Topic: Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories
Country: Pakistan
Delegate Name: Bridget Vial
School: Royal Oak High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Pakistan position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
The issue of settlement has been the inevitable deal-breaker of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, thwarting the Camp David talks of 2000, the Beirut summit plan of 2002, and the Quartet “Road Map,” and consequent negotiations. Israel’s refusal to cede authority over the Occupied Palestinian Territories amounts to more than political stalemate: It is contrary to international law. The UN Charter details the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.” In July of 2004, the International Court of Justice declared illegal under international law the construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In 2005, the Security Council condemned the displacement of Palestinian civilians caused by the construction of the “buffer zone” in the Gaza Strip. The settlement of Palestinian Occupied Territory deprives Palestinians of access to arable farmland, violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees a people’s right to its “own means of subsistence.” And yet, settlement has not only continued but intensified. According to the Israel NGO Peace Now, constructions of new settlements in the West Bank were 70 percent higher during the first half of 2013 than in the same period in 2012. As the current peace talks between Israel and Palestine continue, the international community must affirm that restricting settlement is more than a bargaining chip—it is a political, economic, and moral imperative. We must make clear steps toward a two-state solution, and this includes recognizing the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people over the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Beyond political affirmation, the international community must address the economic and social impact of Israeli settlement on Palestinians of the West Bank. In August, the Quartet proposed the Palestinian Economic Initiative, aimed at improving the Palestinian economy in eight key sectors from 2014 to 2016 in order to prepare Palestine for statehood. A key sector of this proposal is agricultural growth, calling for “greater volumes of water for Palestinian farmers, fertilizer in standard concentrations, advanced seed types, improved farming knowledge, and access to financing mechanisms.” These advancements cannot take place whilst Israel continues to settle arable Palestinian farmland, force diversion of water resources, seize Palestinian water wells, and destroy vital infrastructure including water pipelines and sewage networks. Pakistan seeks to formally annex the Palestinian Economic Initiative, forbid further settlement, and install an unbiased observer mission to monitor coherence to these initiatives.
