Encouraging Democracy by Undermining International Law?
Assad, for example, would be less likely to resign if it meant that the ICC would subsequently attempt to arrest him. Refusing to bring in the ICC means sacrificing justice to ensure – or at least encourage – a peaceful end to a conflict.
Stay Away from the Arabs!
This is refreshing, right? About 10 days ago, a fish merchant in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda outdoor market noticed a young man with sidelocks and a skullcap trying to determine which of the stalls employ Arabs. The merchant, Saleh, called the police, who detained the man for questioning on suspicion that he was planning a … Read more
R2P R.I.P.
A couple weeks back I wrote a piece for the Foreign Policy journal issuing an eulogy for the Obama style application of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), that is a multilateral application. After what was arguably one of the most successful humanitarian interventions, in Libya, western efforts to increase pressure on Syria were shot down … Read more
Obama Won’t Intervene in Syria, Iran
Without UN backing, the Obama administration backed down regarding Syria and — as Scoblete says, ‘absent some dramatic event’ — it is likely that the US president will do the same when it comes to attacking Iran.
Downplaying the Holocaust?
Peter Goodspeed’s new article in the National Post is an interesting one that begins with the various creative things that Iran could do if the country was able to produce a nuclear warhead. Naturally, Goodspeed includes all the continuously repeated disaster scenarios that would ‘inevitably’ result in the destruction of Israel, including a fantastic comparison of Iranian … Read more
Guest Post: No Partner for Peace…Again?!
Lately, two opinion articles in Haaretz have focused on Mahmoud Abbas‘ role in the so-called “peace process,” both depicting him as a notorious naysayer but with different additives. On the one hand, we have Israel Harel, blatantly espousing his negation of international law as usual (one must only remember the cheeky article he wrote in … Read more
The “What-The-Hell-Is-Going-On” Iranian Terror Plot
Ready for some real conspiracy theory juiciness? Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu concluded the Shalit deal with Hamas now in order to clear the path for an attack on Iran that was now possible with the American-delivered bunker buster bombs. The plot on the Saudi ambassador primed the US public for increased hostility against Iran while opening Saudi Arabia up to cooperating with Israel on the attack on Iran.
Minor Thoughts on the Shalit Deal
Both of these moves signify minor, yet important shifts in Israeli policy, but does this mean anything? Does it show an Israeli government that is belatedly reacting to its own self-isolation? Or is there something bigger afoot?
The End of the Responsibility to Protect?
My new piece is up at Foreign Policy Journal: Critics of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and interventionism in general have long accused international humanitarian action of being a form of imperialism cloaked in humanitarianism. The BRIC/IBSA countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa; hereafter referred to as BRICS) are beginning to unite … Read more
1,000 Palestinian Prisoners Down, What’s Left?
The following factsheet gives an overview of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, even after the release of Shalit
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Authors
Chris Keeler
Chris Whitman
