[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Occupation, Intervention, and Law and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the O.I.L. Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each biweekly roundup to OIL@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every other week]
News
"Palestinian Cars Vandalized in Apparent Hate Attack", Agence France-Presse
Six Palestinian vehicles in an East Jerusalem neighborhood had their tires slashed and smeared with racist slogans in an apparent hate crime by extremists on the Israeli right.
"Obama Appeals to Set Rules for Guantanamo Lawyers", Josh Gerstein
The Obama Administration has filed a series of appeals with regard to a District Court ruling in September. The ruling, from Judge Royce Lamberth, dismissed Administration efforts to limit the communication between Guantanamo detainees and their lawyers.
"Turkish Leader Says He Plans a Trip to Gaza Soon", Judi Rudoren
Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has indicated in the Turkish press his desire to visit the Gaza Strip, a move Rudoren writes is likely to further entrench the legitimacy of Hamas` political structure in Gaza while "antagonizing" Israel and the United States, among other Western governments.
"Special Report: The Permanent War", Greg Miller
In a series of three articles,The Washington Post traces the rise of the use of drone strikes as a counterterrorism tactic by the Obama Administration, examines the legitimacy of the tactic, and speculates the program`s future under a potential Obama second term or a Romney presidency.
"Pentagon Urged to Televise Guantanamo Terror Trial", Associated Press
The lawyers of five Guantanamo detainees have written a letter requesting Defense Secretary Leon Panetta allow television broadcasts of the trial of their clients, following the lead of a military judge ruling that allowing television coverage was ultimately contingent on Panetta`s approval.
"U.S. Identifying Possible Leaders in Syrian Opposition", Jill Dougherty
CNN`s Security Clearance Blog reports the State Department has publicly expressed disappointment with the Syrian National Council, has identified Syrians who "show leadership", and plans on bringing them to the attention of opposition leaders gathering in Doha on 7 November.
"Netanyahu Seeks France`s Backing Over Iran", Al-Jazeera English
AJE reports on a recent visit of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to France, writing that while he and French PM Francois Hollande agreed on the need for tougher sanctions to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Hollande publicly rejected Netanyahu`s arguments in favor of an Israeli military strike on Iran.
"U.S. Eases Rules on Sale of Medicines to Iran", Paul Richter
Amid criticism of the suffering of ordinary citizens caused by its sanctions targeting Iran`s nuclear development, the Obama Administration has agreed to ease restrictions on the sale of medicine to Iran, excising paperwork burdens that may have stood in the way of the sale of certain medicines and foods.
"Emir of Qatar Begins Historic Gaza Visit", Harriet Sherwood
Sherwood, writing for The Guardian, reports on the first visit of a head of state to Gaza since Hamas` electoral victory in 2006. Sherwood describes the circumstances of the Emir`s visit and the reactions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. Also detailed is a series of investment projects initiated by Qatar in Gaza, the inauguration of which provided the purpose of the Emir`s visit.
Commentary
"Pitfalls of Covering Palestinian Corruption", George Hale
Writing for The Daily Beast, Hale writes of Jihad Harb, a Palestinian writer facing criminal charges after writing articles critical of Mahmoud Abbas` office; Hale writes that Harb`s fate serves as a microcosm for the broader trend of a corruption of press freedom in the Palestinian Authority.
"The New Politics of Human Rights in the Middle East", Shadi Mokhtari
Writing for Foreign Policy`s The Middle East Channel, Mokhtari writes of the efforts of Egyptian NGOs to engage with parliamentary human rights committees as well as Yemeni activists acting in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners in Bahrain as indicative of a new paradigm of human rights activism in the Middle East, one in which the mobilization for human rights happens within the Middle East as opposed to from abroad.
"Militant or Terrorist?", Judah Grunstein
Grunstein writes in The New York Times that partisan squabbling over the nature of the 11 September assault in Benghazi has obfuscated the significance of the attack. Grunstein argues that those responsible for the attack operated locally for local motives, thus making the notion of the attack being of a "terrorist" nature absurd and the idea of the Obama Administration as responsible for the attack similarly illogical.
Blogs
"There`s Nothing New in Mahmoud Abbas` and the PLO`s Renunciation of Palestinian Refugee Rights", Ali Abunimah
Abunimah criticizes Mahmoud Abbas` renunciation of Israeli television of the "right to return" and subsequent attempts by Abbas and the PLO to combat a backlash against his words by blaming the media for distorting his statement. Abunimah writes that Abbas` statement is not only exactly what he meant, but rooted in a long trend of a PLO "policy of giving up refugee rights".
"Will Drone Strikes Become Obama’s Guantanamo — Or Romney’s?", John Bellinger
Bellinger writes on Lawfare that the international legal community is beginning to grow "uneasy" towards the US` use of drone strikes against potential terrorist targets, warning that the program may come to be as "internationally maligned" as the use of torture at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Bellinger writes that Obama, if re-elected, will have to address this international discontent, while Romney will "inherit [the] drone strategy just as international opinion may be turning against it"
"Angela Davis: At least in the Jim Crow South the roads were not segregated", Annie Robbins
Mondoweiss` Annie Robbins writes of a recent talk given by activist Angela Davis at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. Davis speaks of being "shocked` at the conditions of Occupied Palesitne, telling the audience that in many ways the Occupation appears more punishing than the American South during the Jim Crow era.
"The Washington Post`s Three Article Series on `The Permanent War`", Kenneth Anderson
Responding to the Washington Post`s series of articles on the United States` use of drone strikes against terrorism targets, Anderson compares the US and international legal communities` response to the notion of a US "permanent war" of "counter-terorism on offense".
Reports
"One Hell of a Killing Machine": Signature Strikes and International Law", Kevin Jon Heller
In a paper appearing in the forthcoming issue of Journal of International Criminal Justice, Heller assesses the void of scholarship on the legality of signature strikes under international law--a void that exists, Heller notes, despite the US` increasing reliance on such strikes.
Conferences
"The International Criminal Court at Ten"; 11-12 November 2012; Washington University Law, Register here.
"Principles of Shared Responsibility in International Law"; 7-8 February 2012; Amsterdam; Register here.
"Inter-Institutional Relations in Global Law and Governance"; 13-14 June 2013; Viterbo, Italy; Register and respond to Call for Papers here.
On Jadaliyya
"The UN at ASIL: R2P and the Arab Uprisings", Noura Erakat