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72-469: The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (also known as The Washington Report and WRMEA) is an American foreign policy magazine that focuses on the Middle East and U.S. policy in the region. It was characterized as "critical of United States policies in the Middle East" in 1998, and "a non-partisan publication that has been critical of Bush's policies" in 2005. Pro-Israel organizations accuse

144-569: A "political system at the heart of this complex and terrifying project of late-modern colonial occupation". The international community criticized Israel for "failing to protect the Palestinian population" from Israeli settler violence . Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said Israel operates a "two-tier" judicial system in areas of the occupied Palestinian territories it administers, to an effect which provides preferential services, development, and benefits for Israelis living in settlements in

216-649: A 2008 report, John Dugard , independent investigator for the United Nations Human Rights Council , cites the Judaization of Jerusalem among many examples of Israeli policies "of colonialism , apartheid or occupation " that create a context in which Palestinian terrorism is "an inevitable consequence". Israel has enacted a Law of Return that allows Jews from anywhere in the world a fast-track to Israeli citizenship. Palestinian refugees cannot apply for Israeli citizenship under

288-678: A day-long seminar at the National Press Club in April 2015 entitled "The Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the U.S.? Is It Good for Israel?". According to the Baltimore Jewish Times , the seminar discussed "the so-called Jewish lobby ’s power to influence politicians on Capitol Hill and the Obama administration," noting that "factual inaccuracies throughout the day were plenty". The BBC said in 2004 that WRMEA's reporting

360-527: A democracy. These questions focus on the lack of democracy in the Israeli-occupied territories, not Israel proper. Such criticisms are based on the belief that both Israeli citizens in settlements and Palestinians should be given the right to suffrage, considering the Palestinians are effectively under Israeli authority and thus should benefit from it. They share a concern that the occupation of

432-702: A former head of the Arabic Service of the Voice of America . Killgore is the publisher and Curtiss was the Executive Editor until his death in 2013. Delinda C. Hanley, Curtiss's daughter, is the current editor. To counteract what the magazine's publishers viewed as a "pro-Zionist bias" in libraries, AET donated 3,200 free subscriptions and dozens of books "from its approved list" to libraries. In 1989, Washington Report founders Andrew Killgore and Richard Curtiss joined other plaintiffs in complaining that

504-483: A gesture in negotiations, many which involved the release of hundreds or more prisoners. According to Amnesty International, methods of torture used by Israel on Palestinian prisoners include prolonged tying in painful stress positions, sleep deprivation and threats to harm detainees' families. Beatings and other ill-treatment of detainees are common during and following arrest and during transfer from one location to another. Organizations such as Amnesty International,

576-510: A long period of time following the outbreak of the second intifada Operation Defensive Shield , in April 2002, the IDF systematically used Palestinian civilians as human shields, forcing them to carry out military actions which threatened their lives". The Neighbor Procedure was outlawed by the Supreme Court of Israel in 2005 but some groups say the IDF continues to use it, although they say

648-413: A million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint" is best described as ethnic cleansing . However, Pappe's work has been subject to significant criticism and allegations of fabrication by other historians. For example, Israeli historian Benny Morris called Pappe "At best ... one of the world's sloppiest historians; at worst, one of the most dishonest." When asked about

720-544: A number of publications over the years. Pro-Israel and Jewish activists have criticized the Washington Report as conspiratorial and polemical in its criticism of Israel. In the Middle East Quarterly in 1997, Michael Lewis of AIPAC claimed the Washington Report was the "most conspiratorially-minded of the anti-Israel forces" for promoting conspiracy theories about Israel, including regarding

792-581: A representative democracy has also been questioned because Israeli residents of the occupied territories are allowed to vote in Israel's elections while Palestinian residents are not, leading to accusations of apartheid . Criticisms of Israeli policies come from several groups: primarily from activists , within Israel and worldwide, the United Nations and other non-governmental organizations including European churches, and mass media. Media bias

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864-619: A segregated employment philosophy derived from a practice by Jewish immigrants in Palestine in the first half of the 20th century which was meant to strengthen emerging Israeli industry from British and Arab influence. In February 2011, Netanyahu called German Chancellor Angela Merkel to complain about Germany's vote in favor of a resolution at the United Nations Security Council to declare Israeli settlements to be illegal and she responded "How dare you! You are

