The 4th Geneva Convention
On 15 July, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is planning to convene to discuss implementation of the 4th Geneva Convention in territories administered by Israel since 1967. The part of the Convention at issue deals with transfers of population – it was drafted soon after World War II, partly in response to brutalities perpetrated upon the Jews of Europe. No country has ever been called to account under its provisions, until now.
To go in 50 years from Nazis to Israelis without a stop in between is international cynicism at its worst.
The U.S.
On 15 July, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is planning to convene to discuss implementation of the 4th Geneva Convention in territories administered by Israel since 1967. The part of the Convention at issue deals with transfers of population – it was drafted soon after World War II, partly in response to brutalities perpetrated upon the Jews of Europe. No country has ever been called to account under its provisions, until now.
To go in 50 years from Nazis to Israelis without a stop in between is international cynicism at its worst.
The U.S. government will not be going to Geneva, but a number of countries – including Western European countries – appear ready to show up. JINSA has written to representatives of more than 30 countries with whom we have met to express our emphatic belief that they should encourage their governments not to participate in this travesty. Our letter states, in part:
“Israel’s administration of the territories is the legitimate result of defensive warfare, recognized as such by the UN in Security Council Resolution 242.
“Equally important, a multilateral conference undermines the principle that the surest way to establish a durable and secure peace is through direct negotiations. Such direct negotiations resulted in the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, the Israel-Jordan peace treaty and the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that have resulted in 95% of the Palestinians living under PA rule rather than Israeli occupation.
“Convening a conference with a politically predetermined outcome will undermine Israel’s ability to achieve satisfactory results directly with the Palestinians. And anything that has that effect will set back the prospects for peace and long-term stability in the Middle East, an outcome that benefits no one.
“We in JINSA regard this matter as being of the utmost importance and hope you will convey our thoughts to your government.”
Representatives of countries as diverse as Hungary, India, Uzbekistan, Costa Rica, Pakistan, China and Tunisia have sought to meet with JINSA to discuss their concerns. We have talked about energy, human rights, economics, NATO, ballistic missile technology, fundamentalism and supercomputers. Part of JINSA’s mandate is to promote Western democratic interests, including cooperation between the United States and like-minded countries – Israel and others.
We believe participation in the rigged ICRC conference is inimical to those interests and we will be carefully considering the replies we receive to our letter.