RAMALLAH, February 13, 2011 (WAFA) - Ambassador Nabil Ramlawi, former Permanente Observer of Palestine to the UN in Geneva, stressed that Jewish settlements in the Palestinian Territory occupied in 1967 through war are illegal and void.

In an open letter addressed to Israeli journalist Dan Moshe in response to his published article: “Are the Settlements Illegal?” in Israeli newspaper Haaretz, June, 14, 2010, Ramlawi said the same rules and provisions of international law that apply to settlements also apply to any Israeli presence in the Palestinian Territory, including the Israeli expansion wall and East Jerusalem, whether this presence is military, settler, civilian or security.

He emphasized that the provisions and rules of international law relevant to occupation apply to the occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

The GCIV, which was adopted in August 1949, defines humanitarian protection for civilians in war zones and outlaws the practice of total war.

In his article, Moshe Dan had claimed that the Geneva Conventions came after World War II to prevent the recurrence of a new Holocaust against Jews. Dan based his argument on Israeli legal arguments that support the Jewish right to build in “Judea and Samaria” (West Bank and East Jerusalem) and wandered: “What is Law? Who decides if Israel is guilty?”

Moreover, Dan’s article stated that the Palestinian Territory is at best a disputed, not an occupied, land. Ramlawi’s letter proved that according to international consensus, UN resolutions, the General Assembly’s decisions, principles of international law and the International Court of Justice, the Palestinian Territory is occupied by the Israeli military force which constitutes an aggression, the Separation Wall is invalid and illegitimate and settlements contradict the provisions of international law.

Y.Y./F.J.