936-424: Is as though," he says, "by a reversal of the usual laws of cause and effect, Jewish actions of today prove that Jews had it coming to them yesterday." Middle East Quarterly The Middle East Forum was founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes as an independent non-profit organization with the mission of “promoting American interests”. The MEF advocates for strong U.S. ties with Turkey, Israel, and other democracies in

1008-688: Is illegal. Israel disputes the notion that the West Bank and in particular East Jerusalem are occupied under international law, though this view is dismissed internationally. Israel's settlement policy has drawn harsh criticism from the United States and the European Union. Ali Jarbawi called the policy as "one of the only remaining settler-colonial occupations in the world today". In his book Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation , Eyal Weizman describes Israel's policy as

1080-544: Is meant to counter what it considers the "too pro-Israeli stance of the U.S. media". The Baltimore Jewish Times described WRMEA in 2021 as an "anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian semimonthly publication." As early as 1990, WRMEA argued that criticism of Israel should not be equated with antisemitism . WRMEA publishes listings of pro-Israel political action committee contributions to congressional candidates for each Congress, as well as elected representatives' voting records during each Congress. This resource has been quoted by

1152-464: Is often claimed by both sides of the debate. Since 2003, the UN has issued 232 resolutions with respect to Israel, 40% of all resolutions issued by the UN over the period and more than six times that of the second placed country, Sudan . Counter-criticisms include the assertion that some critics and their criticisms are aimed at delegitimizing Israel's right to exist , which has led some to debate over

1224-406: The 1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle , he responded "There are circumstances in history that justify ethnic cleansing. I know that this term is completely negative in the discourse of the 21st century, but when the choice is between ethnic cleansing and genocide – the annihilation of your people – I prefer ethnic cleansing . [...] There was no choice but to expel that population. It

1296-819: The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the Israeli government-appointed Or Commission , and the United States Department of State have published reports that document racism and discrimination directed towards racial and ethnic groups in Israel. According to a study commissioned by Israel's Courts administration and Israel Bar Association, Arab Israelis who have been charged with certain types of crime are more likely than their Jewish counterparts to be convicted, and once convicted they are more likely to be sent to prison. The study also found differences in lengths of prison sentences given, with

1368-709: The Chemical Weapons Convention but not ratified it, citing neighbouring states that have not done so either. Israel is widely believed to have chemical weapons, but officials have never directly admitted it, although in 1990 Science Minister Yuval Neeman threatened to retaliate against an Iraqi chemical-weapons strike "with the same merchandise". Israel has not signed the Biological Weapons Convention . Amnesty International has condemned Israel's policy of assassinations targeting individuals. Israeli officials have admitted that

1440-583: The Federal Election Commission had improperly refused to label American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobbying group, a "political action committee" (PAC) and require AIPAC to disclose the sources and uses of money. The case went to the United States Supreme Court . The Supreme Court ruled in a majority decision that the plaintiffs had the right to raise issues regarding AIPAC, but referred

1512-689: The Gaza Strip with concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe . The IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism defines such comparisons as antisemitic. Following the 1967 Six-Day War , the Soviet Union compared Israeli tactics to those of Nazi Germany. A similar comparison was made by the Israeli Arab author Nimer Nimer. Yeshayahu Leibowitz , Israeli public intellectual, scientist, and Orthodox Jew, warned in 1982 that if

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1584-749: The George W. Bush administration , the Anti-Defamation League criticized the publication for hosting an essay by Paul Craig Roberts in which he writes the "fanatical neoconservatives and Israelis are using Bush to commit the United States to a catastrophic course." The pro-Israel media watchdog Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America ("CAMERA") in 2006 described Washington Report as being "virulently anti-Israel". In February 2010, Fox News reported that

1656-553: The Lausanne Conference of 1949 to resolve the refugee crisis. The parties signed a joint protocol on the framework for a comprehensive peace, which included territories, refugees, and Jerusalem, in which Israel agreed "in principle" to allow the return of all of the Palestinian refugees. According to New Historian Ilan Pappe , this Israeli agreement was made under pressure from the United States , and because

1728-671: The Sinai Peninsula was occupied by Israel, but it was returned to Egypt in the Egypt–Israel peace treaty . The Gaza Strip was also occupied by Israel until its unilateral disengagement. UN Security Council resolution 242, emphasized "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war," setting the stage for controversy on the legal status of areas captured in 1967, and in 1948. There are two interpretations of international law on this matter: The Israeli position: The Arab position: Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem and

