Top House Democrats reject Rep. Jayapal's comments calling Israel a 'racist state'

[Beastly Boy]

49. There is a phrase which accurately and concisely describes the settler policy in the West Bank (but

not Gaza). And it is not racism, not apartheid, not ethnic cleansing and not cultural genocide:
Recurring violations of international law as defined by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Simple and accurate. Everything illegal that is happening on the west Bank is covered by this very important document. It also covers what is not considered a violation, just as the Rome Convention establishing the International Court establishes what is considered apartheid and genocide, among other crimes against humanity, and what is not.

This Convention also applies to Gaza. Accepting the consensus that Gaza is an occupied territory, the Fourth Convention places the responsibility for safety and protection of civilians in Gaza squarely on the administrative authority in charge of the occupied territory (Hamas). Self-defense and border protection are permitted by the occupying party (Israel) by the same Convention. Armed resistance by Hamas constitutes a violation of the Convention, nullifies all the protections afforded to peaceful occupied people and, as I mentioned, puts the responsibility to protect civilians on Hamas, not Israel. Israel may be in violation of certain maritime laws when it enforces sea blockade of goods coming to Gaza, but I am not familiar with these laws at all.

Different circumstances require different conclusions. Indiscriminate misapplication of certain terms leads to miscategorization and obfuscation of conditions these t4rms are supposed to signify. Assigning blame based on those misappropriated terms leads to resentment, and away from the solutions of the problems which those terms are supposed to describe.