Tag Archives: 2023

Study on Legality of Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territory

by Travis Normand
December 6, 2023

While doing some research for a previous post, I stumbled upon the following document:

“Study on the Legality of the Israeli Occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem,” by Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, United Nations, 2023; and found online here: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/ceirpp-legal-study2023/

I haven’t read the document yet, but figured I would post it here as I like to share things I find in the event anyone else finds them useful.

U.S. DOJ Files Charges Under U.S. War Crimes Law

by Travis Normand
December 6, 2023

This post is about the herein referenced charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, it this post also contains information about the status of the Defendants in an armed conflict. The second-part of the post, related to the Defendants’ status, was included due to the terminology used to describe the Defendants in the articles below.

(Part 1): U.S. DOJ Files Charges Under U.S. War Crimes Law:

Apparently the U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges under a U.S. war crimes law that was passed in 1996 (the War Crimes Act of 1996). According to the DOJ, this is the first time charges have been filed using this law. While I imagine this is purely a political move of some kind or another, I don’t really discuss politics on this blog (or at least, I don’t discuss them directly; and I try not to speculate).

In any event, I have posted several articles below as well as a short synopsis of each article. I have also included a link to the indictment, which can be read HERE.

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Queen Rania’s Comments on Human Shields

Jordan’s Queen Rania appeared on CNN and had the following comments (see the text of her comments and/or the video, posted below; with these specific comments starting at about the 5:00 minute mark of the video):

“These evacuation orders, I do not believe are for the benefit of the Gaza civiliians. They are not the target audience; the rest of the world is. It is Israel’s attempt to try to legitimize their actions.”

And when it comes to human shields, I think we need to defer to international law. Of course, the use of human shields is criminal. But even if one side uses … puts a civilian in harms way, that civilian is still entitled to full protection under international humanitarian law. That is the global standard and no nation is exempt. So before firing any bullet, before dropping any bomb, it is the responsibility of the nation to weigh the risk to civilian life, and if that risk is disproportionate to the military target then it is deemed unlawful. And frankly, I find it really outrageous when Israeli officials audaciously dismiss Palestinian casualties as human shields. In a place like Jabalia, which is one of the most crowded corners of Gaza; Gaza being one of the most densely populated spots on Earth … civilian death is not is not incidental, it is not accidental. It is a foregone conclusion, and that makes it a war crime.

Comments by Queen Rania of Jordan during interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson; posted to Twitter / “X” on November 5, 2023; see @BeckyCNN (these specific remarks start at about the 5:00 minute mark of the video).
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Is the current conflict between Israel and Hamas a NIAC or IAC?

by Travis Normand
November 7, 2023

This is a summary of (some) the substance found in two other articles, one of which I have posted/shared previously. You can find both of these articles, in their entirety, posted here:

The article by Ken Watkin dives into a lot of interesting topics (including whether this conflict could be classified as an IAC; depending on the degree of support, if any, Iran is providing to Hamas); but my point here in this post is to examine the question of whether the current conflict between Israel and Hamas is a NIAC or IAC. I am doing so by summarizing what is in the two articles posted above.

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Great Article on the current Israel / Hamas situation

by Travis Normand
November 3, 2023

I highly recommend the following article on the Israel / Hamas situation. I will post more about it (along with my thoughts) when I have more time. For now, I just wanted to share a link to the article for anyone who might be interested.