FOR THE COURSE WORK OF PROJECT

TOPIC:
GENOCIDE OF INNOCENT PALESTINIANS AND THE ROLE OF THE

UNITED STATES

SUBMITTED TO:
Mr. Mohib Anwar Rafey Sir
Assistant Professor

SUBMITTED BY:

ABDULLAH HASAN KHAN

FACULTY OF LAW, ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY,

Acknowledgement

Introduction

Historical context

Genocide in Gaza by Israel

US role in the genocide in Gaza

Conclusion
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my teacher Mr. Mohib

Anwar Rafey Sir, Professor, Faculty of Law, AMU, Aligarh who gave me the

golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic Genocide of

Innocent Palestinians and the role of the US which also helps me in doing a lot

of research and I came to know about so many new things I am really thankful

to them.

Secondly, I would like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in

finalizing this project.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has its roots in a colonial act carried out more than

a century ago. It was the Balfour Declaration – a public pledge by Britain in

1917 to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine where

Palestinian Arab natives made up more than 90 percent of the population–

which caused Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948, and paved a

way for the establishment of the Zionist State of Israel at the expense of the

Palestinian Arabs. The freedom struggle of the Palestinians started from the day

when the State of Israel was established by encroaching upon the Palestinians

land. After the United Nations’ General Assembly partition plan of Palestine in

1947, when the British government had announced to withdraw from Palestine

on May 14, 1948, the Jewish settlers in Palestine acted unilaterally, in

proclaiming Israel as an independent country, and moved quickly to expand

their borders beyond those delineated by the resolution of the United Nations.

Prior to 1947, no State of Israel existed and today the situation is totally

reversed and the Palestinians have become landless in their own State and the

worst thing is the sense of being a stranger in your own land and feeling that not

a single part of it is yours.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The current conflict between Palestine and Israel started on October 7, 2023

when Hamas, the group politically controls the Gaza Strip, had launched its

Operation Al-Aqsa Flood inside Israel, which resulted in killing dozens and

taking hostages of several Israelis. In response, Israel declared war on the Gaza

Strip, announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip stopping the supply of food,

fuel, electricity, gas and other essential commodities to the inhabitants of the

Gaza, who are already under the 16-year illegal blockade by the Israel, that

under international law amounts to a war crime, and launched a ground attack

killing more than 42,000 Palestinians – mostly children and women – till now,

injuring more than 80,000, displacing millions and thousands are missing, who

are believed to be either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into

Israeli prisons. During attack, Israeli forces targeted hospitals, schools,

civilians, health workers, aid workers etc., however, they are protected by the

International Humanitarian Law. Therefore, Israel is clearly committing

genocide of the innocent Palestinians. The United States of America is also an

active partner in this genocide as it [all] is happening with the full and

unconditional support of the United States by providing both military and

diplomatic supports to the Jewish State. However, the October 7 attack did not

occur in vacuum; it was preceded by decades of violence, dispossession,

unlawful occupation, and the denial of Palestinian self-determination.

Accordingly, Hamas attack was the result of 16-year of Israel’s illegal siege and
closure and repeated Israeli military offensives that created an increasingly

unlivable human-made humanitarian situation prior to 7 October.

GENOCIDE IN GAZA BY ISRAEL

The Jewish State has been committing unlawful acts like illegal occupation of

Palestinian territory, apartheid and genocide of the innocent Palestinians since

the day of its establishment. The United Nations through its organs like General

Assembly and Security Council has adopted a number of resolutions

condemning Israel for its illegal settlement on Palestinian territory, human

rights violation, its apartheid and genocidal policies in the region. The UN

General Assembly had adopted a resolution [in 1982] strongly condemning

Israeli action, declaring the Sabra and Shatila massacre an act of genocide and

calling to suspend economic, financial and technological assistance to and co-

operation with Israel. Genocide has been defined by the UN Genocide

Convention as certain acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,

a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. These acts include killing

members of the [protected] group or causing serious bodily or mental harm to

members of the group or deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life

calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. In non-

proportional retaliation to October 7 attack, Israel attacked hospitals, refugee

camps, residential buildings, places of worship etc. and destroyed them and

killed thousands of innocent civilians without any hesitation and millions have
been displaced. Therefore, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in South

Africa’s genocide case against Israel found it plausible that Israel’s acts could

amount to genocide and ordered on January 26, 2024 six provisional measures

including for Israel to refrain from acts under the Genocide convention, prevent

and punish the direct and public incitement to genocide, and take immediate and

effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to

civilians in Gaza.

US ROLE IN GENOCIDE IN GAZA

In the ongoing genocide in Gaza Strip, the United States is an active partner

because it is providing military, financial as well as diplomatic support to the

Jewish State not from October 7 but from the day it was established. The US

was the first nation recognising State of Israel in 1948. After the broke-out of

current Israel-Palestine war, the US president Joe Biden expressed We stand

with Israel … And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its

citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack. Further US Secretary of State

Antony Blinken in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said, You

may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America

exists, you will never ever have to. We will always be there by your side.

Since October 7 Israel had imposed complete blockade on the already besieged

enclave resulting humanitarian crises, denied aid-entry to the world’s largest open-

air prison with a population of 2.3 million people and even killed UN aid-workers.
Therefore, to halt the war several attempts were made by the UN Security Council

for the ceasefire, but all efforts failed as the US vetoed all the three resolutions

calling immediate ceasefire in Gaza. February 20, 2024 was the third time [when]

Washington wielded its veto to block a resolution demanding a stop to fighting

in Gaza. The UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions mention

that Israel’s strategic relations with the United States of America, which is a

permanent member of the UN Security Council and having a veto power

encourage the former to continue expansionist and annexationist policies in the

Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.

Accordingly, the US is also implicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. It is worth

mentioning here that a in the US in the case of Defense for Children

International – Palestine v. Biden, charging the Biden administration with

failing in its duty to prevent, and otherwise aiding and abetting, the unfolding

genocide in Gaza, a federal judge found that Israel is plausibly engaging in

genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and that the United States is

providing unflagging support for the massive attacks on Palestinian civilians in

contravention of international law.

CONCLUSION

In light of the historical context and the ongoing events detailed above, it is

evident that the Israel-Palestine conflict is deeply rooted in a century of colonial

actions, dispossession, and violence. The situation has escalated dramatically,

consequences in Gaza. The assertion of genocide against Palestinians is

supported by various international legal frameworks and organizations, which

have condemned Israel's actions and the complicity of the United States in

perpetuating this crisis. The failure of the international community to hold Israel

accountable, particularly through the U.S. vetoes in the UN Security Council,

highlights a significant moral and legal impasse. As the humanitarian crisis

deepens, the urgent need for a just and lasting resolution that acknowledges

Palestinian rights and sovereignty becomes ever more critical. Only through

genuine international cooperation and a commitment to human rights can we

hope to break the cycle of violence and begin to heal the wounds of this

protracted conflict.