Press Releases

BADIL Launches its Position Paper on the Relationship Between Peoples’ Right to Self-Determination and Resistance
BADIL Launches its Position Paper on the  Relationship Between Peoples’ Right to Self-Determination and Resistance

BADIL Resource Center launches its position paper, entitled, The Palestinian People Have a Right to Armed Struggle by Virtue of Their Inalienable Right to Self-Determination. This short paper re-affirms the relevance and applicability of the right to resist to the entirety of the Palestinian people, until liberation and the fulfillment of their rights to self-determination and return are achieved.

Exploitation, alien subjugation, and colonial domination of peoples are considered grave crimes under international law, not only because they violate a jus cogens norm (the right to self-determination), but also because they are a major obstacle to international peace and security. Against this background, international law guarantees and protects peoples’ struggle to restore their right to self-determination, and empowers them to employ any means necessary to free themselves from occupation or colonial domination.

Effectively, support for national liberation movements in their quest for independence and liberation can be found in a plethora of international law documents, whether UN resolutions or the jurisprudence of international courts. Rejecting all forms of colonialism, international law specifically condemns the actions of the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime as a threat to peace and security, and deny the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. It follows that the Palestinian people have a right to resist against such forcible actions that violate their right to self-determination, by all available means, including armed struggle.