Since the 2014 Gaza war, proponents of lawfare have sought to use the International Criminal Court to punish Israel for daring to respond militarily to Hamas’s unrelenting aggression. Noura Erakat, an assistant professor in legal and international studies at George Mason University and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, presented her case in a recent talk at Stanford University titled, “War on Gaza in the Age of Human Rights: Prospects for Accountability.”
The niece of Palestinian Authority (P.A.) chief negotiator Saeb Erakat, Erakat’s tone was calm and measured, her demeanor pleasant, and her partisanship unmistakable, even when couched in the dispassionate language of international human rights law.
Seated in a conference room before an audience of approximately forty, many of them fellow academics, Erakat began by noting that because this was “not a legal audience,” she would depart from her planned presentation and instead focus on “setting the framework for the lead-up” to the war and on providing “the legal and political context” for the situation in Gaza.
Referencing a recent report from Breaking the Silence, an NGO that presents the anonymous “testimonies” of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers who ostensibly oppose their government’s military policies, Erakat promised that it would “illuminate the rules of engagement in Gaza” and “help us comment on whether Israel is the most moral army in the world, as it insists.” Her next statement answered her rhetorical question: “Israel’s engagement with the laws of war made it possible to kill as many civilians and destroy as much civilian infrastructure as it did.” Hewing to this approach, she added:
Israel insisted it was within the bounds of law, let’s examine . . . the legal context to help explain the high humanitarian register of death and destruction, which was unprecedented, even if the campaign wasn’t.
Claiming that, “since 1993, Israel has been keen on separating Gaza from the rest of the conflict,” Erakat distorted the nature of Gaza’s terrorist rulers:
[They] say that Gaza is, for all intents and purposes, different because of the presence of what I would describe as a political party with an irregular combat force and [what] Israel would describe as a terrorist organization: Hamas.
Instead, she proposed that “Israel would be in a much better position . . . were it to deal with Gaza as it does the West Bank.” Since Gazans fire rockets indiscriminately into Israel and dig tunnels that enable kidnappings and terrorist attacks—and Hamas’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel—her recommendation was either disingenuous or naïve.
Erakat extended her antipathy towards the U.S., lamenting that Israel’s “powerful military has the unequivocal support of the world’s superpower, which we are all beneficiaries of. We’re all the beneficiaries of our empire.” In an act of naked scapegoating, she complained that the Obama administration’s proposal that Israel retreat to the indefensible pre-1967 borders was stymied “because of the response from the Israel lobby.”
She summed up the Gaza war as an Israeli “killing campaign” to which the “Palestinian population” had been “arbitrarily submitted.” Although she acknowledged the IDF’s unprecedented policy of providing warnings before bombing targets where civilians might be present, she downplayed them by asking, “Were the warnings adequate?” Citing the number of UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) shelters targeted, she failed to note that Hamas routinely uses these sites for launching rockets and storing weapons in order to avoid retaliation. Nor did she acknowledge Hamas’s frequent use of civilians as human shields, instead lamenting the “collapse of who is a civilian” according to Israel’s interpretation of the Geneva Conventions’ Principle of Distinction between Civilians and Combatants. That Hamas makes no pretense of adhering to the Geneva Conventions, while the P.A. merely pretends to do so, counted for nothing; the burdens of international law rest upon Israel alone.
Erakat concluded that along with a “deliberate policy of impoverishment,” Israel’s goals in the Gaza strip were always the “annexation” and “acquisition of land.” She dismissed Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005 because, she alleged, it “didn’t change its status as occupied territory.” Moreover, she claimed, “Israel was interested in putting boots back on the ground in the Gaza strip,” as if nonstop aggression following voluntary withdrawal had no bearing on Israel’s actions.
