US, Israel Press Switzerland to Skip Geneva Convention Summit on Palestine

Israel Fears Summit Would Make Them Look Bad

The Obama Administration and the Israeli government are heavily lobbying Switzerland to try to get them to refuse requests to convene a summit on the Fourth Geneva Convention related to Israeli actions in the occupied territories.

The Palestinian Authority signed the Fourth Geneva Convention in early April, during the collapse of the peace process with Israel, and not long after the Arab League pressed Switzerland, the convention sponsor, to call a summit on the application of the convention to the territories.

Israel is a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention but is flouting it in numerous regards in the occupied West Bank. The convention explicitly forbids any organized movement of population from the occupying power into occupied territory, an endeavor Israel has been carrying out in a high profile manner for decades.

Despite the US and Canada joining the push against the summit, which Israel complained would “make them look bad,” Switzerland is widely expected to agree to the summit, and announce the specifics in the coming days.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.