Guyana tells World Court Israel's occupation of Palestine is a threat to world peace

Guyana tells World Court Israel’s occupation of Palestine is a threat to world peace

Feb 25, 2024 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Kaieteur News – In probably its most thorough statement yet on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Guyana told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian Territory is illegal and a threat to a peaceful and secure world.

Guyana’s representative argued, “The unlawfulness arises from the fact that Israel has annexed most of the occupied territory, de jure and de facto, including by implanting almost three quarters of a million Israeli settlers in hundreds of settlements which Israel’s leaders have promised never to remove.”

Guyana was represented by Edward Craven of Matrix Chambers London, in the February 21 statement, in the case Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

Guyana joined many countries in the landmark case requested by the United Nations General Assembly for the World Court to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation since 1967. The occupation has been thrust onto the frontlines of global public discourse as the violent onslaught of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) continues against the people of Gaza. It has so far killed more than 29,000 and injured nearly 70,000, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Guyana’s involvement in these proceedings reflects its conviction that the legality of Israel’s occupation is a matter of global concern, with far-reaching implications not only for Palestine and its people but for the international community at large. Guyana’s representative, Craven, highlighted the critical nature of this issue, stating, “Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory is an offense against the bedrock principle of international law,” and poses a “serious and continuing threat to a peaceful, secure, and stable world.”

Guyana made a plea for an advisory opinion by the ICJ, which it sees as necessary to pave the way for a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Guyana sought to counter a minority view that such an opinion might hinder ongoing negotiations—a point Guyana refuted by noting the absence of active negotiations between Israel and the State of Palestine for a decade. In countering this view, Craven singled out the United States, Guyana’s long-standing ally.

The representative’s speech concluded by asserting that Israel’s actions—particularly its annexation of East Jerusalem and extensive settlement activity in the West Bank—constitute a de facto and de jure annexation, rendering the occupation unlawful. Guyana called for an immediate, comprehensive, and irreversible end to the occupation, stressing the role of international law in resolving the conflict.

President Irfaan Ali also recently repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The President’s call comes weeks after Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett registered the country’s call for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Gaza at the United Nations (UN) Security Council. There was a recent vote at the Council for a permanent ceasefire, on which Guyana voted in favour. However, it was vetoed by the United States.