ABSTRACT
It often seems the case that any discussion over the state of human rights protection in today’s world inevitably turns at some stage to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Rightly or wrongly, it is seen as epitomizing the worst of all that human rights violations can offer, and clearly points to the need for a continued struggle to enhance the global protection of rights. It has, perhaps more than any other conflict, constantly been at the heart of debates at meetings of UN human rights bodies.1 The combination of being at the centre of attention of international human rights mechanisms, together with a clear context of ongoing violations, makes this conflict a useful test case for examining whether or not the norms of international human rights law, and the opinions pronounced by the international mechanisms, have had any impact on the actual situation on the ground. In other words, when looking at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has the international human rights system delivered the goods?
