:24

immediate end of the

12:26

occupation and Israel has a correlative

12:29

legal duty to immediately terminate the

12:34

occupation this right exists and

12:37

operates simply and exclusively because

12:41

the Palestinian people are entitled to

12:44

it it does not depend on others agreeing

12:48

to its

12:49

realization it is a

12:52

right it's a repudiation of trusteeship

12:56

whereby colonial peoples were ostensibly

12:58

to be granted freedom only if and when

13:01

they were deemed ready because of their

13:04

stage of development determined by the

13:07

racist standard of

13:09

civilization the anticolonial

13:12

self-determination rule replaced this

13:15

with a right based on the automatic

13:19

immediate entitlement of all people to

13:22

freedom without

13:25

preconditions in the words of general

13:27

assembly 15

13:29

14 inadequacy of preparedness should

13:33

never serve as a pretext for delaying

13:38

Independence some suggest that the

13:40

Palestinian people were offered and

13:42

rejected deals that could have ended the

13:46

occupation and therefore Israel can

13:49

maintain it pending a

13:51

settlement even assuming arguendo the

13:54

veracity of this account the deals

13:58

involved a a further loss of The

14:00

Sovereign territory of the Palestinian

14:03

People Israel cannot lawfully demand

14:07

concessions on Palestinian rights as the

14:11

price for ending its impediment to

14:13

Palestinian

14:15

Freedom this would mean Israel using

14:18

Force to coerce the Palestinian people

14:22

to give up some of their peremptory

14:24

legal

14:26

rights illegal in the law on the use of

14:29

force and necessarily voiding the

14:33

relevant terms of any agreement

14:36

reached the Palestinian people are

14:39

legally entitled to reject a further

14:42

loss of land over which they have an

14:46

exclusive legal peremptory

14:49

right any such rejection makes no

14:53

difference to Israel's immediate legal

14:56

obligation to end the occupation

15:00

turning to the law on the use of

15:03

force Israel's control over the

15:05

Palestinian territory since 67 as a

15:08

military occupation is an ongoing use of

15:12

force as such its existential legality

15:16

is determined by the law on the use of

15:19

force as a general matter beyond the

15:22

specific issue of

15:25

annexation Israel captured the Gaza

15:27

Strip and west Bank from Egypt and

15:30

Jordan in the war it launched against

15:33

them and

15:34

Syria it claimed to be acting in

15:37

self-defense anticipating a non-

15:40

immediately imminent

15:42

attack the war was over after 6 days

15:46

peace treaties between Israel and Egypt

15:49

and Jordan were subsequently

15:51

adopted despite this Israel maintained

15:55

control of the territory continuing the

15:58

use of force enabling its

16:01

capture Israel's 67 war was illegal in

16:05

the Yad Bellum even assuming arguendo

16:09

its claim of a feared attack States

16:12

can't lawfully use force in non

16:16

immediately imminent anticipatory

16:20

self-defense

16:21

alternatively assuming again arguendo

16:25

that the war was

16:26

lawful the justification ended after 6

16:31

days however the Yos ad Bellum

16:34

requirements continued to apply to the

16:37

occupation as itself A continuing use of

16:42

force in 1967 with self-determination

16:47

well established in international law

16:50

states could not lawfully use Force to

16:53

retain control over a self-determination

16:57

unit captured in war unless the legal

17:02

test justifying the initial use of force

17:06

also Justified on the same basis the use

17:10

of force in retaining

17:13

control moreover this justification

17:17

would need to

17:18

continue not only in the immediate

17:21

aftermath but for more than half a

17:26

century manifestly

17:29

This legal test has not been

17:32

met Israel's exercise of control over

17:35

the Gaza Strip and West Bank through the

17:38

use of force has been illegal in the Yos

17:41

ad Bellum since the capture of the

17:43

territory or at least very soon after

17:49

afterwards the occupation is therefore

17:52

again existentially illegal in the law

17:55

on the use of force and aggression this

17:59

time as a general matter Beyond

18:02

illegality specific to

18:04

annexation to terminate this serious

18:07

violation the occupation must likewise

18:10

end

18:12

immediately what of Israel's current

18:15

military action in

18:17

Gaza this is not a war that began in

18:21

October

18:24

2023 it's a drastic scaling up of the

18:28

Force exercise there and in the West

18:31

Bank on a continual basis since '

