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ICTJ Activity

Between 2002 and 2005 the ICTJ engaged in several ad hoc interactions in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).  In 2006 the Center's work began in earnest and a formal consultation project was launched.  In response to representatives of both sides of the conflict increasingly turning to the ICTJ for advice and assistance, the project aimed to assess local needs and expertise, build capacities, and closely monitor transitional justice developments and opportunities.

Since 2006, the Center has organized a series of technical expert visits to the region, with the goal of facilitating discussions around transitional justice mechanisms with civil society organizations, academic institutions, research institutes, policymakers, and intergovernmental organizations.  Missions since that time have included ones focused on lectures to such academic institutions as Birzeit University, al-Quds University, Hebrew University, and Sapir College; workshops organized for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Human Rights Clinic at al-Quds University; and monitoring the public hearings organized by the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.

To complement these processes, the ICTJ has disseminated specialist material in both Hebrew and Arabic, worked with human rights academics on introducing transitional justice into their curricula, gathered locally-produced resources on transitional justice issues, and provided focused technical assistance to civil society organizations engaged in transitional justice-related activities.

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Background

The last six decades in Israel and the OPT have been characterized by serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, much of it borne by civilians. Israeli breaches have included extrajudicial executions, prolonged administrative detention, torture, forced displacement (often repeated), extensive property confiscation and destruction, movement restrictions, and collective punishment, much of this within the framework of a four-decade-long occupation. Palestinian armed groups have carried out extrajudicial executions, and the fissure between Fatah and Hamas has been accompanied by arbitrary detention as well as torture and ill-treatment. Conflict and occupation have brought untold suffering on the Palestinian and Israeli populations: the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that from the beginning of 2005 through September 2009, 3,151 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis in direct conflict, 118 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in direct conflict, and some 800 Palestinians have been killed in internal Palestinian violence. The majority of those who have been killed were civilians.

Despite this grave litany of abuses, proposed peace agreements and other efforts to resolve the conflict have overwhelmingly focused on security, rather than mechanisms which might prevent such violations and thereby contribute to long-term stability.  Unfortunately, the November 2007 return to the negotiation table proved to be another example of this tendency, despite a number of international actors expressing a firm commitment to ensuring that a signed peace agreement would finally be reached between the two parties.  Hope appears to be renewed again, with increased focus on the conflict from the new US Administration.

Renewed discussions have been accompanied by questions from Palestinians and Israelis as to how their societies will deal with the legacy of human rights abuse.  Although transitional justice does not yet constitute a part of official discourse or negotiation, civil society is beginning to explore its components and the possibilities that such policy options and strategies could offer.  

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(Updated September 2009)