CIAO DATE: 03/2008
Volume: 37, Issue: 1
Autumn 2007
FROM THE EDITOR
Conceived in Law: The Legal Foundations of Resolution 242
Michael Lynk
UN Security Council Resolution 242 endorsed the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" and called for "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied" in the June 1967 war. Since then, a debate has raged over whether these provisions call for a complete Israeli withdrawal, a minor revision of borders, or license for Israel to retain sovereignty over some of the conquered lands. This article argues that the resolution must be read through the lens of international law. A principled legal interpretation clarifies 242's ambiguities on withdrawal and re-establishes the importance of universal rights to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.
Michael Lynk is an associate professor of law at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. He is indebted to Shannon Webb and Danna Morrison for their research assistance and to Jill Tansley for her wise counsel. This paper was part of the IPS panel at the November 2007 Middle East Studies Association conference.
Forty Years without Resolve: Tracing the Influence of Security Council Resolution 242 on the Middle East Peace Process
Omar M. Dajani
This essay offers an assessment of the extent to which UNSC Resolution 242's procedural and substantive recommendations have facilitated a negotiated settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The historical record of each of the mechanisms of the Middle East peace process demonstrates that the mediation mechanism established in 242 was too feeble for the task assigned to it. The resolution's ambiguities and omissions further diminished its value as a tool of dispute resolution, creating confusion about what acceptance of 242 signified, encouraging hard bargaining by the parties, and denying leaders the political cover for necessary compromise.
Omar M. Dajani, an associate professor of law at University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, is a former advisor to the PLO and the UN. This paper was part of the IPS panel at the November 2007 Middle East Studies Association conference.
Forty Years after 242: A "Canonical" Text in Disrepute?
Richard Falk
This essay examines the consequences of the near-canonical status acquired over the years by UN Security Council Resolution 242. After tracing the evolution of the vision of peace seen to flow from 242, the essay explores the various ways in which the resolution has been read. In particular, the interpretation of Israel (backed by the United States) is examined, along with the balance of power factor. The essay concludes by suggesting that clinging to 242 as "canonical" inhibits clear-sighted thinking on new approaches that take cognizance of the greatly altered circumstances.
Richard Falk is Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His most recent books include The Declining World Order: America's Imperial Geopolitics (2004) and (with Howard Friel) Israel-Palestine on Record: How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East (2004). This paper was originally prepared for the IPS panel at the November 2007 Middle East Studies Association conference.
Security Council Resolution 242 and the Right of Repatriation
John Quigley
Israel takes the position that UN Security Council 242's call for a "just settlement of the refugee problem" does not require the repatriation of the Arabs displaced from Palestine in 1948. However, the background to the drafting of that phrase, reviewed in this article, suggests that this was in fact the intention of the resolution's drafters.
John Quigley, President's Club Professor in Law at Ohio State University, is the author of The Case for Palestine: An International Law Perspective (Duke University Press, 2005), as well as numerous publications on human rights, the United Nations, war and peace, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. This paper was part of the IPS panel at the November 2007 Middle East Studies Association conference.
People without Borders for Borders without People: Land, Demography, and Peacemaking under Security Council Resolution 242
Jamil Dakwar
UN Security Council Resolution 242, drafted to deal with the consequences of the 1967 war, left the outstanding issues of 1948 unresolved. For the first time, new Israeli conflict-resolution proposals that are in principle based on 242 directly involve Palestinian citizens of Israel. This essay explores these proposals, which reflect Israel's preoccupation with maintaining a significant Jewish majority and center on population and territorial exchanges between Israeli settlements in the West Bank and heavily populated Arab areas inside the green line. After tracing the genesis of the proposals, the essay assesses them from the standpoint of international law.
Jamil Dakwar, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, was formerly a senior staff attorney at Adalah—The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. This paper was part of the IPS panel at the 2007 Middle East Studies Association conference.
The Second Annual CUFI Conference, July 2007: The Christian Zionist Coalition Hits its Stride
Christians United for Israel, the Zionist lobby group that has grown by leaps and bounds since its founding two years ago, held its second annual conference in Washington, D.C., July 2007. Attended by political figures and rank-and-file members alike, the AIPAC-style conference showcased the group's formidable financial, organizational, and political strength, signaling that the group seems poised to set the agenda for future Christian Zionist work in the United States.
Brian Wood is a researcher in charge of the Institute for Palestine Studies' Congressional Monitoring Project.
Jerusalem 1967
Roy: Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict *
Bruce B. Lawrence
Abunimah: One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Impasse*
Oren Ben-Dor
Brynen and El-Rifai: Palestinian Refugees: Challenges of Repatriation and Development
Salman Abu Sitta
Baroud: The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle
Lori Allen
Wesley: State Practices and Zionist Images: Shaping Economic Development in Arab Towns in Israel
Nimer Sultany
Bengelsdorf, Cerullo, and Chadrani: The Selected Writings of Eqbal Ahmad*
Stuart Schaar
Gelvin: The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War
Ann M. Lesch
Podeh and Kaufman: Arab-Jewish Relations: From Conflict to Resolution? Essays in Honour of Professor Moshe Ma'oz and Scham, Salem, and Pogrund: Shared Histories: A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue
Simona Sharoni
Jamal: Barriers to Democracy: The Other Side of Social Capital in Palestine and the Arab World
Jamil Hilal
Schenker and Abu-Zayyad: Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism
Brian Klug
ARAB VIEWS (cartoons from al-Hayat)
PHOTOS FROM THE QUARTER
FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
QUARTERLY UPDATE ON CONFLICT AND DIPLOMACY
SETTLEMENT MONITOR
A1. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Alvaro de Soto, End of Mission Report, 5 May 2007 (excerpts)
A2. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Report on UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People, New York and Geneva, 19 July 2007 (excerpts)
A3. British House of Commons, Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, "Global Security: The Middle East," London, 25 July 2007
B. PA Executive Authority, List of Caretaker Government Members, Ramallah, 14 July 2007
C1. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), Comments on the Influence of the Pro-Israel Lobby, Tikkun, May 2007
C2. "Marines to Train at New Israeli Combat Center," Marine Corps Times, 25 June 2007
C3. Pres. George W. Bush, Policy Statement on the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process and Call for a Fall 2007 Summit, Washington, 16 July 2007
C4. Profs. John Mearsheimer and Steven Walt, Letter to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Regarding the Cancellation of Their Talk on the Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, 5 August 2007
A Tribute To Haydar 'Abd Al-Shafi