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Abstract
This article addresses a prominent question relating to the nature and scope of responsibility to protect (R2P), namely the situation in Gaza, and asks whether or not R2P can be implemented in ‘inter-state’ crises. Following a two-fold analysis in arguing why and how Gaza qualifies as an R2P case requiring the international community's attention, first the scope of R2P is discussed. Then, the crisis in Gaza is the focus, considering the two scenarios of Gaza as a territory of the independent state of Palestine, and as an occupied territory due to the effective control of Israel in and out of the territory.
Acknowledgements
The author owes special thanks to Defne Günay and Ömür Atmaca for their valuable comments on this article.
Funding
An earlier version of this work was supported as a Scientific Research Project by Hacettepe University.
Notes on contributor
Asst. Prof. Dr. Pinar Gozen Ercan is a faculty member at the Department of International Relations, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Her research engages with responsibility to protect, humanitarian intervention, human rights, international law of the sea and international criminal justice. She is the author of Debating the Future of ‘Responsibility to Protect’: The Evolution of a Moral Norm (forthcoming in 2016) as well as articles and book chapters on the responsibility to protect.
Notes
1 Gözen Ercan, Pınar. ‘R2P: From Slogan to an International Ethical Norm.’ Uluslararasi Iliskiler [International Relations] 43, no. 1 (2014): 35–52.
2 Finnemore, Martha and Sikkink, Kathryn, ‘International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.’ International Organization 52, no. 4 (2008): 887–917.
3 Ibid., 869.
4 Ibid., 900.
5 Ibid., 895, 902.
6 Ibid., 902.
7 Checkel, Jeffrey, ‘Process Tracing.’ Qualitative Methods in International Relations: A Pluralist Guide, edited by Audie Klotz and Deepa Prakash (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), esp. 117.
8 Coleman, Kathrina P., ‘Locating Norm Diplomacy: Venue Change in International Norm Negotiations.’ European Journal of International Relations 19, no. 1 (2013): 163–186, esp. 167.
9 Acharya, Amitav, ‘The R2P and Norm Diffusion: Towards A Framework of Norm Circulation.’ Global Responsibility to Protect 5, no. 4 (2013): 466–479.
10 Ibid., 471.
11 Weiss, Thomas G., ‘Military Humanitarianism: Syria Hasn't Killed it.’ The Washington Quarterly 37, no. 1 (2014): 7–20.
12 United Nations General Assembly. 2005 World Summit Outcome. A/Res/60/1 (15 September, 2005), esp. 27–28.
13 International Commission of Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), The Responsibility to Protect (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2001), esp. viii.
14 United Nations General Assembly, 99th Preliminary Meeting, A/63/PV.99 (24 July 2009), esp. 25.
15 Ibid., 8.
16 Hehir, Aidan, ‘Is Gaza in Israel? R2P and Inter-State Crises.’ Justice in Conflict. (2014) Available at: http://justiceinconflict.org/2014/07/23/is-gaza-in-israel-r2p-and-inter-state-crises [accessed: 4 June 2015].
17 United Nations Security Council, Statement by the President of the Security Council: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, S/PRST/2014/13 (12 February 2014).
18 BBC, David Cameron Describes Blockaded Gaza as a ‘Prison’. (2010) Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-10778110 (accessed 26 May 2015).
19 United Nations General Assembly, Human Rights Situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967, John Dugard, A/HRC/7/17 (21 January 2008).
20 BBC, Guide: Why are Israel and the Palestinians fighting Over Gaza? (2015) Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/20436092) (accessed 26 May 2015).
21 United Nation News Centre, Gaza: Ban Condemns Latest Deadly Attack Near UN School as ‘Moral Outrage and Criminal Act’ (2014). Available at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48396#.VZEY7GDldFI (accessed 25 May 2015).
22 Lynch, Colum, ‘U.N. Chief: Israel Responsible for “Reprehensible” School Attack.' Foreign Policy (2014). Available at: http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/07/31/ u-n-chief-israel-responsible-for-reprehensible-school-attack/) (accessed 6 July 2015).
23 Cassidy, John, ‘Israeli Pullback Won't Quell Questions About “War Crimes”,’ The New Yorker (2014). Available at: http://www.newyorker. com/news/john-cassidy/israeli-pullback-wont-quell-questions (accessed 6 July 2015).
24 Ibid.
25 Lynch, 2014.
26 McKoy, Terrence, ‘Why Hamas Stores its Weapons Inside Hospitals, Mosques and Schools.’ Washington Post. (2014). Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/31/why-hamas-stores-its-weapons-inside-hospitals-mosques-and-schools/ (accessed 6 July 2015).
27 McKoy, 2014.
28 Cassidy, 2014.
29 United Nations General Assembly, Implementing the Responsibility to Protect, A/63/677 (2009), esp. 23.
30 Ibid., 11.
31 Booth, William and Eglash, Ruth. ‘Palestinian Move at International Criminal Court Signals a Volatile New Stage.’ Washington Post. (2015). Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinian-move-at-international-criminal-court-signals-a-volatile-new-stage/2015/01/18/15336c6e-9ed5-11e4-86a3-1b56f64925f6_story.html (accessed 18 June 2015).
32 Booth and Eglash, 2015.
33 United Nations General Assembly, Implementing the Responsibility to Protect, A/63/677 (2009), esp. 26–27.
34 United National General Assembly – Security Council, Fulfilling Our Collective Responsibility: International Assistance and the Responsibility to Protect, A/68/947 – S/2014/449 11 July 2014.
35 Acharya, Amitav. ‘The R2P and Norm Diffusion: Towards A Framework of Norm Circulation.’ Global Responsibility to Protect, 5, 466-479 (2013), esp. 471.
36 United Nations General Assembly – Security Council, Fulfilling Our Collective Responsibility: International Assistance and the Responsibility to Protect, A/68/947 – S/2014/449 11 July 2014.
37 Buchanan, Allen and Keohane, Robert, ‘Precommitment Regimes for Intervention: Supplementing the Security Council.’ Ethics and International Affairs 25, no. 1 (2011): 41–63, esp. 51.
38 Gaddis, John Lewis, The Cold War: A New History (New York: The Penguin Press, 2005), esp. 159.
39 United Nations General Assembly, 100th Preliminary Meeting, A/63/PV.100 (28 July 2009), esp. 6.
40 United Nations General Assembly, Implementing the Responsibility to Protect, A/63/677 (2009), esp. 27.
41 Hehir, 2010.
42 Kersten, Mark, ‘R2P isn't a Useful Framework for Gaza – Or Anything.’ Justice in Conflict (2014). Available at: http://justiceinconflict.org/2014/07/25/r2p-isnt-a-useful-framework-for-gaza-or-anything/#more-5512 (accessed 16 June 2015).
43 Hooper, Simon, Annan: ‘World Faces “Crisis of Governance”.’ CNN (2009). Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/01/28/davos.wef.annan/index.html?eref=rss_(accessed 2 June 2015).