Eye on the UN

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Comment by Noa D on April 24, 2008 at 11:09pm

I'm glad you found it interesting. I took a course with him last semester on the role of intl' law in the middle east conflict. He is an excellent teacher. He was legal adviser to the Israeli MOFA during most of the peace agreements, and could really share from his legal and diplomatic experience (he says things like "well, when any of you are in charge of drafting a peace agreement, here is something you have to remember...").
The basis for the claim that the settlements are legal in intl' law is a very technical one, I would even call it legal jugglery. By the way, this subject is in dispute amongst Israeli legal scholars as well. The essence of their argument is this: the law of belligerent occupation applies to territory that was conquered after belonging to another state. As Jordan and Egypt didn't annex the west bank and Gaza, the territories Israel occupied in the 6 day war aren't considered occupied ones. Therefor, Hague regulations and Geneva conventions, including their clauses regarding illegality of mobilizing civilians to occupied territories, don't apply there. Israel's Supreme court rulings later stated that the humanitarian clauses of the conventions do apply de-facto, but not de jure, in the OPT. The thing is that the 4th Geneva conventions focuses on "protected persons" and so, the counter-claim is that what is relevant is the existence of an armed conflict, not the question of occupation yes or no.
Anyway, yes, these are all big theories but in practice it is mainly all politics and the theories can be bent around to fit the desirable result.

Why is it such a mind blower Israel doesn't have the death penalty?

Comment by Max S on April 24, 2008 at 10:17pm

This video is interesting. It is good to actually hear an argument from an Israeli political figure that is intelligent and not some long ramble about the ‘promised land’ with endless references to a history I have no connection with. I agree with a lot of what he says. It would be interesting to hear a British politician answer questions about its conduct in Northern Ireland to the UN Human Rights Body. What stands out the most though is that he doesn’t address the legality of the settlers. The Israeli foreign office says it is legal http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Israel-+the+Conflict+and+Peace-+Answers+to+Frequen.htm#settlements

And it is alone in doing this. I am pretty sure no other country considers it legal under international law. Saying that I think International Law is in theory wonderful and in practice bullshit. It is a real mind blower that Israel does not have the death penalty. He was right to point that out, I always forget that fact.

Comment by Noa D on April 24, 2008 at 1:39pm

This is the second part, that for some reason didn't have an embed code:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnOrExl_z_s&feature=PlayList&p=DDB4040B8B14D2BA&index=1