Israeli Crimes: A Compilation 
by Dr. Nasser Alkidwa

This account is an attempt to enumerate the policies, measures and actions that Israel has and continues to perpetrate against the Palestinian people: to seize their land and destroy their rights and national goals; against the Arab region; in violation of the principles of international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter; or in breach or grave breach of international humanitarian law and international human rights law (war crimes and crimes against humanity); or in violation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions; or in violation of the 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice; as well as in violation of the values and principles upon which the international system is based.  In addition to all of the above, Israel has and continues to violate its agreements with the parties and undermine the possibility of a negotiated solution. 

The reader will not find on this list any new Israeli crime, hitherto unknown, but what is new is the attempt to compile these crimes in a hideous list that is unprecedented in our modern world.  Israel has always succeeded in concealing the full truth from the international community, constantly pointing the finger of blame at the Palestinians.  Conversely, the Palestinians have failed to compile and present a comprehensive list to the international community, as if from some kind of infirm tendency to focus only on the last Israeli crime and then somehow forget about it when a new crime occurs.  

This list should impel the return of strong positions to where they should be and the maintenance of a conscientious register of such crimes.  Following up on and scrupulously archiving all Israeli crimes is a prelude to resisting them – and must be comprehensively confronted, using legal, political, popular and tactical means as well as the external political and media arenas to communicate the whole picture to the international community.  This list should serve as an indictment and provide the basis for confrontation with Israel.  If a Palestinian deviates, present the list … if an Arab forgets, recall the list … and if a foreigner does not know, produce the list. 

 

Overview of Israeli Crimes

First  Violation of the principle of the "right of all peoples to self-determination" and forcibly preventing the Palestinian people from exercising this right and achieving their national independence

Second  Organized and planned territorial expansion, in violation of the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territories by war or by force:

A. Acquisition by war in 1948, of half of the lands allocated for the Arab State in UN Partition Plan 181 (II), and their annexation to Israel (despite Israel's approval of the resolution and declaration of commitment to it)

B. Intensive efforts and declaration to annex East Jerusalem including its Judaization and change of the status of the city and its holy places, and closure of Palestinian institutions there 

C. Intensive efforts and declaration to annex the Syrian Golan Heights

D. Attempts to expand in South Lebanon and the Egyptian Sinai 

E. Threats of expansion toward Jordan and beyond 

Third  Preventing refugees’ right to return to their homes and properties and seizing their lands (despite the efforts of the United Nations Conciliation Commission): 

A. Rejecting the right of 750,000 refugees from 1948, to return, despite Israel’s various commitments to implement United Nations General Assembly resolution 194 (II) and subsequent resolutions 

B. Seizing 5.5 million dunums of refugees’ private land ownership, including estates built on some lands and crops on other lands, in addition to all other owned properties, without compensation 

C. Preventing 360,000 displaced persons from 1967, to return to their homes, despite UN Security Council resolution 237 (1967) 

Fourth  Systematic discrimination against Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel

The most notable example is the Israeli Nation State Law, which provides, among other provisions, the right of self-determination for Jews only.

Fifth  Settler colonialism in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem (territories of the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders) through: 

A. Illegal Acquisition of Palestinian lands to build settlements 

B. Transfer of the population of the occupying power to the occupied territory

C. Establishing separate legal and lifestyle systems and provisions for settlers, including segregated roads

D. Theft of Palestinian natural resources, particularly water, for the benefit of settlements or the occupying power 

E. Arming settlers forming, for all intents, an armed militia, and allowing settlers to perpetrate all forms of aggression against Palestinian citizens (e.g., the arson attack on the home of the Dawabsheh family).

Sixth  Construction of a wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, with its associated regime:

A. De facto annexation of large areas of territory in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem          

B. Protection of various illegal settlements 

C. Fencing in and isolating Palestinian cities and communities (Bethlehem, Qalqilya, etc.)  

D. Depriving citizens of their land and their livelihood that is west of the wall

Seventh  Deliberate killing in its various forms:

A. Deliberate killing of civilians during or after military confrontations, and of armed men who were captured or imprisoned 

B. Deliberate killing of civilians during or after popular confrontations

C. Extrajudicial executions with no confrontation or valid reason

D. Assassinations of Palestinian officials in foreign capitals

E. Perpetration of massacres throughout Israel’s existence (Qafr Qasim, Khan Younis, etc.) 

F. Instigate and facilitate the perpetration of massacres (Sabra and Shatila) 

G. Killings of non-Palestinian civilians, including: 

•  Massacre at Bahr El-Baqar Primary School, eastern province, Arab Republic of Egypt 
•  Downing of a Libyan civilian aircraft over Sinai (during its occupation)
•  Massacre at Qana, the United Nations peacekeeping compound in southern Lebanon

Eighth   Systematic and permanent repression of Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and subversion of their national interests through:

A. Waging wars in areas of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Gaza Strip, Jenin Camp), causing widespread destruction and wounding and killing significant numbers of people  

B. Excessive, disproportionate, and indiscriminate use of force

C. Blockades of land, air, and sea over long periods of time (Gaza); and denial of entry and exit of individuals and goods, including at times basic commodities 

D. Closures of areas, cities, and villages for specific periods, including during military incursions

E. Use of rubber bullets, gas, and wastewater against civilians

F. Beating Palestinian civilians and deliberately breaking their bones

G. Summonses, interrogations, arbitrary detentions, physical and psychological torture

H. Administrative detention (large numbers of Palestinian citizens, including children, imprisoned for long periods and in deplorable conditions [Israeli prisons are outside the Occupied Territories])

I. Withholding the bodies of Palestinians or burying them in secrecy (“Cemetery of Numbers”)

J. Preventing or restricting the free movement of people and goods by means of permanent barriers and flying checkpoints; closing entrances to villages with metal gates; imposing road closures 

K. Demolishing homes as collective punishment, under various pretexts 

L. Home and institution invasions, destroying and stealing its contents 

M. Uprooting trees, destroying agricultural fields, closing wells 

N. Military and settler aggression at holy sites, seizing of some sections (Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi), and imposing restrictions on access to pray

O. Theft and transfer of Palestinian antiquities to Israel

P. Polluting the Palestinian environment, including with landfills of hazardous substances

Q. Deportations from the homeland; denying access to travel to and from Palestine (Palestinians and others)

R. Revoking personal identity cards and residency status of Jerusalemites 

S. Imposing heavy taxes and arbitrary provisos on Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, rendering living conditions unsustainable 

T. Besieging the president-elect of the Palestinian people for long periods; bombing, invading and demolishing most of his headquarters, and causing his death 

Ninth  Preventing and impeding Palestinian economic development:

A. Restricting the import of goods under dual-use arguments

B. Impeding or preventing access to export to a third party through or to Israel

C. Impeding the movement of goods and persons within the occupied territory

D. Practical imposition of Israeli goods on the Palestinian side (e.g., petroleum)

E. Unilateral, arbitrary practices regarding clearance revenues (deductions and delays)

F. Obstructing Palestinian agricultural and industrial production

G. Hindering tourism in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Tenth  Manufacture and acquisition of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (e.g., chemical) in violation of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. 

In addition to all of the above, Israel perpetrates crimes against international parties, including its friends and even allies.  A notable example is the sinking of the USS Liberty intelligence ship in the Mediterranean Sea, not to mention its illegal work in various countries without consent or coordination – at times committing violations and crimes. 

All of this must be confronted and exposed.