ConCourt judge Edwin Cameron says Israel violates international law daily
Image: AFP PHOTO/POOL/URIEL SINAI
Constitutional Court judge Edwin Cameron says the barriers separating Israel and Palestine are a daily violation of international law.
He referred to the annexation of East Jerusalem‚ Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory and the use of aquifers on the West Bank.
“By flagrantly and persistently violating international law‚ Israel forfeits much of its claim to moral standing‚” Cameron said.
“Israeli oppression on the West Bank and in Gaza has become only more acute and more ruthless. One is driven to conclude that Israel‚ through its own policies of unlawful annexation‚ has‚ perhaps deliberately‚ made the two-state solution unattainable.”
Cameron made the remarks as he delivered the Franz Auerbach Interfaith Memorial Lecture at the Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue in Parktown‚ Johannesburg‚ on Wednesday night.
Auerbach moved to South Africa to escape Nazi Germany. He became a renowned educator.
One audience member said he was disappointed that Cameron had criticised Israel.
Cameron replied: “I cannot conscientiously address a Jewish audience without speaking about Israel’s degradations against international law.”
A large part of the audience applauded his reply.