May 24, 2019

A Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territories – Eugene Kontorovich
This article examines every occupation since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions that involve the movement of civilian population into belligerently occupied territory. Eight such situations were identified. The study shows that there is no support in state practice for the notion that mere facilitation or accommodation of settlement activity violates the norm, or that there is any duty to prevent, obstruct, or discourage settlement activity.
The cases reviewed in addition to Israel include Indonesian settlers in East Timor, Moroccan settlers in Western Sahara, Turkish settlers in Northern Cyprus, Syrian settlers in Lebanon, Vietnamese settlers in Cambodia, Armenian settlers in Azerbaijan, and Russian settlers in Crimea (Ukraine) and Abkhazia (Georgia).
Outside the context of Israel, Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention is not invoked by the international community in reaction to other settlement enterprises in occupied territories. Nor has there been any suggestion that the occupying power is obligated to remove such settlers. The writer is a professor at George Mason University Law School. (Journal of Legal Analysis-Oxford University Press)

(Click on the article’s title to see the whole article…Ed.)