1800-618: The USS Liberty incident , and for accusing Israel and Zionists of being collectively responsible for many issues in the United States and the Middle East. Pro-Israel critics quoted in Jewish Journal in 2006 criticized the Washington Report as guilty of frequent factual distortion, accusing the magazine as "an unrelenting polemic against Israel". In 2000, Jonathan S. Tobin wrote in Jewish World Review that

1872-570: The Washington Report had deleted from a 2007 article a comment by Rashad Hussain , the newly appointed U.S. envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), calling the prosecution of Sami Al-Arian a "politically motivated persecution". Editor Delinda Hanley told Fox News she believed the change was made in February 2009, because the comments attributed to Hussain were actually made by Sami al-Arian's daughter, Laila, who also attended

1944-554: The Washington Report , was hospitalized after Israeli soldiers cracked his ribs and inflicted other injuries at a crossing from Jordan into the occupied West Bank . The Israeli government disputed Omer's claims. In 2004, AET's Andrew Killgore spearheaded a letter to President Bush signed by a number of former British and U.S. diplomats objecting to US policy towards Israel and the Palestinians, especially then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 's plan to leave Gaza without bothering to negotiate with Palestinian representatives. AET sponsored

2016-579: The West Bank and the Gaza Strip . Israel has been criticized for issues surrounding its establishment when most of Mandatory Palestine 's Arab population fled or were expelled in 1948, the conduct of its armed forces in the Arab–Israeli conflict , establishment and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories , its treatment of Palestinians , and the blockade of

2088-704: The William Rosenwald Family Fund , the Middle Road Foundation, and the Abstraction Fund. Middle East Quarterly was founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes and the current editor-in-chief is Efraim Karsh , research professor and former Director of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London . In 2002 Juan Cole , a professor at the University of Michigan and a Campus Watch target, accused

2160-486: The right of return of Palestinian refugees exhibits "barefaced racism". More than 1,000 American Jews have backed a campaign entitled "Breaking the Law of Return", saying the Law of Return creates an ethnically exclusive citizenship, which they see as unjust. Critics claim that the guaranteed right for Jews to immigrate to Israel is discriminatory to non-Jews and therefore runs counter to the democratic value of equality under

2232-476: The Gaza Strip , with its impact on the economy of the Palestinian territories , the country's nuclear weapons program , and its targeted killings program . Other criticized long-standing issues include: the refusal to allow post-war Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, and the prolonged occupation of territories gained in war and the construction of settlements therein. Israel's status as

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2304-887: The Golan Heights in 1980–1 by the Jerusalem Law and the Golan Heights Law has not been recognised by any other country. The Palestinian Authority , the EU , and the UN Security Council consider East Jerusalem to be part of the West Bank, a position disputed by Israel. International bodies such as the United Nations have condemned the Jerusalem Law as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and therefore hold that

2376-555: The Holocaust and an equation of Zionism with Nazism. British author Howard Jacobson has suggested that comparisons between conditions faced by Palestinians and those of the Warsaw Ghetto are intended "to wound Jews in their recent and most anguished history and to punish them with their own grief" and are a form of Holocaust denial which accepts the reality of Jewish suffering but accuses Jews "of trying to profit from it". "It

2448-684: The Israeli parliament passed a law criminalizing participation in boycotts of Israeli settlements. The law drew criticism from the EU, the United States and the Anti-Defamation League . Amnesty International reported that in 2009 hundreds of Palestinians were detained and held incommunicado for extended periods of time by Israel. While most were later released without charge, hundreds were tried before military courts whose procedures often failed to meet international standards for fair trial. According to Amnesty, almost all Palestinian prisoners were held in violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits

2520-767: The Israelis wanted United Nations membership, which required Israeli agreement to allow the return of all refugees. Once Israel was admitted to the UN, it retreated from the protocol it had signed because it was completely satisfied with the status quo and saw no need to make any concessions with regard to the refugees or on boundary questions. This led to significant and sustained international criticism. "New Historian" Ilan Pappe argued in The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine that Israel's policy between 1947 and 1949 , when "over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred, and around