Maintaining that, “Israel’s campaign against Gaza is not Gaza-specific, it’s Palestinian-specific,” Erakat declared that, compared to the “success of colonialism” in the U.S. and Canada, the war “showed the weakness of Israel’s hegemonic project,” although for the Palestinians, “it was a show of resistance.” Yet, she added, unless “political pressure” is applied by the U.S., “Gaza will become unlivable in 2020. They’re going to die while everyone’s watching or while no one’s watching.” Apparently the vaunted international sphere isn’t watching for, as she earlier conceded, “Not a single home [in Gaza] has been rebuilt despite pledges from international community.”
During the question and answer period, an audience member took her up on her offer to “discuss” various contentious issues following the talk. In the course of responding, Erakat asserted that Hamas is now in favor of the two-state solution, which was news to the questioner. In fact, Hamas had claimed as much, using characteristically slippery language, on a number of occasions leading up to the 2014 conflict, but was predictably disingenuous. Earlier this year, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk did so again in order to secure funding for Gaza from the Middle East Quartet, but still refused to recognize Israel, issued the usual untenable demands in return, and called it a “temporary solution.” If this was the source of Erakat’s revelation, it’s as reliable as a Hamas hudna (temporary truce).
Despite Erakat’s pose as a disinterested observer of human rights and international law, her animus towards Israel and sympathy for Palestinian irredentism was obvious. The ranks of Middle East studies are filled with such “moderate” academics who are, in truth, as biased and politicized as any fire-breathing radical. The question is who is more dangerous?
Cinnamon Stillwell is the West Coast Representative for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. She can be reached at stillwell@meforum.org.
JIMJFOX says
“success of colonialism” in the U.S. and Canada….
much like the ‘success of colonialism’ by Muslim conquerors of Arabia, middle east, north Africa, Afghanistan, Persia, India, etc, etc?
With one GLARING difference— ISLAM NEVER LEAVES voluntarily but has to be driven out.
WHY are these academics so STUPID??
Stardusty Psyche says
Hi JIMJFOX,
“success of colonialism” in the U.S. and Canada ISLAM NEVER LEAVES … has to be driven out…
WHY are these academics so STUPID??”
Did the Europeans and their descendants ever leave the USA and Canada, such that the indigenous peoples could return to the lands that were stolen from them?
Is Israel ever going to leave the lands they have stolen and continue to steal from the Palestinians?
Why are colonialism deniers so stupid?
Likud and Hamas are the same in terms of territorial ambitions.
Likud and Hamas are the same in terms of divine instructions for genocide in their respective holy books, except that the Jewish texts are worse than the Islamic texts in a few details.
Likud, unlike Hamas, has altered its ways relative to the original instructions to genocide and only wishes to murder the minimum number necessary to steal all the land from the Sea to the Jordan, unlike Hamas who still want to murder all the Jews plus steal all the land from the Sea to the Jordan.
Here is a map of the land Israel has stolen so far and the lands they presently operate as apartheid Bantustans under police state travel restrictions.
https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/westbank_2014_final.pdf
Charli Main says
Its the ” Palestinians ” that are the thieves and invaders of Isreali land since 634 AD. If these Muslim invaders from Mecca want land, they should xxxx off back to Saudi Arabia where they come from and please take all the Muslim vermin currently invading Europe with them.
Stardusty Psyche says
Hi Charli Main ,
That’s a very astute historical analysis, but why stop at 1400 years ago as a basis for present day ownership?
Let’s go back 2000 years, since Rome ruled the land at that time I say the Italians have rights to rule today.
No, I stopped too soon, lets go back 3500 years and just kick every Jew out of Palestine and give it back to the Canaanites who were there first!
Northern says
stardust;
“..that constitutes and act of aggressive invasion land theft war against the Palestinians..
This is ridiculous.
As “Palestinian” politician Zouhair Moussein told the Dutch newspaper Trouw in 1977 (Israel Matzav):
“The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism.
“For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jersusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan. There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation. It is only for political reasons that we carefully underline our Palestinian identity… yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes. The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel.”
Northern says
Non-Jews have also lived in Canaan/Judea/Samaria/Israel/Palestine/Trans Jordan for thousands of years.
