The UN uses an entirely different rhetoric and set of legal concepts when dealing with Israel compared with situations of occupation or settlements world-wide. Israel is referred to as the "Occupying Power" 530 times in General Assembly resolutions.
Yet in seven major instances of past or present prolonged military occupation - Indonesia in East Timor, Turkey in northern Cyprus, Russia in areas of Georgia, Morocco in Western Sahara, Vietnam in Cambodia, Armenia in areas of Azerbaijan, and Russia in Ukraine's Crimea - the UN has not called any of these countries an "Occupying Power." Not even once.
General Assembly resolutions employ the term "grave" to describe Israel's actions 513 times, as opposed to 14 total for all the other conflicts. Verbs such as "condemn" and "deplore" are sprinkled into Israel-related resolutions tens more times than they are in resolutions about other conflicts.
Mr. Kontorovich, a professor at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, heads the international law department at the Kohelet Policy Forum, where Ms. Grunseid is a researcher.
(Wall Street Journal)
Unsettled: Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territories
- Eugene Kontorovich
Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibits what is colloquially known as settlements in occupied territory, is ubiquitously invoked in relation to the Israeli presence in the West Bank and Golan Heights.
Yet there are numerous countries that have engaged and continue to engage in settlement policies that would constitute clear violations of Art. 49(6). These non-Israeli settlement efforts have often been on a large scale, and have involved far-reaching demographic and economic consequences for the occupied population.
(Northwestern University Law School)
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