2592-639: The MEF stated that it had been "heavily involved" in the release from prison of British anti-Islam activist and far-right political operative Tommy Robinson , who is best known as a co-founder, former spokesman and former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) organization, and for his service as a political adviser to the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Gerard Batten . They revealed that "the full resources of

2664-747: The Middle East Forum launched an initiative called Campus Watch that it claimed would identify "analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics , and the abuse of power over students" within academia. Winfield Myers is the director of Campus Watch. Initially, Campus Watch published the profile of eight university professors and teachers, who, it said, were "hostile" to America and "preaching dangerous rhetoric to students". This led around 100 professors to accuse Campus Watch of " McCarthyesque " intimidation and ask that their names be listed on Campus Watch too. Subsequently, Campus Watch removed

2736-478: The Middle East Forum were activated to free Mr. Robinson", which included: conferring with Robinson's legal team and providing necessary funds; funding, organizing and staffing the "Free Tommy" London rallies on June 9 and July 14, which was, they claim, reported by The Times , The Guardian , and The Independent ; funding travel of the US congressman , Rep. Paul Gosar , Republican from Arizona, to London to address

2808-711: The Nazis" amounted to anti-Semitism. In 2006, the British All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism recommended that the UK Government adopt the same stance. Sociologist David Hirsh accuses anti-Zionists of double standards in their criticism of Israel, and notes that other states carry out policies similar to those of Israel without those policies being described as "Nazi". He suggests that to describe Israel as engaged in "genocide" carries an unspoken accusation comparison with

2880-573: The PAC matter back to the FEC because the FEC was drafting its membership threshold rules to directly address the unclear issue. The FEC decided that AIPAC did not spend an amount of time or money on political issues to make it a PAC, and in 2010 the last of WRMEA ' s appeals to have the FEC ruling reversed was dismissed. In 2008, a number of publications reported that Mohammed Omer , the Gaza correspondent for

2952-414: The average prison sentence at nine and a half months for Jews and 14 months for Arabs. Rights groups have said that anti-discrimination employment laws in Israel are rarely enforced. A coalition of nine Israeli rights groups has opposed a practice under which companies can advertise their policy to hire only Jewish Israelis, and no Arab Israelis. Companies advertising under a "Hebrew labor" banner adhere to

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3024-404: The character, legal status and demographic composition of Jerusalem, are described by the UN as "null and void" and having "no validity whatsoever". Richard Falk , an investigator with the U.N. Human Rights Council, said that Israel's expansion of East Jerusalem settlements and evictions of Palestinian residents can "only be described in its cumulative impact as a form of ethnic cleansing ". In

3096-526: The conflict, some scholars have described attacks by Hamas as illegal under the Genocide Convention, and others such as New Historian Ilan Pappé have compared retaliation by Israel and its overall policies in the Gaza Strip as a form of genocide, often broadening the term beyond the definitions of that convention. Some key aspects of Israeli society are sometimes compared to Nazi Germany , directly or by allusion. Examples include: equating

3168-546: The establishment of the city as Israel's capital is against international law. Consequently, countries have established embassies to Israel's government outside of Jerusalem. Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza in September 2005, and declared itself no longer to be in occupation of the Strip. This has been contested by the UN, which though not declaring Gaza "occupied" under the legal definition, has referred to Gaza under

3240-414: The event. But article's author, Shereen Kandil, told Fox News that she had not confused the two people. The White House also attributed the comments to Al-Arian's daughter. Hussain himself said he had made the remarks in response to a question from Laila Al-Arian, but had complained to the Washington Report shortly after they were published that they "lacked context", and the publication eventually removed

3312-407: The exodus are a matter of controversy among historians and commentators of the conflict. Whereas historians now agree on most of the events of that period, there remains disagreement as to whether the exodus was the result of a plan designed before or during the war by Zionist leaders or was an unintended consequence of the war. Significant international pressure was placed on both sides during

3384-582: The expected pan-Arab assault on the emergent Jewish state". The territories occupied by Israel from Egypt , Jordan , and Syria after the Six-Day War of 1967 have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and many other international organisations, governments and others. They consist of the West Bank and much of the Golan Heights . From the Six-Day War until 1982,

3456-409: The journal of making "scurrilous attacks on people". In 2014, Christopher A. Bail of Duke University described it as a "pseudo-academic" journal with editorial board members who share an ideological outlook, adding that while it appears to present legitimate academic research, it is regularly criticized "as a channel for anti-Muslim polemics ". The journal is abstracted and indexed in: In 2002,

