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SWITZERLAND SAYS PALESTINIANS CAN JOIN GENEVA CONVENTIONS
April 11, 2014 - 16:19 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Twenty-five years after making their first bid for
membership, the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions governing
the rules of war and military occupations, the Swiss government said
Friday, April 11, according to the Associated Press.
Israel opposed the move, arguing that there is no universally
recognized Palestinian state and that it would complicate peace talks.
The Palestinian Authority signed letters of accession to several
international treaties after Israel failed to carry out a planned
prisoner release that had a March deadline. On Thursday, the United
Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accepted Palestinian
applications to join 13 other UN conventions.
Switzerland, as the depositary of the Geneva Conventions, said "the
state of Palestine" acceded to the conventions effective April 2.
One aspect of the Geneva Conventions that has raised particular
concern in Israel is the prohibition on colonizing occupied land.
Israel says this should not apply to the West Bank and Gaza because
the two territories exist in sovereignty limbo -- no longer claimed by
Jordan and Egypt, who ruled them before 1967, while the Palestinians
have never had a state.
Israel has also argued that east Jerusalem should not be considered
occupied because it has extended citizenship rights to its Arab
residents, although only several thousand of the city's quarter
million Arab residents have taken advantage of this. The international
community has not recognized Israel's annexation.
The Palestine Liberation Organization first asked to join the Geneva
Conventions on June 21, 1989. At the time, the Swiss Foreign Ministry
said it was not in a position to decide on the bid "due to the
uncertainty within the international community as to the existence
or non-existence of a State of Palestine."
The UN General Assembly passed a motion on Nov 29, 2012, upgrading
Palestine to a "non-member observer state" of the global body.
April 11, 2014 - 16:19 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Twenty-five years after making their first bid for
membership, the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions governing
the rules of war and military occupations, the Swiss government said
Friday, April 11, according to the Associated Press.
Israel opposed the move, arguing that there is no universally
recognized Palestinian state and that it would complicate peace talks.
The Palestinian Authority signed letters of accession to several
international treaties after Israel failed to carry out a planned
prisoner release that had a March deadline. On Thursday, the United
Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accepted Palestinian
applications to join 13 other UN conventions.
Switzerland, as the depositary of the Geneva Conventions, said "the
state of Palestine" acceded to the conventions effective April 2.
One aspect of the Geneva Conventions that has raised particular
concern in Israel is the prohibition on colonizing occupied land.
Israel says this should not apply to the West Bank and Gaza because
the two territories exist in sovereignty limbo -- no longer claimed by
Jordan and Egypt, who ruled them before 1967, while the Palestinians
have never had a state.
Israel has also argued that east Jerusalem should not be considered
occupied because it has extended citizenship rights to its Arab
residents, although only several thousand of the city's quarter
million Arab residents have taken advantage of this. The international
community has not recognized Israel's annexation.
The Palestine Liberation Organization first asked to join the Geneva
Conventions on June 21, 1989. At the time, the Swiss Foreign Ministry
said it was not in a position to decide on the bid "due to the
uncertainty within the international community as to the existence
or non-existence of a State of Palestine."
The UN General Assembly passed a motion on Nov 29, 2012, upgrading
Palestine to a "non-member observer state" of the global body.