Topic: Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories
Country: Sweden
Delegate Name: Owen Purdue
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Sweden position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
Since the time of Israel’s founding shortly after the Second World War, Israel and its Arab neighbours have maintained hostile relations. In 1967 these relations again boiled over into an all-out war. For six days in June Israel fought against Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine. With many losses to both sides the Israelis drove the belligerents out of their land, and in doing so, wrested from their opponents the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip. A UN resolution was settled on, returning all of the conquered territories to the Arab powers in exchange for peace with Israel. Since 1967, Israel has withdrawn only from the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. The West Bank and East Jerusalem are technically Palestinian territories but are home to many Israeli settlements. Additionally, Israel has started to build a wall that violates the 1949 treaty line, and separates 12% of the Palestinian territory from its homeland. In an official statement by the UN, Israel was accused of violating the fourth Geneva convention by settling in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Finally, Israeli treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank has been compared to Apartheid in its caliber. Thousands of Palestinians have been displaced, thousands more are trapped behind the Israeli Wall, blocked from their homeland and with little rights as people.
We, the Kingdom of Sweden, condemn the violation of human rights practiced by Israel. For too long Israel has been allowed to settle in a territory clearly belonging to a different sovereign state, one that received the land years ago but has been held under the yoke of an oppressive government. There is no legality in the occupation by Israel of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and other territories occupied by the Israeli State. The travesties of the IDF include: Standing by while native Palestinians were attacked and killed, infringing on international law and freedom of speech and assembly by using exaggerated tactics to suppress protests, assaulting and injuring a Swedish peace Activist, and building a wall that does not coincide with the 1949 green line, separating up to 12% of what should be Palestine from the rest of the West Bank (another occupied entity). These are not the only crimes the state of Israel has permeated.
It is time for an end to this madness. Both sides must stop fighting, and Israel should be held accountable for their infringements on human rights, the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, and the right of a sovereign state to its own territory. Additionally, they should dismantle their settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and cede these territories to their original owners. Finally, both sides should end the mutual hate they share with each other, and end the injuring and killing of innocent people, be they Palestinian protesters or Israeli settlers. The bloodbath has gone on long enough.
