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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 1, 2004
/ 8 Adar, 5764
The other peace fence
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
Why peace in the Mideast won't be won in courtroom
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
By now you may have read about the security fence. The one a powerful Middle Eastern nation is building to keep terrorists from crossing a porous border that separates it from an unstable, radical neighbor.
The fence intended to keep extremists from blowing up civilians. The fence that spans 45 miles and may intrude as much as four miles into the territory of the powerful nation's smaller and weaker neighbor.
No, not the fence Israel is erecting to keep suicide bombers out of its cities and towns. This fence is the one Saudi Arabia began building last fall along its border with Yemen.
A rash of terrorist bombings in Riyadh last year killed 52 people. Saudi authorities assert that Islamic radicals slipping over the border from Yemen are responsible.
The international community hasn't batted an eye at the Saudi fence. The rights of self-defense and secure borders are fundamental for all nations. All nations, that is, except Israel.
Over the past 31/2 years, 822 Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinian terrorism. With only one-quarter the population of Saudi Arabia, Israel's annual average rate of terrorist deaths over this period is proportionately 18 times higher.
Last Sunday in Jerusalem, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a commuter bus, killing eight Israelis and wounding 60 more. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility.
This bombing came on the eve of opening arguments about Israel's security fence at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
The ICJ is an important and functional U.N. organ that operates on the basis of consent. It is not a compulsory, supranational Supreme Court to which the nations of the world must submit. Rather, it is an arbitration panel to which states may, by mutual agreement, voluntarily submit disputes for resolution.
Israel, however, did not agree to submit the issue of its security fence to the ICJ. The case sits in the hands of the international jurists in The Hague because 90 members of the U.N. General Assembly voted to seek an advisory opinion from the ICJ. An advisory opinion about which this bloc of nations has already established its opinion that Israel is an illegitimate state lacking the right of self-defense enshrined in Article 51 of the U.N. Charter.
The decision of the General Assembly to seek a problematic advisory opinion about the security fence is only the latest example of efforts to delegitimize Israel at the United Nations.
Last year, the U.N. Human Rights Commission singled out Israel for condemnation while ignoring the egregious human rights violations of many of the commission's own members: Sudan, Cuba, China and the commission's presiding member, Libya.
Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, the U.S. representative to this ignominious farce, commented: "The repeated efforts of some members of the United Nations to isolate and vilify the government of Israel are an affront to the Charter of the United Nations."
The ICJ, though, does not have to play along with such shenanigans in this case.
Recognizing that a plurality of the world's most violent and repressive regimes can turn the ICJ into a kangaroo court that lends legal sanction to the ideological motives of an international rogues' gallery, a coalition of some 40 mostly democratic nations has issued briefs opposing the ICJ's jurisdiction in the political dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.
The ICJ should not allow itself to be perverted by the political whim of a corrupt General Assembly. As it has in other cases, the ICJ should refuse to issue an advisory opinion about Israel's security fence.
The barrier to peace between Israelis and Palestinians is not this fence; rather, it is the terror supported and incited by Arafat that has made the fence necessary. Those who claim to advocate peace should focus on this problem, seek a Palestinian leadership that will return to the negotiating table with Israel and leave the ICJ to its worthwhile purpose.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of
the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he
was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department. Comment by clicking here.
© 2004, Jonathan Gurwitz
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