The Israel-Palestine difference and the
(re)interpretation by the media
TERRITORIAL
DISPUTES like the Israel-Palestine difference in which several international
agents claim sovereign rights for different reasons over the same piece of land
are not uncommon.
They
all have a particular feature: their solution assumes a mutually exclusive
relationship amongst competing parties (in this case, Israel and Palestine).
That is because the common understanding (I would say, misunderstanding) is
that the sovereignty over the third territory can be acknowledged to only one
of them. Indeed, sovereignty is often regarded as an absolute concept (that is
to say, exclusive, and not shareable).
- Post 7: Territorial disputes: sovereignty
- Post 8: Territorial disputes: sovereignty (cont.)
The
Israel-Palestine difference, as it stands, is another clear example of a zero
sum game, with many negative outcomes of different sorts (e.g. social struggle,
tension in international relations, refugee crisis, and threat to local,
regional and international peace).
Thus,
while these conflicts are in principle confined to specific areas and start
with negative consequences primarily for the local population, they tend
quickly to expand to the regional and—even—the international level (e.g.
effects on international price of oil, arms trafficking, terrorism, war). There
are many issues at stake domestically and internationally.
- Post 9: Territorial disputes: issues at stake
We have already
reviewed some academic articles and research about the Israel-Palestine difference
in this series. Today, the post includes below articles from the media covering
this territorial dispute.
Before we start
with the articles, I would like to reiterate two things I have already posted
before when we introduce other TERRITORIAL DISPUTES and are constant variables
that work against viable solutions.
“In all cases, although this sovereignty
conflict has been and is object of study of many sciences—law, political sciences,
international relations, only to name a few—these sciences do not share their
developments and both different approaches and different languages were
applied. Indeed, although multi and inter-disciplinary studies are promoted in
speeches everywhere, it is more a nominal aim rather than an actual reality.”
“I realized that the answer was very simple.
Some problems are never solved because most look for more problems, problems
within a problem, or just simply give up or are so self-centred they think that
problem will not affect them and hence, why would they even think about it.
Ergo, the answer came to me: some problems like [the Israel-Palestine
difference] are never solved because people (or their representatives) do not
look for a solution.”
International media
Israel-Palestine From Both Sides of the
Mirror
The New York Times
“Living under military occupation meant coping with the shooting of my
best friend in high school, turning a fearful blind eye when seeing soldiers
beating a Palestinian boy with a baton, rescuing my husband from the grip of
soldiers on a cold winter night, contending with my 10-year-old son’s night
terrors after weeks of relentless bombardment, not being allowed to enter the
city of my birth, Jerusalem, and living in daily anguish knowing that my people
remain refugees after more than 70 years and have lived under siege for
decades.”
“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still unresolved. Occupation is
damaging to Israel, but even a dovish Israeli government proved unable to find
agreement with the Palestinians. The “creeping status quo” is hurting both
sides. It moves in a dangerous direction. It urgently calls for courageous
leadership on both sides to resolve it.”
May Is Likely to Be an Ugly
Month in Gaza
Bloomberg
“One of the most densely populated
places on earth, Gaza is now barely habitable. Hunger is rampant. Water is
undrinkable. Unemployment is close to 50 percent. Health-care is scanty at
best. Electricity is available just two to four hours per day. The
once-beautiful seacoast is now a giant sewer. And there’s virtually no way in
or out of the territory which, since a violent takeover in 2007 by the Islamist
faction Hamas, has been under a lockdown by Israel and Egypt.”
Outrage Grows As Israel Rules Out
Inquiry Into Shooting of Palestinian ‘Land Day’ Protesters
The
Independent
“Hamas, Gaza’s dominant Islamist
movement which is designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, said five of
those killed were its members, though Israel says eight of the men were part of
Hamas.”
The media in the region (same facts,
different perceptions)
Israel
Drops Leaflets Warning Gazans Not To Approach Border
Israel Hayom (Israeli
newspaper, largest daily circulation in the country)
“Israel
dropped leaflets in Gaza strip on Friday warning Palestinians not to approach
its border as the military braced for fresh clashes along the frontier.”
“Last
week’s border protest was dubbed the “firebomb campaign” and saw Palestinian
demonstrators hurl thousands of Molotov cocktails at Israeli troops near the
border.”
Hamas
Regrets Security Council Not Condemning Israel
The Palestine Chronicle
“Hamas
regrets the failure of the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli violence
against unarmed Palestinians, the group said Saturday.”
Health:
40 martyrs and 5511 injured since the start of the march of return (in Arabic)
Amlalommah (online
newspaper from Gaza)
“According
to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 40 Palestinians have been shot dead by
the Israeli occupation since the beginning of the Great Al-Aqsa marches on the
borders of the Gaza Strip until now, and 5511 others were injured and gas
suffocation.”
“The
Palestinians will continue the march of peaceful return, which began on 30
March on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip, and will culminate on May 15,
"Palestinian Nakba Day", in order to demand the return of Palestinian
refugees to the homes they were abandoned.”
Health:
40 martyrs and 5511 injured since the start of the march of return (in Arabic)
Two last articles exploring solutions
NOTE:
This post is based on Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Territorial Disputes and State
Sovereignty: International Law and Politics,” London and New York: Routledge,
Taylor and Francis Group, 2020 (forthcoming)
Previous
published research monograph about territorial disputes and sovereignty by the
author, Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Sovereignty Conflicts and International Law and
Politics: A Distributive Justice Issue,” London and New York: Routledge, Taylor
and Francis Group, 2017.
NEXT
POST: The Israel-Palestine difference and the egalitarian shared sovereignty
Thursday 05th December 2019
Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez
Twitter: @London1701
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