Palestine

Conclusion

Article two of the 1948 Genocide Convention describes genocide as the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a group based on their religion; ethnicity; nationality; or race. It mentions the acts of “killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group:” and finally, “Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”. It is clear that at the least, the first three of these are being met in a highly documented way since Israel’s creation in 1948. The International Court of Justice has found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israel is committing genocide, but it is a notoriously difficult claim to prosecute, nor does the international community have much power over the situation because all they can do is encourage other members to sanction or boycott the nations in question.

The United States, as  the world’s economic and influential superpower, has threatened Ireland and any other foreign nation who does not share their staunchly pro-Israel position, making it  unlikely for countries to be willing to sever ties with them. However, it is easier to assert that many of Israel’s settlements are illegal. The ICJ ruled, in 2024, that Israeli settlements located in the West Bank and Gaza are illegal under the 49th article of the fourth Geneva Convention, which states that the forced deportation or removal of citizens of an occupied territory to any other location is prohibited unless under extreme circumstances that make it necessary and they must be allowed to return immediately after conflict ceases. It is clear by the government’s encouragement of settlers into these areas that they do not plan on allowing Palestinians back to their homes. The preferential treatment of Israeli settlers over Palestinians led to a ruling that Israel is also breaking the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which is the most egregiously in defiance of three articles within Article 2, which describes how State parties must condemn racial discrimination and promote understanding, which the Israeli government is in direct defiance of as it sows discontent and fearmongers its population into propagating racial discrimination against the Arab population. The state is also in violation of Article 3, which regards the prevention of apartheid and segregation. Israel has been very clear about wanting the Arab population out of Gaza and the West Bank in order to make way for its preferred race of citizens. Finally, it is failing to comply with Article 5, which describes the importance of equality before local and international law. This includes enjoyment of charter rights such as the right to political freedom, security and safety of person, equality in the eyes of the law, freedom of movement in one’s own state, and more. These are being broken at the highest level— Palestinians are not granted the right to movement within the borders of their state, forced into refugee camps which, as previously mentioned, have extremely concerning rates of violence, which therefore endanger their rights to life itself.