Yonatan Shapira is an ex-captain and pilot in the Israeli Air Force. In 2003, he helped coordinate the circulation of a letter that was signed by 27 Israeli Air Force pilots expressing their refusal to engage in Israeli military actions targeting Palestinians. Additionally, Shapira has endorsed the domestic Israeli movement supporting Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions [...]
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Confronting Blind Spots: A Call for Constructive Dialogue on Israel's Response to Hamas
Constructive dialogue over complex issues seems increasingly difficult to find in these extremely polarizing times. For the Jewish community of which I am a part, the highly valued idea of any such “makhloket l’sheim shamayim” — the Talmudic notion of an argument for the sake of heaven — seems all the more elusive when attempting [...]
The Cost of Revenge: A Cantor's Critique of Israel's Response to Hamas
In the wake of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, many of Israel’s supporters, myself included, have succumbed to the understandable impulse for violent retribution. Israel is a land that I love, both culturally as a Jew — and third-generation Holocaust survivor — and spiritually as an ordained cantor. It follows that [...]
Rethinking 'An Eye for an Eye': A Journey Towards Death Penalty Abolition
At its core, the death penalty feeds one of the basest desires known to humankind: the craving for revenge. The 3,200+ members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” — a group I co-founded — along with millions of other death penalty abolitionists across the world have demonstrated time and again in recent years how [...]
My Fellow Jewish Leaders Should Not 'Toe the Party Line' on Israel
It is in the best interest of the Jewish people and the state of Israel that my fellow Jewish leaders whose moral compass compels them to criticize elements of the Israeli government’s response to Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 terrorist attack do so openly. They should speak truth to power, despite any fears for job security, [...]
Albania court orders house arrest for former Prime Minister Sali Berisha
The Albanian Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crimes ordered house arrest for former Prime Minister and leader of the Democratic Party Sali Berisha on Saturday, following charges of “passive corruption.” The decision was made under Article 237 of the Criminal Code. It comes as a replacement for a previous order that [...]
Love, Suffering, Pity, and Death: The Tragic Sense of World Politics
“The most tragic thing in the world and in life, readers and brothers of mine, is love. Love is the child of illusion and the parent of disillusion; love is consolation in desolation; it is the sole medicine against death, for love is death’s brother.” Miguel de Unamuno, Tragic Sense of Life Looking Beneath: World [...]
US Supreme Court agrees to consider scope of expert witness testimony in drug trafficking case
The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider the evidentiary scope of expert witness testimony for demonstrating intent in a “blind mule” drug trafficking case, Diaz v. United States. The petition for reconsideration was brought by Delilah Diaz, a California woman who was convicted of transporting drugs into the US after the government presented [...]
Why do coups d’état happen? Is it that bad leadership pushes people to their boiling points, compelling them to take matters into their own hands? Or is it a lack of adequate preventative laws? Do external factors play a role? And in Africa specifically, how much of an impact does history tend to have? Moreover, [...]
Law students from the European Union are reporting for JURIST on law-related events in and affecting the European Union and its member states. Jacky-Long Mouthuy is a law student at Maastricht University. He files this dispatch from Maastricht, Netherlands. Yesterday, November 2, was the UN’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. Ahead [...]