Article

"Gate of the sun" : applying human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territories in light of non-violent resistance and normalization

Keren Greenblatt

• Northwestern journal of international human rights, Vol. 12, issue 2, spring 2014, p. 152-190

English

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This paper argues that the prolonged duration of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories (hereinafter “OPT”), combined with the intensifying non-violent resistance, justifies a stronger human rights law approach, rather than an IHL approach, in the administration of the Palestinian population and lands. The first section reviews the origins and fundamentals of the international law of belligerent occupation and its relation to international human rights law. The second section provides a brief background of the Israeli occupation of the OPT, particularly of the West Bank. The third section reviews the different approaches to what the applicable legal framework in this situation ought to be, including the Israeli and Palestinian approaches and those of the international community. The fourth section discusss the different approaches and argue that, currently, the most persuasive applicable legal framework is a strong human rights law approach, with a few general norms borrowed from the law of armed conflict. The final section analyzes the case of Bab Alshams in light of this proposed approach and show how this approach would have produced radically different outcomes.

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