Not that many. In the mid 1800’s there were only 300,000 people in the area now called Israel- the population had not increased in 400 years and the Ottomans brought in Circassians from Russia and Muslims from the Balkans to try and build up the population. There was a huge immigration into Israel after the Jews started growing oranges the size of volleyballs. Most of the so called “Palestinians” are recent immigrants from other areas.
Northern says
The Jews were there thousands of years before the Romans, who invaded and conquered the kingdoms of Judea and Israel. So it is the Jews land, not that of the Roman conquerers.
Since the Canaanites became extinct before the time of Jesus, it is kinda hard to “give the land back” to them.
Stardusty Psyche says
Hi Northern,
“The Jews were there thousands of years before the Romans, who invaded and conquered the kingdoms of Judea and Israel. So it is the Jews land, not that of the Roman conquerers.”
Ok, the Native Americans were here thousands of years before the European conquerors so it is the Native American’s land.
Europeans get the hell out of North America!!!
Northern says
You, first, hypocrite. Of course you won’t.
The Souix took their land from the Cherokee.
This is human history.
As for your “colonial deniers” point – the Brits and French DID leave behind their colonies in the Middle East, Africa, India. Muslims never do. Except when they get kicked out- for example Andalus.. and Israel.
…Israel represents the successful national liberation of a dhimmi civilization. On a territory formerly Arabized by the jihad and the dhimma, a pre—Islamic language, culture, topographical geography, and national institutions have been restored to life. This reversed the process of centuries in which the cultural, social and political structures of the indigenous population of Palestine were destroyed. In 1974, Abu Iyad, second—in—command to Arafat in the Fatah hierarchy, announced: “We intend to struggle so that our Palestinian homeland does not become a new Andalusia.” The comparison of Andalusia to Palestine was not fortuitous since both countries were Arabized, and then de—Arabized by a pre—Arabic culture.
-Bat Yeor
Stardusty Psyche says
Hi Northern,
“The Souix took their land from the Cherokee.
This is human history.”
Indeed. We cannot rewind all the conquests and immigrations of the past.
Hence, your original statement “it is the Jews land” by right of prior occupancy is false.
The present inhabitants of Palestine are having their land stolen by Israel. Here is a map of the progress Israel under Likud has made in the stated goal of Likud to steal all the land from the Sea to the Jordan. Likud has already stolen about half of their goal. In what they call Judea and Samaria they operate a number of apartheid Bantustans between which there are police state travel restrictions.
The map of Israeli land theft:
https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/westbank_2014_final.pdf
Northern says
Stating “it is the Jews land” by right of prior occupancy is false contradicts your “We cannot rewind all the conquests and immigrations of the past.”
The Jews have just “rewound” the Islamic conquest of Israel.
the Jews have lived in Israel continuously for thousands of years before the jihad under Abu beker. In Hamas’ charter they admit they stole the land and that it is an Islamic Waqf due to this conquest (article 11 or 12- I forget which one).
How is Israel “stealing” land? The word Jew comes from Judea. yet you insist on calling it “the West Bank” Google roberkennedyandisrael. RFK visited Palestine in 1948 before modern day Israel was a state;
““The Jews point with pride to the fact that over 500,000 Arabs in the 12 years between 1932 and 1944, came into Palestine to take advantage of living conditions existing in no other Arab state. This is the only country in the Near and Middle East where an Arab middle class is in existence.”
After the Arabs lost the war THEY started in 1948, they started whining; “The Jews stole our land!”
More taquiya to try and steal another country for Allah.,
Stardusty Psyche says
Hi Northern,
The Jews of Israel have stolen land from the present occupants of that land. That is why there are so many Palestinian refugees who are not allowed to come back to the lands that were stolen from them.
The Jews of Israel continue to steal the land from the present occupants of the land in the West Bank in Palestine, a name for the region that has also existed for thousands of years.
Non-Jews have also lived in Canaan/Judea/Samaria/Israel/Palestine/Trans Jordan for thousands of years.
Likud has its sites set on all the land from the Sea to the Jordan and they have already stolen about half of it.
