Abstract
The Middle East lies on a?geographic and cultural bridge between Europe, Africa and Asia.
From the Nakba (the catastrophe) to the Intifadas (the revolts), to cycles of violence in Gaza and pockets of the West Bank, this conflict is a human tragedy, with grave violations of core rights to water, health, education, freedom of movement, the right of return, the?right to safety, being grounded on and reproduced by the lack of a sustainable political solution (Chagnollaud, 2019).
At the same time, diplomatic efforts led by international powers (United States, UN, European Union) or regional actors (Egypt, Qatar, Iran) struggle to achieve significant progress, while international law is regularly flouted (Kartable, 2022).
Extract
[...] Refugees, displaced persons, and stateless individuals: the forgotten by law The current conflict in the Middle East causes a colossal human and material cost, particularly in Lebanon, which was already reeling from decades of crises. Since October 2023, almost 3,000 people have killed people injured and 1.2 million people have been displaced, nearly 20% of the population (Travesí & El Bejjani, 2024). These civilians now find themselves in precarious conditions, deprived of shelter, drinking water, healthcare and essential services. This displacement crisis is part of a tragic continuity, in which refugees and internally displaced persons are rendered "forgotten by law," with no real access to international protection, education or health. [...]
[...] The agreements helped maintain the internal conditions of chaos without regard for the structural needs of Iraqi society, which undermined the legitimacy of the democratic process (Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), 2009). Peace processes lacking justice and rights protections are not just fragile - they will falter. And in the absence of unambiguous commitments to human dignity, accountability, and equality, such agreements defer rather than address deeper tensions. Integrating human rights into peace negotiations It is important to incorporate human rights and particularly economic, social, and cultural rights into the peace negotiations process in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive peace. [...]
[...] On the upside, top-down calls from civil society movements across the region, even in the face of extreme repression, demand accountability and coexistence from the bottom up. Whether through citizen-led reconciliation initiatives or massive protests, these actors represent the hope for a more equitable and peaceful future. The type of peace that will find a home in the Middle East will come when every political and humanitarian effort places the rights and voices of the people at its center - not as an afterthought, but as a foundation. [...]
[...] Rather, displaced persons are the invisible victims, caught between an advancing enemy front and international apathy. Violated civil, political, and cultural rights This is the case where populations in Middle Eastern conflicts have their civil, political, and cultural rights greatly infringed upon 2023), in firm contrast to international instruments including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These basic rights-freedom of expression, right to life, political participation, freedom of religion, access to culture-continue to be attacked both by States and armed groups. [...]
[...] As Edward Said and Mahmoud Darwish would argue later on, such omission spoke of an asymmetrical negotiation process, whereby a weakened PLO accepted interim arrangements without getting an absolute commitment to the right against the Palestinian people being denied the rights to full statehood. The Oslo framework, by deferring key issues, codified a temporary and unequal status quo that continues to breed instability today. Likewise, the Abraham Accords, which were signed from 2020 between Israel and several Arab states, ignore the Palestinian question altogether. Billed as "peace agreements," these normalizations involved states that were never at war with Israel, and instead functioned as instruments of regional power realignment and authoritarian entrenchment (El Kurd, 2023). [...]
