A Legal Analysis of Israel's Deportation of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories
![handle is hein.journals/builj8 and id is 131 raw text is: A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF ISRAEL'S DEPORTATION OF
PALESTINIANS FROM THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
I. INTRODUCTION
During Israel's twenty-two years of occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza
Strip and East Jerusalem (Occupied Territories), many questions have arisen
concerning the legality of Israel's treatment of Palestinians residing in the Oc-
cupied Territories. Israel has been deporting' Palestinians since the occupation
began in 1967,' although the number of deportations began to drop in 1978'
due to international protests, including those made by the United States. Israel
resumed the practice as part of its efforts to quell the Palestinian uprising in
the Occupied Territories that began December 9, 1987. Israel has since ex-
pelled approximately sixty Palestinians from the Occupied Territories.4 A
dominant issue for today is whether these deportations are illegal under princi-
ples of international law.
As the number of deportations has increased since 1987, the international
community has become concerned with the possible inhumanity and illegality
of such measures under international law. In an attempt to deter further de-
portations, the United Nations Security Council in 1988 adopted a unanimous
1 Deportation is defined as [b]anishment to a foreign country, attended with con-
fiscation of property and deprivation of civil rights. BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 394
(5th ed. 1979). Banishment is defined as a punishment inflicted upon criminals, by
compelling them to leave a country for a specified period of time, or for life. Id. at
131.
2 Between 1967 and 1977, Israel deported 1,180 persons from the territories. E. Co-
HEN, HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ISRAELI-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES 106 (1985) (citing an
official Israeli figure, published in the Financial Times, December 9, 1977). See also C.
Shalev, The Price of Insurgency: Civil Rights in the Occupied Territories Under the
Intifada 20 (Oct., 1988) (unpublished manuscript).
3 E. COHEN, supra note 2, at 106 (stating that [a]Ilmost no deportations took place
in 1977, 1978 and 1979. Three deportations took place in 1980.).
N.Y. Times, June 30, 1989, at A2, col. 1. See also INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF
THE RED CROSS, BULLETIN No. 152 (Sept. 1988). Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus and Lebanon
have all refused to accept the deported Palestinians. Nevertheless, Israel continues to
send them to Lebanon, since the Lebanese Government lacks the effective authority to
prevent Israel from sending the deportees, primarily because Israel continues to main-
tain a tactical stronghold on the security zone between the two countries. N.Y. Times,
Jan. 4, 1988, at Al, col. 2.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/builj8&div=10&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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A Legal Analysis of Israel's Deportation of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories
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