Search: crossing lines
14 Apr Transparency and the Closure of Gaza
...that it would harm Israeli security to reveal what is certainly an embarrassing policy but one that has little to do with weapons or specialized defense systems. The court ordered the Defense Ministry to undo its redaction identifying the officials in charge of the policy and to release the “Red Lines” document purportedly used to calculate how much food should be permitted to enter Gaza under the policy in place from June 2007 to June 2010. Yesterday, we at Gisha received the un-redacted documents showing that approval by the most...
03 Sep Back to the Drawing Board of the Partition Plan: Vice-President Sebutinde’s Erroneous Account of Palestinian and Israeli Claims of Title to the Territory of Mandatory Palestine (Part Two)
...possidetis juris would require a return to the borders specified in the Partition Plan, and not just to those established later on as armistice lines (the Green Line) after the “violent struggle” (Shalev) between Israel and its Arab neighbours (note the claim by Peter Schuller, p. 284, that the critical date for determining title to territory in this case would be 1947). Even if many UN resolutions suggest an end to the conflict based on the Green Line and are thus predicated on a return to the pre-1967 borders, the...14 Feb Justice Scalia’s Rule of Law Efforts
Justice Scalia’s passing comes as a shock and is generating tributes across ideological lines. Indeed, whether you agreed with his opinions or not (and I was not a fan of his thinking on cases like Sosa or Bond), Justice Scalia’s opinions deserved to be read. Lines like “never-say-never jurisprudence” and “oh-so-close-to-relevant cases” are some of my personal favorites. Readers should feel free to add their own in the comment section. In the meantime, I wanted to pay tribute to a side of Justice Scalia that has garnered relatively little attention...
23 Mar Judge Pal with Jefferson Davis in Tokyo
...canned coffee to refresh visitors in the heat and humidity. On its front, the memorial showcases four lines, in English, pulled from the very last line of Pal’s nearly 250,000 word dissent. These four lines are engraved on a silver plaque. These, however, are not Pal’s words. They are the words of another. Pal had placed them in quotes in his dissent but also refrained from attributing them to their actual source, namely, the original speaker. The source of these words may come as a surprise. It did to me,...17 Feb Outraged Moderates and DoD Notes from 9/11
...same time – not only UBL [Usama Bin Laden]” (as discussed on p. 334-335 of The 9/11 Commission Report and in Bob Woodward’s Plan of Attack). In addition, the documents confirm the contents of CBS News’ Sept. 4, 2002 report “Plans For Iraq Attack Began on 9/11,” which quoted Rumsfeld’s notes as stating: “Go massive . . . Sweep it all up. Things related and not.” These lines were not mentioned in the 9/11 Commission Report or Woodward’s Plan of Attack, and to my knowledge, have not been independently confirmed...21 Mar Normative Distinctions vs. Executive Flexibility in Treaty-Making
The wide-ranging responses to Oona’s work are a testament to its ambition and importance. In the interest of keeping the discussion manageable, I’d like to offer two additional comments on Oona’s piece even though I could easily pursue a half dozen other lines of inquiry. First, I wanted to comment on the subtitle of the article—“The Past, Present and Future of International Lawmaking in the United States.” I wonder about the use of the term “lawmaking” here. Is it true that when we talk about treaties we’re always talking about...