Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Legality of the Gaza Blockade
David sends me to this fascinating article about the legality of the Gaza blockade and Israel's actions on the Mavi Marmara. It's well written, and I've go no reason to comment, beyond to say (smugly, of course), that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International don't come off as well versed in the relevant laws.
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8 comments:
I have added that to my summary page here:
http://flotillafacts.blogspot.com
I think it is safe to say that anything that prevents Hamas from getting tens of thousands of rockets and missiles (to be aimed at Israel's population centers) is clearly illegal.
OT
but since it is a "legal" opinion on an Israeli judge may be not so much - Silke - I love sober voices ...
Kagan: I admire Barak because I'm Jewish
Shmuel Rosner
Heute um 07:32 Uhr
Kagan on Israeli justice aharon Barak:
SENATOR GRASSLEY: Will you look to Judge Barak's judicial method as a model for deciding cases?
SOLICITOR GENERAL KAGAN: I will not, Senator Grassley. I do admire Justice Barak, who was, of course - was for many years the chief justice of the state of Israel. I do admire him. He is very often called the John Marshall of the state of Israel because he was central in creating an independent judiciary for Israel and in ensuring that Israel - a young nation, a nation threatened from its very beginning in existential ways and a nation without a written constitution - he was central in ensuring that Israel, with all those kinds of liabilities would become a very strong rule of law nation. And that's why I admire Justice Barak. Not for his particular judicial philosophy, not for any of his particular decisions. As you know, I don't think it's a secret I am Jewish. The state of Israel has meant a lot to me and my family. And - and I admire Justice Barak for what he's done for the state of Israel and ensuring an independent judiciary.
The video is here (thanks, NJDC).
http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/rosner/entry/kagan_i_admire_barak_because
Barry
actually I have come across voices all in a tiffy when Netanyahu said that he wanted to restrict a West Bank state's access to weaponry a bit
- and if I remember correctly they included some of our own German Jewish voices who sit smugly in their idyllic mountain valleys proclaiming to know all about the military kvetch Israel is in.
Silke
Kvetch as in pressure, not complaint :~)
drawing on my recent language lesson around here I have decided to remember "kvetch" as
kvetching is what you do when you find yourself (or something) in a kvetch or even a kvetch 22
Silke ;-))
Silke,
I suspect that Justice Barak is her hero for his judicial activism and for frequently siding with the Palestinians and against the IDF.
But like Obama's pro-Israel stance during the political campaign, casting her admiration of Justice Barak within the supposed context of what "Israel has meant to me" is simply another way for someone on the political left to seem more centrist to the average American. Pushing her Jewishness and supposed identification with Israel into the discussion is a calculated effort, IMHO, to make it harder for pro-Israel Republicans to vote against her.
I would find it hard to believe that her identification with Israel is stronger than her identification with the "progressive" causes that have defined her relatively unimpressive career.
Four
thanks for my depression of the day
- I read it as a WHOLESALE endorsement of the Israeli legal system ...
it seems I still have to learn a lot about how not being trusting or naive
Silke
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