Again, if you don’t believe me just read the map:
https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/westbank_2014_final.pdf
Northern says
Israel is not “stealing” “Palestinian” land.
Miliions of Arabs live in Israel. Why can’t Jews live in Judea and samaria. Do you realize how bigoted this idea is?
About 90% of Judea and Samaria is open mountains and valleys and Jewish villages are not taking land from Arabs, or Circassians, or whoever is living there. Jewish towns take up about 4% of the area and Arabs about 6%. So no land is being “stolen”
In any event, the so called West bank was taken by the Jordanian army in the 1948 war. There were Jewish towns there that had existed continually for 3,500 years. All wiped out and all Jews expelled or killed. No other country recognized this land theft by Jordan expect Pakistan and Britain.
Israel won the land in the 1967 war AFTER Jordan attacked them Israel had told Jordan repeatedly that they would not attack Jordan if Jordan did not attack them.
Read a newspaper article about the 1967 war written at that time. There was no mention of “Palestinians” since they had not been invented yet. Jordan occupied the area from 1948 to 1967 and during that time there was no mention of “Palestinians” wanting their own state.
Stardusty Psyche says
Hi Northern,
” Why can’t Jews live in Judea and samaria”
Israeli Jews cannot rightfully move out of Israel and into what they call Judea and Samaria because it is outside the borders of Israel and that constitutes and act of aggressive invasion land theft war against the Palestinians, who call that land Palestine.
Arabs who are Israeli citizens have every right to live in Israel, and they do, under conditions which are arguably the best conditions for Arabs in the middle east.
Arabs from outside of Israel have no right to enter Israel and build settlements on Israeli land even if that land is open and unpopulated.
To understand how Palestinians feel about Israeli Jews moving out of Israel and into Palestine consider how you might feel about Egyptians who just decide they will move into the Negev, build settlements there, and declare that land part of Egypt. I am sure there are Egyptian citizens who could trace some kind of ancestral link to the Negev and claim the land was unoccupied anyhow, but that does not give them the right to move in and steal the land there.
Northern says
Stardust;
“The Jews of Israel have stolen land from the present occupants of that land.”
The land is disputed.
“That is why there are so many Palestinian refugees who are not allowed to come back to the lands that were stolen from them.”
The so called Palestinians were displaced in a war that the Arabs started. Wars have consequences. It is ridiculous that their Arab brethern have not integrated them. In 1945 there were millions of Displaced Persons in Europe. These people were absorbed within a few years. It is unprecedented in human history for there to be a permanent class of “refugees” 70 years on.
Israel absorbed nearly a million Mizrahi and Sephardi Jewish refugees from Arab lands in the 1950’s and 1960s.
The Arabs need to do the same
Thomas Hennigan says
Get a lesson in the history of the Roman conquest of the land of Israel by the Roman General Pompey in 55 B:C. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were long extinct, Israel destroyed by Nineveh in 721 B.C. and Judah by Babylonia in 587. Thsese were succeeded by the Persians and thentthe Greeks and the empire of Alexander the Great was divided so that for about a century the land of Israel was under the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt to be taken over later by the Seleucids of Syria. From the time of the Maccabean wars (ca 170 B.C.) the Jews had a sort of semi-independence under them and their Hasmonean successors. The Romans did not march in to destory the long destoryed kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
Craig says
Colonialism requires a mother country. What country were “Israeli colonists” working for? And then there was silence…
The same thing happened when I asked a “palestinian” to name their founding fathers, proof of an Arab Palestine or any independent arab government within the borders of modern Israel. Silence.
You can’t spell PALESTINE without TEN PA LIES.
Stardusty Psyche says
Hi Craig,
“What country were “Israeli colonists” working for?”
Israel.
Was that supposed to be some kind of controversial or difficult question?
Here is a map of land outside of Israel that is being stolen by Israel.
https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/westbank_2014_final.pdf
” proof of an Arab Palestine or any independent arab government within the borders of modern Israel.”
There is no Arab government within the borders of modern Israel. Of course not, why would you even ask a question in that manner?
There is also no German government within the borders of modern France. So what?