3528-520: The language of genocide in discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both to describe calls for the destruction of Israel and the indiscriminate killing of civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian extremist groups, and also to describe the cumulative effect of Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip. Since then, spokespeople for both Israel and Palestine frequently accuse the other of planning a scheme of genocide. During spikes in violence in

3600-479: The law since they are not Jewish, though they can apply for Israeli citizenship through the conventional channel. The law has drawn criticism from the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies which says the law is a "main example of Israeli laws that discriminate against Palestinian Arabs". The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee says the contrast between the Law of Return and Israeli opposition to

3672-406: The law. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak stated the current Netanyahu Israeli government is "infected by seeds of fascism" and "needs to be brought down." Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni stated the government was in a state of "crisis — not only of leadership but of ethics." Comparisons between apartheid South Africa and Israel are increasingly made. Israelis recoil at the analogy, but

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3744-644: The magazine of being anti-Israel and conspiratorial in its criticism of Israel . The Washington Report is published by the American Educational Trust (AET), a non-profit founded in 1982 in Washington, D.C. by Edward Firth Henderson , former British Ambassador to Qatar , Andrew Killgore , who was U.S. Ambassador to Qatar when he retired from the United States Foreign Service in 1980, and Richard Curtiss ,

3816-556: The magnitude of the Holocaust , listing the names of Jewish publishers of leading U.S. newspapers to demonstrate 'Zionist' control of the media, and accusing Israel of ' Nazi -style' genocide against the Arabs. Each issue is filled with wild conspiracy theories about Israel and pro-Israel lobbying groups, accusing them of orchestrating everything from the Monica Lewinsky scandal to the assassination of John F. Kennedy ." During

3888-664: The nomenclature of "Occupied Palestinian Territories". Some groups do assert that Gaza is legally occupied. Despite the fact that Israeli security legislation for Palestinian territories does not state that, military law applies only to Arab residents of the territories, and not to Jews or to Israeli citizens. Israeli citizens are governed by Israeli law whereas Palestinians are governed by military law. Some Israeli individuals such as Avraham Burg , Ilan Pappé , Gershom Gorenberg , David Remnick , Oren Yiftachel , and Miko Peled and organisations as Human Rights Watch, B'tselem, Peace Now and others have questioned Israel's status as

3960-582: The number of instances has dropped sharply. Israel is seen to possess a nuclear arsenal of about 150 weapons, and has been criticised for maintaining nuclear weapons and for not agreeing to a nuclear-free Middle East zone. In September 2009, the IAEA passed a resolution that "expresses concern about the Israeli nuclear capabilities, and calls upon Israel to accede to the NPT and place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards..." Israel has signed

4032-600: The occupation continued, Israel would be in danger of succumbing to "Judeo-Nazism". In 1984, author Israel Stockman-Shomron noted Nazi allusions in articles critical of Israel in publications including The Christian Science Monitor , The Washington Post and The New York Times . Examples since the Second Intifada (a term describing events generally thought of as taking place from 2000 to 2005) include: The European Forum on Anti-Semitism stated that "drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of

4104-403: The occupied territories while imposing harsh conditions on Palestinians and other non-Israeli citizens. In some cases Israel has acknowledged differential treatment of Palestinians and Israelis, such as having separate roads for both communities and operating checkpoints for Palestinians, asserting that the measures are necessary to protect Israelis from attacks by Palestinian armed groups. In 2011,

4176-435: The one who disappointed us. You haven't made a single step to advance peace." A few days later veteran Israeli diplomat Ilan Baruch resigned saying that Netanyahu's policies were leading to Israel's delegitimization. The IDF acknowledged using the "Neighbor Procedure" or the "Early Warning Procedure", in which the IDF would encourage a Palestinian acquaintance of a wanted man to try to convince him to surrender. This practice

4248-449: The parallel is widely drawn in international circles. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel , a group in Israel with support from several EU states, asserted in 2008 that the separate road networks in the West Bank for Israelis and Palestinians, the expansion of Jewish settlements, restriction of the growth of Palestinian towns and discriminatory granting of services, budgets and access to natural resources are "a blatant violation of

