Dubai: Western states with vested interests in the region cannot be relied on to apply international law on Israel but a concerted diplomatic effort by Arab states to do so could mount pressure on the Jewish state to curb its expansionist policies in the region, said an international law expert in Dubai on Sunday.
While resolutions critical of Israel may not pass at the United Nations Security Council, they have a de-legitimising effect over time and are therefore not brought forward entirely in vain, said Victor Kattan, Teaching Fellow at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at University of London.
Kattan was speaking at the Dubai School of Government to promote his book From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1891-1949.
He likened the failed resolutions against Israel to those against the apartheid-era regime of South Africa, the continued failure of which, nevertheless, led to public pressure and boycott campaigns that eventually resulted in the regime's international isolation and subsequent collapse.
"Arabs need to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to [Israel and international law]," he said.
For example, he said, Arab states could go to the International Court of Justice in the Hague to determine the legality of the Israeli occupation of Arab lands. A decision by the world court in favour of the Palestinians could add significant pressure on Israel and move public opinion in the West.
Important step
It would also work to undermine arguments from lawyers supportive of Israel that claim the regime's control of Palestinian areas is technically not an occupation, he added.
The significance of such rulings by the ICJ should not be overlooked, he said, saying that the court's unanimous vote in 2004 that determined that Israel's separation barrier was contrary to international law was a major and important step towards de-legitimising the occupation.
Efforts to apply international law to Israeli officials suspected of war crimes have been intensified by non-governmental entities in the West since Israel's war on Lebanon in 2006 and its war on Gaza last year.
Israeli leaders have refrained from travelling to European states in recent times for fear of arrest. In the most recent case, former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni cancelled a trip to the United Kingdom last December, allegedly upon learning that an arrest warrant was issued in her name.
While endorsing such moves by lawyers as effective, Kattan said the Livni case was a "strategic blunder" in targeting a high-ranking official.
A member of the audience asked about the effectiveness of applying Israel's laws upon itself to counter the occupation. Kattan responded that while the Israeli Supreme Court has acknowledged that Israel has occupied Palestinian land, it rarely issues decisions that are independent from the government "despite appearing to be a democracy".