18:35

67 a justification for a new phase in an

18:40

ongoing illegal use of force cannot be

18:44

constructed solely out of the

18:47

consequences of violent resistance to

18:50

that illegal use of

18:52

force otherwise an illegal use of force

18:56

would be rendered lawful because those

18:58

subject to it violently resisted

19:01

circular logic with a perverse

19:05

outcome more generally Israel cannot

19:08

lawfully use Force to control the

19:11

Palestinian territory for security

19:14

purposes pending an agreement providing

19:17

security

19:18

guarantees states can only lawfully use

19:22

Force outside their borders in extremely

19:26

narrow

19:27

circumstances beyond that they must

19:30

address they must address security

19:33

concerns non

19:36

forcibly the USA UK and Zambia suggested

19:41

here that there is a sue generous

19:44

applicable legal framework an Israeli

19:47

Palestinian Lex

19:50

specialis this somehow supersedes the

19:53

rules of international law determining

19:56

whether the occupation is existentially

20:00

lawful instead we have a new rule

20:04

justifying the occupation until there is

20:06

a peace agreement meeting Israeli

20:09

security

20:11

needs this is the law as these states

20:15

would like it to be not the law as it

20:20

is it has no basis in resolution 242

20:25

Oslo or any other resolution or

20:29

agreements

20:31

actually you are being invited to do

20:35

away with the very operation of some of

20:39

the fundamental peremptory rules of

20:42

international law

20:44

itself as a result the matters these

20:48

rules conceive as rights vested in the

20:51

Palestinian people would be realized

20:55

only if agreement is reached and only

20:58

only on the basis of such

21:00

agreement at Best if there is an

21:03

agreement this means one that need not

21:07

be compatible with Palestinian

21:09

peremptory legal rights determined only

21:13

by the accute power imbalance in

21:16

Israel's

21:17

favor at worst if there is no

21:21

agreement this means that the indefinite

21:24

continuation of Israeli rule over the

21:27

Palestinian people in the

21:29

opt on the basis of racist Supremacy and

21:33

a claim to sovereignty would be

21:37

lawful this is an affront to the

21:41

international rule of law to the UN

21:45

Charter imperative to settle disputes in

21:49

Conformity with international

21:51

law and to your judicial function as

21:55

Guardians of the international legal

22:00

system a final potential basis sometimes

22:03

invoked to justify continuing the

22:05

occupation should be

22:07

addressed occupation and human rights

22:09

law applicable to illegal and lawful

22:13

occupations

22:15

alike oblige Israel to address security

22:19

threats in occupied

22:21

territory however they only regulate the

22:25

conduct of an occupation when it exists

22:28

they don't also provide a legal basis

22:31

for that existence

22:34

itself existential legality is

22:37

determined by the law of

22:38

self-determination and the Yos ad Bellum

22:41

only there is no backdoor legal basis

22:46

for Israel to maintain the occupation

22:49

through the imperatives of occupation

22:51

and human rights

22:53

law in some the occupation of the

22:57

Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank

23:00

including East Jerusalem is

23:02

existentially illegal on two mutually

23:06

reinforcing

23:07

bases first the law on the use of force

23:12

here the occupation is illegal both as a

23:15

use of force without valid

23:17

justification and because it's enabling

23:20

an illegal purported

23:22

annexation as such it is an

23:26

aggression second the Lord of

23:29

self-determination here it's illegal

23:31

again because of the association with

23:33

illegal purported

23:35

annexation and also more generally

23:38

because it is quite simply an exercise

23:42

of authority over the Palestinian people

23:45

that by its very nature violates their

23:49

right to

23:51

Freedom this multifaceted existential

23:54

illegality involving serious violations

23:57

of par perm Norms has two key

24:01

consequences first the occupation must

24:03

end Israel must renounce its claim to

24:06

sovereignty over the Palestinian

24:08

territory all settlers must be

24:11

removed

24:13

immediately this is required to end the

24:16

illegality to discharge the positive

24:19

obligation to enable immediate

24:21

Palestinian

24:23

self-administration and because Israel

24:25

lacks any legal entitlement to exercise

24:30

Authority second in the absence of the

24:33

occupation ending

24:36

necessarily everything Israel does in

24:39

the Palestinian territory lacks a valid

24:42

International legal basis and is

24:46

therefore subject to the Namibia

24:48

exception

24:50

invalid not only those things violating

24:53

the law regulating the conduct of the

24:56

occupation

24:58

those Norms entitle and require Israel

25:01

to do certain things but this doesn't

25:04

alter the more fundamental position from

25:07

the law on the use of force and

25:09

self-determination that Israel lacks any

25:12

valid authority to do

25:15

anything and whatever it does is illegal

25:19

even if compliant with or pursuant to

25:23

the conduct regulatory

25:26

rules

25:28

I will close by quoting Palestinian

25:31

academic and poet rafat allara from his

25:36

final poem posted 36 days before he was

25:40

killed by Israel in Gaza on the 6th of

25:44

December

25:48

2023 if I must die you must live to tell

25:54

my

25:56

story if I must

25:58

die let it bring

26:00

hope let it be a

26:04

story thank you for your attention

Ralph Wilde's Legal Masterpiece for Arab League: Ending Israel's Occupation #ICJ — Eightify

  

-  Ralph Wilde's Legal Masterpiece for Arab League: Ending Israel's Occupation #ICJ — Eightify