4320-432: The point at which criticism of Israel crosses the line into antisemitism . The term " new antisemitism " refers to criticisms deemed to have crossed this threshold. Palestinian refugees are defined by the UN as Arabs who lived in Palestine for at least two years prior to 1948 and their descendants, and who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War . The causes and responsibilities of

4392-463: The policy exists and is being pursued, saying it helps prevent acts of terrorism from being committed against Israel. The United States has a very similar policy. Criticism has also been raised from some on the Israeli left, who say assassination policy is "gangster behavior" unbecoming of a government and is against Israeli law. Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that assassinations are illegal, but leaked documents suggest that Israel's army has ignored

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4464-669: The principle of equality and in many ways reminiscent of the Apartheid regime in South Africa". Israel has also been accused of apartheid by Michael Ben-Yair, Israel's attorney-general from 1993 to 1996. and Shulamit Aloni , who served as Minister for Education under Yitzhak Rabin . In April 2021, Human Rights Watch accused Israeli officials of the crimes of apartheid and persecution under international law and called for an International Criminal Court investigation into these claims. Some scholars and pundits have begun using

4536-578: The publication was "the guidebook to the Arabist lobby in the United States," that it "specializes in defaming Israel", and that it is "a must-read for friends of Israel who want a reliable indicator of the thinking of the anti-Israel crowd." Rafael Medoff of the David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies wrote in 2002 that "in addition to the standard denunciations of Israeli policies, the Washington Report published articles belittling

4608-412: The rallies; and lobbied Sam Brownback , the State Department's ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom , to raise the issue with the UK's ambassador, which he did. The MEF has itself been considered a part of the counter-jihad movement . Georgetown University 's Bridge Initiative reported in 2018 that the MEF had received millions of dollars from Donors Capital Fund ($ 6,768,000),

4680-417: The region, a stable price for oil, human rights, and peaceful conflict resolutions. It publishes the Middle East Quarterly and runs various advocacy programs. Pipes said in 2003 that "militant Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the answer", but the left-leaning Center for American Progress and the Southern Poverty Law Center have criticized the MEF for spreading anti-Islamic messages. In 2018,

4752-410: The region. Also Amnesty International has called on Israel to release political prisoners, saying "all political prisoners held without charge or trial should be tried in fair trials or immediately released". Israel objects to releasing prisoners, many of whom have been convicted by Israeli courts for violent crimes such as murder. However, several prisoner release deals have been conducted by Israel as

4824-426: The remarks. Criticism of Israel Criticism of Israel is a subject of journalistic and scholarly commentary and research within the scope of international relations theory , expressed in terms of political science . Israel has faced international criticism since its establishment in 1948 relating to a variety of issues, many of which are centered around human rights violations in its occupation of

4896-489: The ruling. The term Judaization of Jerusalem refers to the view that Israel has sought to transform the physical and demographic landscape of Jerusalem to correspond with a vision of a united and fundamentally Jewish Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. The United Nations has criticised Israel's efforts to change the demographic makeup of Jerusalem in several resolutions. All legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel, which have altered or aimed to alter

4968-448: The territories is not temporary, given the over forty-five year duration and the large and the permanent nature of the Israeli settlements . The participating High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, numerous UN resolutions, the International Court of Justice and other instances have ruled that Israel's policy of establishing civilian settlements in territories considered occupied, including in East Jerusalem ,

5040-467: The transfer of detainees to the territory of the occupying power (i.e., Israel proper). It claimed that about 300 minors and 550 adults were held without charge or trial for more than a year. In 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Israel held thousands of Palestinians as prisoners, and called on Israel to release them. Ban said the release of political prisoners would "serve as a significant confidence-building measure" and boost prospects of peace in

5112-405: Was criticized by some as using " human shields ", an allegation the IDF denied, saying that it never forced people into carrying out the Neighbor Procedure; and that Palestinians "volunteered" to prevent excess loss of life. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are among the groups who made the "human shield" comparison. The Israeli group B'Tselem also made the comparison, saying that "for

5184-461: Was necessary to cleanse the hinterland and cleanse the border areas and cleanse the main roads. It was necessary to cleanse the villages from which our convoys and our settlements were fired on." He also added in 2008, that "There was no Zionist 'plan' or blanket policy of evicting the Arab population, or of ' ethnic cleansing '. Plan Dalet (Plan D), of 10 March 1948 ... was the master plan ... to counter

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