How ironic you use the term Palestinian Authority within your own little re-arrangement of letters, while claiming a general absence of origins or existence of a Palestinian government.
Yasser Arafat is probably the most recognizable leader’s name in recent Palestinian history. The term “Palestine” goes back to ancient history. Modern Palestine has been called Canaan, Judea, Samaria, Palestine, Israel, Trans Jordan, and the Proposed Arab State.
It is difficult to strictly define a Californian, yet there are Californians. I cannot precisely define art, yet there is art. The people of Palestine have been subjected to continual war and displacement, so it is no surprise that trying to strictly define Palestine and Palestinians will always lead to argument.
Angemon says
Not to worry, Obama read “The Post-American World” and he’s on the case.
Over the years I’ve heard this accusation repeated many times by many different people and organizations. Israel must suck at killing civilians, since the “palestinian” population keeps increasing. Not to mention, of course, that the best way to indiscriminately kill would be to release a chemical agent – why risk resources and human lives?
I’m surprised that she did not demand Israel to share its missile defense system with the “palestinians”. Such a request may seem stupid and insane (because it is), but that’s a thing that really happened:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/08/un-condemns-israels-latest-war-crime-not-sharing-iron-dome-with-hamas
Standard stuff – the fault always falls on Israel. Wretched stuff.
So Israel is trying to impoverish the land it’s allegedly trying to acquire? That makes no sense.
Of course she did. Israel withdrew, peace didn’t follow. The facts don’t match the theory, so what should be done? Why, downplay the facts, obviously!
$50 as five years from now there will be plenty of “palestinians” living in Gaza but she won’t acknowledge she was wrong, she’ll just move the deadline a few years.
somehistory says
You wrote “Not to mention, of course, that the best way to indiscriminately kill would be to release a chemical agent ”
How about when they doctor at their finest hospitals the victims from the enemies side…the children of those who are fighting them…the wounded from those who would kill them…they could easily infect these with germ warfare and send them home to spread it. But they don’t because to do so, would put them in the same mire of immorality as those who wish to see all Jews everywhere dead.
This woman’s name is misspelled…it should be ekaRat. And in her safe place, she can say how wrong it is for the Jews to defend themselves because she is not being attacked. Have a muslim who thinks she is not muslim enough find her…with her hair uncovered and going about un-escourted…and see if she thinks it’s still not a good thing to defend oneself.
RonaldB says
The article wasn’t so clear whether Noura Erakat was actually involved in bringing a case in front of the International Criminal Court, or if she was just making a case at the moment.
She is clearly a Palestinian partisan, but what she is doing is what civilized westerners often do: apply the most lofty standards to the people they can reach (generally, civilized people) and give a pass to the people for whom it is personally dangerous to harass (try coming to the Gaza strip as a self-proclaimed neutral investigator examining the crimes of intentionally endangering civilians). What happens is that civilization gets so wrapped up in procedural requirements that it literally sacrifices its own ability to defend itself and its people.
University professors, being long on verbal ability and short on anything else, tend to be in the forefront of the drive for ever more procedural roadblocks to any action.
Having said that, if I were advising Israel on military strategy, I would consider giving Hamas more leeway, even in the light of some rockets coming over the borders. The most important factor for any government is that it controls its own territory. It’s not at all clear that Hamas has control over all the factions in the Gaza strip; many of the rocket firings may be by fringe groups.
Let’s try this scenario. Hamas would like to control its own territory (any government does) but its grip is weak, and there are other groups claiming Hamas is not sufficiently militant. Hamas doesn’t feel strong enough to eliminate these groups by force…yet. Not that Hamas has any compunctions on enforcing its will through naked force when it can…it murdered the participants in a wedding for dancing.
My feeling is that if Hamas gains strength and extends its control over all the population, it will naturally eliminate the competitor groups. It won’t be pretty, so the main job of Israel in that case will be to resist pressures to allow the victims refuge within Israel.
