Israel, Counter-Terrorism, and International Law: The Analytic Challenges of 'System'
“The existence of `system’ in the world is obvious to every observer of nature, no matter whom.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (1959) Whether conspicuous or obscure, terrorism generally presents itself as a systemic challenge. This means, inter alia, that seemingly singular strategic and legal matters may actually be many-sided and interrelated. Regarding legal issues, though [...]
Now facing further rounds of terror attack, Israel must prepare itself along the intersecting dimensions of law and strategy. Law, the first dimension, is universal. It applies to all combatants, everywhere. Strategy, the second dimension, is integral to the creation and maintenance of any single state’s national security policies. From the beginning, a recurrent Palestinian [...]
UN team delivers report on Islamic State atrocities committed in Iraq
The head of the United Nations team investigating Islamic State crimes in Iraq Thursday delivered his report to the Security Council, accusing Islamic State (IS) actors of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Christian Ritscher, Special Adviser and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by the Da’esh/Islamic State [...]
Germany court sentences Islamic State woman to 10 years in prison
The Munich Higher Regional Court Monday sentenced Islamic State (IS) woman Jennifer Wenisch to a total of 10 years in prison for membership in a terrorist organization abroad, aiding and abetting attempted murder by omission, and a crime against humanity resulting in death. The court found the defendant guilty of allowing her former husband Taha [...]
The Legal Possibility for Charging SEAL Eddie Gallagher with Perjury
It is well known that the United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (US SEALs) have serious problems. The SEAL community has been plagued by extreme drug use and sexual assaults and has been found to engage in the murder of one of their own Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel. All of these incidences have [...]
Israel versus Hamas: Proportionality, Perfidy and the Law of War
“It must not be forgotten that it is perhaps more dangerous for a nation to allow itself to be conquered intellectually than by arms.” -Guillaume Apollinaire, The New Spirit and the Poets (1917) Whenever Israel finds itself in the midst of major conflict with Hamas, each side seeks to defend itself in military and legal [...]
Iraq's Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into human rights violations carried out against civilians by special forces while fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul. The allegations were initially reported by...
JURIST Guest Columnist Oday T. Mahmood, an S.J.D. candidate for 2019 at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law discusses needed legal and constitutional reforms in Iraq post Islamic State... In 2014, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)...
Is Hungary's approach to the refugee crisis a test of the European Union unity?
JURIST Guest Columnist Bettina Nemeth, a partner in LexMetis, discusses Hungary's approach to the refugee crisis. . . In June of 2015, the Secretary of Interior Dr. Sándor Pintér, filed a legislative bill in the Hungarian Parliament to overhaul the...
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Tuesday condemned the recent loss of civilian life in Mosul as a result of airstrikes and actions by Islamic State (IS) militants. Information from the...
