UN Secretary General António Guterres made another call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza following a trip to Egypt near Rafah on Saturday. He also made a call for Israel to allow aid delivers into the occupied territories without intervening, and for Hamas to release all hostages. Guterres met with UN humanitarian workers during his [...]
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The Cost of Revenge: A Cantor's Critique of Israel's Response to Hamas
In the wake of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, many of Israel’s supporters, myself included, have succumbed to the understandable impulse for violent retribution. Israel is a land that I love, both culturally as a Jew — and third-generation Holocaust survivor — and spiritually as an ordained cantor. It follows that [...]
Explainer Part II: The Israel-Hamas War and the International Court of Justice
The ongoing conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine continues to raise significant issues of international law and policy. My earlier contribution focused on the jurisdiction and substantive law of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Here I address the ongoing litigation before the International Court of Justice (ICJ or Court). Because the crime of genocide can be [...]
Haiti government extends state of emergency following increasing gang violence
The government of Haiti extended the state of emergency around Port-Au-Prince Thursday following the increasing escalation of gang violence and the displacement of thousands. The state of emergency bans all forms of public protest, day and night, introduces a new curfew and grants security forces the ability to use “all legal means” to enforce the [...]
Class Action Asserts Patient Rights Violated: Genzyme Faces Legal Scrutiny Over Fabry Drug Handling
The US has faced numerous issues involving prescription drugs, especially with rising costs and accessibility of life-saving and required medications. One class action lawsuit (Wilkins et. al. v. Genzyme Corporation (n/k/Sanofi) against Genzyme (now owned by and known as Sanofi, the eighth largest pharmaceutical company in the world) alleges the company intentionally misled patients with [...]
Explainer: Making Sense of Alabama’s Supreme Court Ruling on IVF
The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are children. What does this mean? And how might the ruling reverberate as the US grapples with reproductive rights in a post-Roe world? In this explainer, we will explore these issues and their possible implications. As succinctly as possible, what was this case about? LePage v. [...]
The Unconscionable Nazi Legacies of Executions by Gas and Lethal Injection
Alabama’s experimental use of gas to torture to death Kenneth Smith on January 25th — like all executions by lethal injection — has perpetuated a horrific Nazi legacy in the United States and is a traumatizing affront to many in the Jewish community. The fact that this torment was blindly carried out just ahead of [...]
The US District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that accuses President Joe Biden of being complicit in genocide in Gaza because of the president’s support for Israel’s military operation. The decision, written by Judge Jeffrey S. White, hinged on jurisdictional questions and did not speak to the substantive claims [...]
UN agency fires employees allegedly involved in October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced Friday that the agency fired a number of employees that were allegedly involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated: The Israeli Authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several [...]
Explainer: The Israel-Hamas War and the International Criminal Court
The current conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine raises significant issues of international law and policy. This is part one in an anticipated two-part series that will discuss some of the relevant legal questions before the International Criminal Court (ICC; Part I) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ; Part II). With both courts located in [...]