Originally posted by weazel
Maybe if the israelies gave back the land they STOLE from the Palestinians it would stop?
You have to decide what country owns what territory before you can make bold statements regarding any occupation or "theft".
Before we even start, are you basing that statement on the 1975 Helsinki final act of the Conference of Security and Co-operation? Because if you dont, I want you to tell me who decides what country owns what territory. And if you base your statement on the Helsinki final act, where does that leave the Palestinians in their demand for a country of their own?
After you have made up your mind on what territory is occupied/stolen, and from whom? You can go on to the question which law is governing the alleged occupied territory, and if the answer to that question is the occupant, then what conclusions can be drawn from that?
IF you say that the territory is occupied or stolen by Israel, you MUST answer the question "who owned it before it was occupied". Now, lets suppose you answer that question with "Palestine". (Im gonna be real nice here, so instead of diving in on you after you answer that, Im gonna tell you what the problem is). Problem is that there never was an independent country named Palestine. You had a British protectorate, which was divided into two parts "Israel" and "Palestine". The part called "Palestine" was immediately conquered by Egypt and Jordan. The part called "Israel" survived. Everyone basically agrees that the "state" of Palestine never existed, Egypt and Jordan absorbed its territory. In another war 20 yrs later Israel conquered the territory from the new owners. Now I ask you, the West Bank and the Gaza strip... who owned it before Israel conquered it? Jordan, Egypt or "Palestine"?
If you claim that Israel occupies Palestinian territory, then you have effectively created a vaccum, because Palestine does not exist, and it has indeed never existed. That would mean that Israel "occupies" land that doesn't belong to anyone. And in such a case, the territory occupied is considered a part of the occupying country. Clearly you would not want that, so you must find some other way. How about Jordan then? After the 48-war, Jordan occupied the west bank and claimed ownership over the territory. Problem with that line of argument is that nowadays states never recognize aggressive warfare as a legal way to increase your country's territory. And besides, Jordan has stated that the river Jordan is her western border. That would mean that the west bank is abandoned territory, and thus it belongs to the country claiming it by occupation. And again, Israel owns the west bank.
Leaving all that legal complexity aside (its complicated huh…and no fun either), it should be pretty obvious that Israel currently "owns" the west bank. Israeli law is applicable on the territory, it is defended by Israeli armed forces, and no other country claims any legal rights to that territory.
You cant steal something that has no owner. Tough huh?