I normally look forward (if that is the right expression) to movies about the Holocaust. But I don't know how I feel about this one:German and Israeli filmmakers have come together to tackle the subject of the Holocaust for the first time in an ambitious screen adaptation of a bestselling novel. Their groundbreaking collaboration over the highly sensitive topic has...
Here's something I didn't know: Israeli descendants of German survivors of the Holocaust are eligible for German citizenship. And they are getting it in large numbers:Holding her brand-new German passport, Avital Direktor, 29, of Azor, just had to laugh. "What a crazy world," she thought to herself. "Germany's soil is drenched with my family's blood, and in spite of...
Last month, I noted that Chiquita Brands International had been fined $25 million for paying terrorist groups in Colombia not to attack its workers. Julian then pointed out that the families of individuals killed by the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) had filed a class-action lawsuit against Chiquita in D.C. federal court, alleging violations of...
Japan has deposited its instruments of ratification with the UN, making it the 105th member of the International Criminal Court. Japan instantly becomes the Court's most important financial backer, responsible for 19% of its modest $124 million budget. It will be interesting to see if that status translates into actual power on the Court -- Japan has announced...
Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall nicely debunks the tired right-wing talking point on Iraq that if there had been opinion polling during WW II, we would have seen support for the war drop every time the U.S. military suffered a setback. As it turns out, such opinion polling did exist — and nothing could be further from...
As widely reported in the British press, but completely ignored by the American one, Britain's most senior generals have issued a public warning that the West's military campaign in Afghanistan is facing catastrophic failure — with catastrophic consequences:Lord Inge, the former chief of the defence staff, highlighted their fears in public last week when he warned of a 'strategic...
It's not every day that I get to link to ESPN.com on this blog, but the website is currently featuring a fascinating article on Dubai's efforts to turn the country into a sporting paradise.Dubai is the second richest — behind Abu Dhabi — of the seven emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates that stretch along a narrow crescent between Saudi...
Finally, a statement by the British government about Iraq that doesn't strain credulity:British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra. Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic. But several of the creatures, caught and killed by local farmers,...
On Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights heard a critically important case, Saadi v. Italy, concerning the European Convention's absolute prohibition on deporting individuals to states where they face a real risk of torture or ill-treatment. A number of states, the UK foremost among them, are seeking to weaken that prohibition:The government of the United Kingdom, along with...
I will be in Vienna from July 9-16 with some time on my hands. If any Opinio Juris readers live in the city and would like to meet up for coffee, feel free to write me at my Auckland e-mail address: k.heller@auckland.ac.nz. Hope to hear from you! ...
Say this for the Australians — at least they're willing to admit that their participation in the Iraq war is about oil:The government has admitted the need to secure oil supplies is a factor in Australia's continued military involvement in Iraq. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said today oil was a factor in Australia's contribution to the unpopular war, as "energy security"...
I have often criticized the ridiculously light sentences given to a number of U.S. soldiers convicted of serious war crimes in Iraq. I guess I should have been more careful what I wished for — the DOJ announced Tuesday that it is seeking the death penalty against Steven Green, a soldier accused of killing an Iraqi family and raping...
