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The Lessons Of 9/11 For October 7, Mary Ellen O'Connell

NDLS in the News

October 7 is being called Israel’s 9/11. The comparison is apt for the lessons that can be learned as to the legality of launching a ground offensive to respond to terrorism.

The Oslo Accords: A Modern-Day Story Of Occupation Told Through Violations Of The Right To Freedom Of Privacy, Catherine Demetrovich

Indiana Law Journal

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in the early 1900s when the disputed land, what is now the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, fell under British rule. After the Six- Day War in 1967, Israel took control of the West Bank, Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip. Since then, tensions between Israel and Palestine have continued to grow. This Note explores a modern-day occupation question: Israel’s control over Palestine’s information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Along with privacy and human rights violations, Israel’s control is in direct violation of the Oslo Accords— guaranteeing Palestinians limited self-governance in Gaza and the West …

Palestinian Nationality And “Jewish” Nationality: From The Lausanne Treaty To Today, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter assesses the legal foundations of Zionist and Palestinian national claims over the land of Palestine since the British Mandate. It explores the legal basis and implications of the claim of Jewish nationality in Palestine and compares it with the claim of Palestinian nationality. The question of national rights, and who can claim them, is central to rethinking the statehood and residency rights of those living today in the area of historic Palestine. The law of nationality is at the core of the protections of peoples’ right to self-determination, and understanding the principles underlying nationality law is essential to …

Unrwa And Palestine Refugees, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter studies the relationship between Palestinian refugees and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA’s role is to provide humanitarian ‘relief’ and to provide economic opportunities—‘works’—for refugees in the areas of major displacement: the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Initially, the definition of Palestine refugee for UNRWA’s purposes was a sub-category of the United Nations Conciliation Commission on Palestine definition for purposes of relief provision, but it also included other categories of persons displaced from later conflicts. Following the passage of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the …

Federalism: Necessary Legal Foundation For The Central Middle Eastern States, Issa Al-Aweel

Pace International Law Review

The Central Middle East—comprising of Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan—is in need of a legal foundation defined by a constitutional umbrella that governs it as a whole. This is a proposed broad structure of such legal foundation that serves regional legal and economic needs and includes recognition of human rights.

The need for such restructuring is evident from the persistence of regional conflict and instability. Conflict and instability have been constants in the region in general and certainly in the listed five states. The issues include political instability, terrorism, continuous threats of fundamentalism, and pervasive disregard to human life …

Book Review Of The Palestine Problem In International Law And World Order, Linda A. Malone

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.

Settler Colonial And Anti-Colonial Legalities In Palestine, Markus Gunneflo

Markus Gunneflo

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of International Law In Palestine, Svetlana Sumina, Steven Gilmore

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Democracy's Struggle Against Terrorism: The Powers Of Military Commanders To Decide Upon The Demolition Of Houses, The Imposition Of Curfews, Blockades, Encirclements And The Declaration Of An Area As A Closed Military Area, Emanuel Gross

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Justice: Why Israel Signed The International Criminal Court Statute And What The Signature Means, Daniel A. Blumenthal

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Occupation; A New Way To Consider Israeli Occupation, Michelle Goldberg

Honors Theses

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most complex political issues of our time. It involves two groups of people with a strong claim to a tiny piece of land, both historically and religiously. In the aftermath of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Many people claim that the occupation is unethical because the occupier holds restrictions on those who are occupied. This paper does not address the question of who is to blame for the conflict or whether Israel has maintained an ethical occupation; it addresses instead the ethics of occupation of …

Israel And The Palestinian State: Reply To Quigley, Daniel Benoliel

University of Baltimore Journal of International Law

This article replies to Professor John Quigley's recent article on the rather dramatic controversy concerning Palestinian statehood. The present article provides a critical assessment of two pivotal Palestinian Unilateral Declarations of Independence (UDI) initiatives as of 1988 and 2011. It does so both generally and with regard to the territorial and border disputes underplayed by Professor Quigley's supportive Palestinian statehood argument altogether.

In the wake of the codenamed 'Arab Spring' tentative spread of democracy throughout the Middle East, regional law and order commands legal certainty. Thus, while being sympathetic to the secessionist selfdetermination of Palestine under public international law, this …

Stopping The Killing And/Or Stopping Human Rights Violations, Edward Friedman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The relationship between promoting human rights and stopping wars can be perplexing. The 19th century origins of the Geneva Convention and the International Commissions of the Red Cross (ICRC) are warnings about the moral danger, ambiguities, or tensions of bringing war within the arena of human rights considerations. Human rights and war can be a toxic cocktail. One should not want to make war more likely or legitimate or deadly by seeming to say that the killing machine on one side or the other is acting humanely, as if that makes war okay. War is hell.

Healing From War To End All Wars, Christien Van Den Anker

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The First World War was known as the war to end all wars. After the Second World War, and especially in reference to the Holocaust, the urgent slogan was “Never Again.” Although these hopes to end war and genocide have not yet been fulfilled, they inspired the worldwide moral stance against war and a host of international instruments and bodies contributed to the protection of both civilians and combatants during war.

Proportional To Life, Emma Gilligan

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Economist piece entitled “Proportional to what?” poses a dangerous question. The notion, as the article suggests, that proportionality in war is a “slippery idea” or that the facts are “nebulous” is the work of either an intentionally provocative or idly cynical author. Whatever the motivation for the words, it is precisely the dismissive tone embodied in such statements that has contributed to and defined the attitude more recently of larger states, like Israel and Russia, to issues of accountability for the death of civilians.

