Madam, - With his tin ear for the score of international law, Raymond Deane (December 1st) asserts that Israel unlawfully occupies Arab lands. He is dead wrong. First, the major premise: Under international law, the victor in a war of self-defence may lawfully occupy the aggressor's territory taken during the war. That state has a right to hold on to the territory until it is able to finalise a final treaty of peace with the aggressor.
Now the minor premise: In June 1967, Israel fought an interceptive war of self-defence - the "Six Days War" - to counter an incipient attack by Egypt, Jordan and Syria acting under joint command. Israel took control of the West Bank from Jordan, which had unlawful possession of it, and of Gaza from Egypt. And the conclusion: Israel "occupies" these lands not as an unlawful, expansionist act of conquest but as an essential requirement of legitimate self-defence. And Israel, as a victim of aggression, is entitled to hold this territory until negotiations produce a final treaty of peace.
Now a comment: To have a principle otherwise would be absurd. An unsuccessful aggressor that loses land in an unlawful attempt to conquer its neighbour could simply insist on its lost territory being immediately returned to it.
The concept of disputed territory is acceptable in international law. It simply means that who has legal title to what territory in a particular case needs to be resolved. And the proper way to resolve the issue is through good faith negotiations. To negotiate, you need a genuine partner. Sadly, the government of the Palestinian Authority won't recognise Israel's right to exist as the Jewish national homeland, or negotiate final borders for two states that could live at peace beside each other.
If the Palestinians stop their terrorism, there will be immediate peace; but if Israel stops defending itself, its people will be murdered. We must long, as Golda Meir did, for the Arabs to love their children more than they hate the Jews. - Yours, etc,
TOM COONEY, c/o UCD School of Law, Roebuck Castle, Belfield, Dublin 4.