The Palestine Yearbook of International Law, Volume 14 (2006-2007)

Volume 14 of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law reflects on the status of economic development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Both the Forword and the Introduction to the Yearbook – by Professor John Dugard and Professor Sara Roy respectively, provide an important general analysis of the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and a glimpse of what is at the root of the current crisis of what Professor Sara Roy terms “de-development.”

Important legal analyses of the ongoing economic crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is provided both in various articles in the volume and in the Documents section. This includes the reports of the last two Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which provide a valuable analysis of applicable international law and its violations as they relate to the economic crisis. Recent relevant court cases and laws are also presented in the Documents section.

Also dealt with is the status of Gaza, the question of land appropriation, and an important analysis of the economic protocol between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which lies at the base of the current economic situation.

In addition, the volume provides interesting commentary on the roles and responsibilities of the international community towards the Palestinian people, including the responsibility to mainstream human rights and humanitarian law in development aid and to react adequately and appropriately to violations of international law by the Israeli government.

Finally, it should be noted that one of the books reviewed in this volume is on the question of water rights, written by Fadia Daibes-Murad, who became a very prominent water rights experts and activist. Sadly, Fadia died in a car accident before she could see this volume of the Yearbook published.