Here follows the full text of Dr. Ralph Wilde, Senior Counsel and Advocate’s speech to the International Court of Justice, in which he outlines the ‘existential illegality of Israeli occupation’ in Palestine.
Mr. President, distinguished members of the court, it is a great honor and privilege to appear before you and to represent the League of Arab States. The Palestinian people have been denied the exercise of their legal right to self-determination through the century-long violent colonial and racist effort to establish a nation-state exclusively for the Jewish people in the land of Mandatory Palestine.
When this began after the First World War, the Jewish population of that land was 11%. Forcibly implementing Zionism in this demographic context has necessarily involved the extermination or forcible displacement of some of the non-Jewish Palestinian population. This has resulted in the exercise of domination, subjugation, dispossession, and immiseration of remaining non-Jewish Palestinians, with immigration of Jewish people regardless of any direct personal link and the denial of Palestinian refugees the right to return. These actions operate through a racist distinction privileging Jewish people over non-Jewish Palestinians, leading to serious violations of fundamental principles of international law.
Today, I will address two key issues: first, violations arising from the regime of racial domination (apartheid) perpetrated against the Palestinian people across the entire historic land of Palestine, and second, the existential illegality of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967.
As a necessary prerequisite, let me begin with the special right granted to the Palestinian people in the League Covenant. The legal rights of self-determination for the Palestinian people originate in the sacred trust obligations of Article 22 of the League Covenant, part of the Versailles Treaty. Palestine, a Class A mandate under British colonial rule, was supposed to exist as an independent state with a provisional recognition of self-determination rights.
After the Second World War, a self-determination right applicable to colonial peoples generally crystallized in international law for the Palestinian people, corresponding to the pre-existing Covenant right. The 1947 proposal to partition Palestine was contrary to this, and the Arab rejection affirmed the legal status quo in 1948, with Palestine legally recognized as a single territory with a single population enjoying the right of self-determination.
Despite this, Israel proclaimed statehood in 1948, forcibly displacing a significant number of the non-Jewish Palestinian population in what is known as the Nakba or catastrophe. This illegal secession was a violation of Palestinian self-determination. Israel’s statehood was recognized, and Israel was admitted as a UN member despite the illegality. Israel is not the legal continuation or successor of the Mandate.
This violation of Palestinian self-determination is ongoing and unresolved. Two key elements highlight this violation: first, non-displaced Palestinian citizens living within Israel constitute 17.2% of a state conceived for another racial group, treated as second-class citizens. Second, displaced Palestinians and their descendants cannot return, resulting in serious breaches of the right of self-determination, racial discrimination, apartheid, and the right of return. These violations must end immediately.
In 1967, Israel captured the remaining 22% of historic Palestine, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This occupation has continued for over 57 years, with a state exclusively for Jewish people governing the entire land of historic Palestine, perpetuating racial domination and denying the right to return. These serious violations of international law must cease immediately.
The existential illegality of the occupation is reinforced by the capture of territory through the use of force in the 1967 war. This war was illegal under international law, and assuming arguendo its lawful claim of self-defense, the justification ended after six days. The Yos ad Bellum requirements continued to apply to the occupation, but manifestly, this legal test has not been met. Israel’s exercise of control over the Gaza Strip and West Bank through the use of force has been illegal in the Yos ad Bellum since its capture, constituting an aggression.
To terminate this serious violation, the occupation must end immediately. Israel must renounce all sovereignty claims, and all settlers must be removed immediately. Israel lacks any legal entitlement to exercise authority over the Palestinian territory.
Additionally, any current military action in Gaza is not a new war but a scaling up of the ongoing illegal use of force. Constructing a justification based on violent resistance is circular logic and renders an illegal use of force lawful, which is perverse.The international community must recognize the multifaceted existential illegality involving serious violations of peremptory norms. The occupation must end immediately, and Israel must renounce any claim to sovereignty. All settlers must be removed to discharge the positive obligation of enabling immediate Palestinian self-administration.
In closing, I quote Palestinian academic and poet Rafat Alareer from his final poem: “If I must die, you must live to tell my story. If I must die, let it bring hope. Let it be a story.”