Protecting Human Rights In Conflict, Clair Apodaca

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Just War Theory of Jus in Bello is the international community’s attempt to ensure respect for human rights and human welfare during armed conflicts. The principle of proportionality and the obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians in attacks are two related notions that are fundamental to the protection of human rights during conflict. The principle of proportionality limits the amount of violence and destruction that is morally permissible. By contrast, the principle of discrimination (or distinction) discriminates between legitimate targets, such as soldiers and weapons depots, and illegitimate targets, specifically noncombatants such as civilian populations and their property.

Proportionality And Unjust Wars, Sarah Stanlick

Human Rights & Human Welfare

As violence rages in the Middle East, policymakers, academics, and the public alike have been embroiled in debate over the proportional use of force. As The Economist article points out, historical grievances leave both Israelis and Palestinians with compelling arguments for defense and resistance. However, at this point, the cycle of violence has perpetuated blame that goes beyond a simple tally sheet. World leaders remain divided on the rights and wrongs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but human rights groups internationally are crying out for Israel and Hamas to end attacks that “do not discriminate between civilians and military targets.” While …

February Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Proportional to What?” The Economist. December 30, 2008.

Memory And Violence In Israel/Palestine, K. M. Fierke

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Israeli and Palestinian Narratives of Conflict: History’s Double Helix, edited by Robert I. Rotberg. Indiana University Press, 2006.

and

Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Ussama Makdisi and Paul A. Silverstein. Indiana University Press, 2006.

The Case For Palestine: An International Law Perspective, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

A Book Review for: The Case for Palestine: An International Law Perspective by John Quigley

Taken from review:

John Quigley aptly calls it “the longest-standing conflict in the history of the United Nations”—the apparently intractable Middle East conflict that continues to foster violence and instability, not only in the region, but around the world. But Quigley’s revised and updated The Case for Palestine: An International Law Perspective, in clear language and persuasive legal argument, draws the conclusion that it is not unsolvable. Far from an intractable problem, Quigley argues, solving the Israel-Palestine conflict in a way that leads to a …

Polemics In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Jerome Slater

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. 264pp.

and

Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History by Norman G. Finkelstein. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005. 332pp.

"When Caterpillars Kill": Holding U.S. Corporations Accountable For Knowingly Selling Equipment To Countries For The Commission Of Human Rights Abuses Abroad, Zaha Hassan

San Diego International Law Journal

With the recent trend towards holding corporations accountable for aiding and abetting human rights abuses abroad, this paper asks the question whether corporations should be held liable for knowingly facilitating human rights abuses abroad by selling equipment widely known to be used in such abuses. To this end, the case of Caterpillar sales to Israel will here be examined. Part II provides an overview of the history of the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and its applicability in United States courts. Part III gives an overview of how corporate liability for human rights abuses abroad developed under the ATCA. Part …

Israel, Sydney Fisher

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Israel and Palestine have been in an “interim period” between full scale occupation and a negotiated end to the conflict for a long time. This supposedly intermediate period in the conflict has seen no respite from violations of Palestinians’ human rights or the suicide bombings affecting Israelis. This section will provide resources spanning the issues regarding Israel, Palestine and how the human rights dimensions of this conflict interact with the war on terror. The issue of how both sides will arrive at peace remains a mystery.

Handling The Truth, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Trends. Ehud Barak And Peace: Mistakes On The 15-Month Mistake, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the citings of many analysts, journalists, and diplomats--the last often speaking on an unattributed basis--a huge error in the current quest for peace between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority and between Israel and Syria and Lebanon.

An Analysis Of The Oslo Ii Agreement In Light Of The Expectations Of Shimon Peres And Mahmoud Abbas, Justus R. Weiner

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of Battling for Peace: A Memoir by Shimon Peres, and by Mahmoud Abbas

Palestine And Israel: A Challenge To Justice, James E. Hopenfeld

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice by John Quigley

The Health And Welfare Of The Palestinians Under Israeli Occupation, Neal Atway

Journal of Law and Health

This note will attempt to give a brief background on how the West Bank and Gaza Strip became the "occupied territories", analyze the treatment of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, and interpret the international law that relates to those territories, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention and the United Nations Resolutions which address the protection of the health and well-being of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

The West Bank Aquifer And Conventions Regarding Laws Of Belligerent Occupation, Jamal L. El-Hindi

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will provide an introductory analysis of the conventions on belligerent occupation as they apply to the West Bank aquifer. Part I provides a brief analysis of the current situation in the region. Part II provides an overview of the relevant conventions on belligerent occupation and then focuses on how these laws apply to underground water resources in the West Bank. Finally, Part III outlines potential developments for the maintenance of complicity with the developing law of belligerent occupation, taking into account developments in international water law.

The Israeli Demolition Of Palestinian Houses In The Occupied Territories: An Analysis Of Its Legality In International Law, Martin B. Carroll

Michigan Journal of International Law

The recent Palestinian uprising in the Israeli Occupied Territories, otherwise known as the Intifadah, has brought greater attention to Israel's security measures. Specifically, the Intifadah has raised questions of the efficacy and legality of Israel's attempts to control the local population by means criticized by many as overly heavy-handed. One such practice employed by the Israelis is the demolition or sealing of houses in which a resident is believed to have committed a political or violent act against the interests of the State of Israel. The intent of this paper is to examine the legality of the destruction of houses …