How has the law been used to dispossess Palestinians of their land? Since the early days, Herzl the lawyer stated in his Judenstaat that the Zionist movement can only be inaugurated "with absolute conformity to law" and with the "friendly co-operation of interested Governments, who would derive considerable benefits from it". Once the Jewish state was established in 1948, how did the Israeli Government use the law to institutionalize the dispossession of Palestinians and turn their private lands to the ownership of the Jewish National Fund to be owned by all Jews in the world, everywhere, and ‘in perpetuity’. This paper will explore the evolving process of Apartheid through the manipulation and use of law, and will consider whether this can be challenged in international tribunals and national courts with universal jurisdiction.
