Israel rights increasingly granted only conditionally: report News
Israel rights increasingly granted only conditionally: report

[JURIST] Many rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories are granted only conditionally according to a report [text, PDF, in Hebrew; press release] released Sunday by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) [advocacy website]. The report found that the state infringes on the fundamental rights of political and religious dissenters as well as those of Arabs and the poor. The report cites arbitrary arrests of those opposed to last winters' Operation Cast Lead [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive] and attempts to pass laws requiring citizens to swear loyalty to the state and preventing residents from recognizing Israel's independence day as a day of mourning as evidence of increasing restrictions on freedom of speech. Other evidence of a decline in civil rights included Israel's rejection of independent investigations into Operation Cast Lead, increased reports of racism, housing discrimination and the increasing inability of the poor to afford health care. An English version of the report is expected soon.

Last month, the UN General Assembly [official website] adopted a resolution [JURIST report] giving Israel and Palestine three months to conduct independent investigations into possible war crimes committed during last winter's Gaza conflict. The General Assembly voted 114-18 with 44 abstentions [press release] expressing support for the Goldstone Report [text, PDF], the result of a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] fact-finding mission, which accused both Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) [official website] and Hamas [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] fighters of war crimes during the conflict. Israel criticized the report as biased, questioned the objectivity of the fact-finding, and urged the UN not to adopt the report's findings.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.