Anyway, once Hamas becomes the sole government in fact, its interests change from being a revolutionary group to maintaining its own power. Part of that is not pushing Israel to the point where Israel takes military actions.
So, I’m arguing that Israel should consider giving Hamas some slack, and allowing it to consolidate its own power. I will point out that as Hamas eliminates the competitor groups, they will increase their rocket firings specifically for the purpose of goading Israel into attacks, thus weakening the Hamas drive to consolidate.
mortimer says
Erakat “added, unless “political pressure” is applied by the U.S., “Gaza will become unlivable in 2020. They’re going to die while everyone’s watching.”
Right the most obese people in the world, the Gazans, will die of heart disease and diabetes in record numbers.
Solution? More exercise, better diet.
Note: most Muslims put on weight during the ‘fast’ of Ramadan. That weight probably doesn’t come off in the case of stay-at-home-segregated women. They get fatter every year.
Tommo says
The Ramadan fast is a farce with more food being consumed during this time by Muslims than at any other with midnight feasts going on until the early hours.
voegelinian says
Look! Noura Erakat is not wearing a hijab, her hair is flowing freely, her blouse is buttoned open, she looks nice and personable, she’s an American citizen — therefore she must be a moderate Muslim!
Stardusty Psyche says
She is obviously a slut whore temptress who must be beaten in the streets by the religious police…ooops, sorry, I forgot, this isn’t IS, Saudi Arabia, etc, etc, etc…
voegelinian says
I meant her blouse is low-cut, not buttoned open.
Stanton Cordray says
This is an excellent assessment. That someone is watching and reporting on such things is reason to hope that reason (and peace) has a chance. But, of course, it isn’t reporting like this that gets heard and believed most widely. Knee jerk agreement with Professor Erakat is a virtual ritual gesture in the West today, mostly without factual or reasoned support, but, sometimes, with a fairly sophisticated collection of lies and misrepresentations using nefarious sources while claiming that serious ones are without credibility, to back it up.
Westman says
International Law is an invention for the victorious or powerful. In real effect it doesn’t exist unless some country, like the US, is willing to enforce it on some lesser military power. If the Axis had won WWII it would have been the allies swinging from ropes after some “judicial” trial. It’s simply the politics of the victor.
As long as the US backs Israel there will be no “war crimes” trial of Israel and we all know it. Hamas has declared the utter destruction of Israel as its primary goal, so if people allow Hamas to fight from their houses they should expect to share the consequences.
This lawyer and others like her are spitting their bile upwind. They would be more effective by joining and throwing rocks with Palestinian youth. At least their true intention would be obvious.
For now, America is supporting the civilized side.
Fritz Kohlhaas says
Why is this Jew-hater allowed to teach?
grandestgrandma says
Why does the world keep quiet about the Muslim atrocities? Everyone is going to pay the price for acting deaf dumb or thinking that this will be their savoir from definite death. They think if you cannot fight them join them what a mistake!
pongidae rex says
Those with the power to decisively resolve a problem on the same terms as those who create the problem, but who lack the courage to do so, deserve whatever outcome results. In the next war with Hamas, Israel should bulldoze Gaza into Egypt and the sea.
Michael J says
If Hamas really accepts a two state solution, they should recognize Israel and change their charter.
Thomas Hennigan says
They would have to stop bieng jihadis and give up on what the Koran orders them to do.
Michael J says
Then it is a never ending struggle – a constant war that the jihadists are taking global.
citycat says
Gosh, politics, heavy stuff
The Israel prime minister is pretty right on with his view of Islam, and it seems that erakat is saying that it’s not fair that Islam is not totally winning, and her lawfare here is flannel as a tactic to delay the world realizing enmasse what exactly Islam is up to, which is world domination, death of all religions, and death of all athiests.
Law? What law? What gang warfare crap.
Islam is making a joke out of the world’s respect for law and order.
Islam will not respect anything but its own narcissistic self.
I don’t mean muslims- i mean Islam.
Lawfare, a fear angle hopefully being desublimated by non ostrich experts.
A parallel to lawfare-
hate speech may be rewritten as love speech