UN Secretary General condemns violence in Jerusalem News
UN Secretary General condemns violence in Jerusalem

UN Secretary-General António Guterres [official website] issued a statement [text] through his spokesman on Friday condemning the escalating violence [TheGuardian report] between Israelis and Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem. Ongoing clashes between the two groups have left three Palestinian men dead [Al Jazeera report] in East Jerusalem, while three Israelis were stabbed to death in a West Bank settlement overnight. In addition to the six deaths, over 140 have been reported injured. Guterres stated [press release] that he “deeply deplores” the violence between the Palestinians and Israeli security forces, and has called for the deaths of the three Palestinian men to be “fully investigated.”

Much of the violence between Palestinians and Israelis stems from the controversial development of settlements in the West Bank. Last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] alleged that Israel has occupied the West Bank through human rights abuses for the past 50 years [JURIST report]. In April, Guterres expressed his discontent [JURIST report] with Israel’s latest decision to build settlements in the occupied Palestine territory and repeated his previous calls for a two-state solution to resolve the current Israel-Palestine conflict. In March Israel’s Security Cabinet voted unanimously [JURIST report] to approve the first settlement in the West Bank in more than 20 years.

Added tension between the two groups has resulted from their concurrent claims to various holy sites in Jerusalem, a city with historical significance to all three Abrahamic religions. In March, a UN commission released a report [JURIST report] accusing Israel of establishing “an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.” There have been some attempts at reconciliation; however, in March, the Israel High Court of Justice officially recognized [JURIST report] the ties of several Jerusalem-born Palestinians, calling them “native-born residents,” a move which could set precedent for residency rights of Palestinians in the future.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Line of Demarcation divides the New World between Spain and Portugal

On May 4, 1493, Pope Alexander VI promulgated the Line of Demarcation, dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal in response the return of Christopher Columbus from his discovery of the American continents. However, neither country was entirely satisfied with the placement of the Line. A year later on June 7, 1494, the two nations signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which moved the Line of Demarcation further west, giving Portugal claim to Brazil.

Kent State student shootings precipitated lawsuits

On May 4, 1970, National Guardsmen at Kent State University opened fire on students protesting the US invasion of Cambodia, killing four.

Review a legal chronology of the Kent State shootings, from May 5, 1970 (the day the FBI investigation started) to January 4, 1979 (the day the state of Ohio reached an out-of-court settlement for $675,000 with victims and relatives of victims).