UN Charter allows “all forms of resistance,” claims PA minister of justice

Headline: “Palestinian satisfaction over the [UN] Human Rights Council’s decision to launch an investigation of the occupation’s crimes in the Palestinian territories”

“[PA] Minister of Justice Muhammad Al-Shalaldeh said: ‘The [UN] Human Rights Council’s decision to launch an investigation of the occupation’s crimes in all the Palestinian areas constitutes a victory for the civilian victims and the Palestinian cause.’

In an interview with [the official PA] radio [station] The Voice of Palestine, Al-Shalaldeh noted that the establishment of an international investigative committee constitutes recognition that the occupation authorities have committed crimes requiring international investigation…

He emphasized that there is a difference between the right to self-determination [that Palestinians fight for] and [Israel’s] state terror, and that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to use all forms of resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror), based on UN Charter Article 151 (sic., 51; Article 51 refers to the right to self-defense from an armed attack against a UN member state, not the right to carry out terror attacks). He also said that the entire world has unanimously agreed on this matter.”

The terms “all means,” “all means of resistance,” “all forms,” are ‎used by PA leaders to include using all types of violence, including deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as stabbings and shootings, as well as throwing rocks and Molotov Cocktails.

UN Charter Article 51 - PA leaders and officials have legitimized Palestinian violence by citing Article 51 of the UN Charter. However, Article 51 merely ensures "the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security." Given that the PA is not a member state of the UN, and that Palestinian terrorism is not "self-defense" in response to an armed attack against a UN member state, this claim is baseless. Furthermore, the UN Charter prohibits targeting civilians, even in war. Chapter 1, Article 1, opens by saying that "international disputes" should be resolved "by peaceful means."