Jerusalem/Imposition of legal measures – Memorandum by Arab lawyers – Letter from Jordan

LETTER DATED 8 FEBRUARY 1969 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF

JORDAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

     Upon instructions from my Government, I have the honour to request that the attached memorandum sent by Arab lawyers in Israeli-occupied territory to the Prime Minister of Israel rejecting the so-called "Administrative Provisions Bill, 1968", be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and Security Council.

     The request of the Arab lawyers was not heeded by the Israeli authorities. The bill was passed in the Israeli Parliament on 27 June 1968, and became the "Administrative Regulation Law, 1968", as published in the Israeli Gazette No. 542 of 23 August 1968.  Its object is to complete the process of Israel's unilateral annexation of Jerusalem and its environs.

                                          (Signed) Muhammed H. EL-FARRA

                                                         Ambassador

                                                  Permanent Representative

_____         

* Also issued under the symbol A/7508.

TO  H.E. THE PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL

THROUGH THE MILITARY GOVERNOR GENERAL

JERUSALEM

SUBJECT:  ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS BILL, 1968

     On 27 June 1967, the Israeli Parliament enacted an amendment to the Judicial and Administrative Provisions Law No. 11/67 which provided, inter alia, that Israeli administration and judgements apply to all Israeli territory.  On 28 June 1967, the Minister of Interior promulgated an order entailing the extension of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, whereby the Arab sector of Jerusalem as well as all its suburbs

were ceded to Israel in contravention of the rules of international law, the provisions of the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the recommendations of the General Assembly and the resolution of the Security Council passed after June 1967.  The Israeli authorities further unlawfully closed down Arab courts in Jerusalem, confiscated Arab property, drove away Arab nationals from their homes and settled Israeli nationals in Arab habitations, thereby violating international law, decisions and practice.

     A few days ago, it was brought to the attention of the Arab inhabitants of Jerusalem that the Israeli Justice Minister had placed before the Parliament a draft law (Administrative Provision Bill, 1968).  The said Bill confirms the previous territorial cession and has as its object the incorporation of the Arab population of Jerusalem as well as all its institutions into their Israeli counterparts, by imposing the same on Arab nationals of Jerusalem who are under military occupation, against their free will and in violation of the Geneva Conventions, United Nations Charter and United Nations resolutions relating to Jerusalem.

     The Arab population of Jerusalem as well as members of the judiciary and the legal profession object to the enactment of the said law for the following reasons:

     (a) Because the act of ceding Arab Jerusalem is unlawful, lacks support in international law and contravenes the provisions of the United Nations Charter which prohibit the use of force in international relations, the threat to employ force and the resort to conquest as a means of ceding territories.

     (b) It is a fundamental rule of international law that the will of the people

in an occupied region should be respected.  It is recalled here that our people had previously proclaimed that Jerusalem is a part of Jordan and the Arab homeland.  Naturally the cession of Arab Jerusalem to Israel was not accompanied by the consent of its Arab population, contrariwise, it was against their legal free choice.

     (c) The Bill in question has no binding force inasmuch as it is based on an

enactment which is null and void.

     (d) The said Bill envisages the disintegration of the Arab population of Jerusalem by forcing the said population as well as all their professional associations (lawyers, engineers, physicians, etc.) firms and institutions to amalgamate, against their free will, with their Israeli counterparts.

     (e) Because the enactment of such a law entails a flagrant breach of General Assembly recommendations and Security Council resolutions invalidating Israeli measures taken in respect of Jerusalem, as well as crying encroachment upon the territory of a United Nations Member State.

     In view of the above, members of the Bar and the Bench in the West Bank as well as the law graduates of Jerusalem request the following:

     (1) The withdrawal of the above-mentioned Bill from the Israeli Parliament, and refraining from its enactment or the enactment of any similar legislation likely to molest the rights of the Arab population of Jerusalem.

     (2) Reopening of Arab courts in Jerusalem to enable Arab members of the Bar and the Bench to exercise their functions under the legal system in force before the occupation.  Also reopening all other Arab State departments which the Israeli authorities had closed down in violation of the Geneva Conventions and international legal provisions.

     (3) Observation of international law and morality as well as United Nations resolutions in relation to the rights and privileges of the Arab population in the occupied territories.

Jerusalem, 15 August 1968.

(Signed)

Husni Jayyousi                            Rashed Jayyousi

Attorney-General,                         President of Court of First Instance,

West Bank                                 Nablus

Istawri Da'doush

Judge of Law Settlement Court,

West Bank

Walid Toukan                              Kazem Abu Ghazaleh

Judge                                     Judge

Said Abu Swai                             Zuhair Murad

Judge                                     District Attorney, Jerusalem

Jeries Khouri; Falah Al-Madi; Hussain Al-Jaghoub; Mustafa Audi; Abdulrahmann Hammad;

Zuhdi Al-Hashwi; Hafiz Tahboub; Joudeh Shahwan; Jamil Habibi; Abdulmuhsin Abu Maizar; Yousif Takrouri; Isam Anani; Abdullah Abu Ied; Hashim Khalil Isa; Zahi Marmash; Hisham Shahin; Adnan Bakri Al-Khairi; Walid Asali; Shaith Khairi; Sharif Ali; Tariq Faidi; Said Al-Housaini; Moharmmed Aiyyobi; Isa Al-Hawa; Zakariya Abdin; Basim Al-Ghadban; Bahij Tamimi; Mitry Abu Aita; Zidan Al-Jilani; Mahmoud Shaikh Yasin; Taisir Nabulsi;

Lawyers

—–