Abstract

This paper argues that Israel’s continuing occupation and military rule of the West Bank since 1967 and its ongoing siege of Gaza since 2007 constitute the International Crime of Apartheid, a Crime against humanity which the State of South Africa practised from 1948 until the 1990s.

Drawing analogical similarities between the South African and Israeli systems of apartheid, this paper refutes claims raised by the current Israeli government that its continuing occupation of Palestinian territories is necessitated by the need to ensure State security and complies with International law.

It submits that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories constitutes a gross violation of both international Human Rights law enshrined in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) as well as International Criminal law embodied in the Apartheid Convention 1973 and the Rome Statute 1998.

Defining the practice of Apartheid

The Customary law…