Pointers for reporters on disputed issues in the Middle East

Posted on March 20th, 2006

How should reporters refer to Palestinian land?

While there is currently no country called “Palestine,” the creation of a Palestinian state is a likely possibility in the future as part of the often-referred-to “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Meanwhile, there is debate in the media over how to refer to Palestinian-controlled land. The Palestinian Authority (PA), established in 1994, controls what can be called the “Palestinian Territories.” Palestinians and Israelis may also refer to these areas, which include the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as “Occupied Palestinian Territories” or the “Occupied Territories,” a term which for some denotes a particular political position. Since the Six-Day War of 1967, the United Nations has regarded those territories as being under Israeli military occupation, though the PA has exercised varying measures of control over the areas since the 1994 Oslo Accords. Reporters should take into account how their sources and their papers handle this controversial nomenclature issue.

Is the Palestinian government recognized as a legitimate national government?

Established in 1994, the Palestinian Authority (PA), or Palestinian National Authority, is a recognized administrative political entity, but not a national government. It has observer status at the United Nations, and it was recognized by Israel, as part of the 1994 Oslo Accords, as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The PA has an official armed police force, and has held national elections. Its current president is Mahmoud Abbas, who in January 2005 succeeded longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Is Israel illegally occupying Palestinian land?

• Israel says no. It says the land was captured in a defensive war, the Six Day War of 1967.
• Palestinians say yes. U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 called for Israel to withdraw armed forces from the territories captured in the Six Day War. The ruling was reaffirmed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 338 in 1973. (Both sides interpret the results of the 1920 San Remo conference differently.)

Are Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank “illegal?”

Israeli settlements are communities built for Israeli Jewish settlers in areas that it captured during the 1967 Six Day War.
• Israel says no. It says it captured the land in a defensive war, the Six Day War of 1967. It says the Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids an occupying power from confiscating occupied land and transferring its own population to that territory, does not apply to the West Bank and Gaza.
• Palestinians say yes. The settlements have been declared illegal under international law by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 446 and 452 of 1979.

Is the security barrier/wall illegal?

• The Israelis say no, that the barrier is a necessary measure of self-protection against suicide attacks.
• The Palestinians say yes. In July 2004 the U.N. International Court of Justice ruled that the West Bank security barrier is illegal and said construction should stop immediately. The court’s decision is not binding but can serve as a basis for UN action.
In August 2004, Israel’s Justice Ministry recommended that the Israeli government should consider applying the Fourth Geneva Convention to the West Bank and Gaza. Israel has not followed that recommendation. It says that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the territories it occupied in 1967 because there was no sovereign power there before their capture. See an Aug. 24, 2004, BBC article.

Do suicide bombers justify the Israeli actions toward Palestinians?

• Israel says yes. The number of suicide bombings has decreased significantly since Israel began building the security barrier, which is a 26-foot concrete wall. Its path has been the source of legal disputes.
• Palestinians say no. They say they all are being punished for the actions of a few, and that few Palestinians approve of suicide bombings or terrorism. Hamas’ victory in January elections called that claim into question. Many Palestinians and observers say Hamas’ victory was more a rejection of Fatah than a vote for Hamas. They also point out that Hamas vowed to cease suicide attacks more than a year ago.

Are the human rights of Palestinians being violated by the Israelis?

• Israel says the security barrier, military checkpoints and other efforts are necessary to contain terrorism. It says Israelis’ human rights have been violated repeatedly in Palestinians’ terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, against Israeli civilians.
• Palestinians say yes. They say that the wall isolates them economically, causing businesses to fold and unemployment to rise. They say the security barrier separates some people from their own land so it cannot be harvested or accessed. They say the wall separates them from health care facilities, endangering their health, and sometimes separates them from family, friends and schools. They say the wall – along with the growing number of settlements and new bypass roads that only access Israeli settlements – is cutting Palestinian villages off from each other. Military checkpoints slow people trying to get to work, endangering their jobs. In addition, Palestinian homes are regularly bulldozed to the ground by the Israeli military. Palestinians say they and their property are regularly attacked by Jewish settlers, particularly in rural areas. Behind all this activity, Palestinians say, is an overall plan to force Palestinians to leave Israel and the Palestinian territories by making it impossible for them to safely live there.