26 March 2024
Zwischen Fluss, Meer und Strafbefehl
Macht sich strafbar, wer den Satz „from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free“ verwendet? In aller Regel nicht. Der Slogan ist vieldeutig und Gerichte müssen bei mehreren Deutungsmöglichkeiten wegen der Meinungsfreiheit genau begründen, warum allein die strafbare Interpretation plausibel sein soll. Er kennzeichnet auch nicht die Hamas, denn verschiedene Akteure verwenden ihn seit Jahrzenten bis heute. Continue reading >>
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04 December 2023
Perils and Pitfalls of Israel´s New ´War on Terror´
Over the last weeks, we were forced to realize that the way our – i.e. German – public opinion (and politicians) react to the ruthless assault of Hamas on 7 October differs markedly from the intuitions of the broad public in the Islamic world (and large parts of the ´Global South´ in general). Whereas our media (and speeches of politicians) are full of references to Israel´s right to self-defence, the sentiments voiced on the streets in the Middle East (and publicly stated by politicians such as Turkish President Erdogan) go in the opposite direction, stress the legitimate cause of the Palestinians and term the Hamas as a movement of national liberation. Clearly there is a legitimate cause in the fight of Palestinians against endless occupation. But do ends really justify means, at all price, as the praise for Hamas seems to suggest? A closer look to the normative underpinnings of current international law confirms the intuition that this is more than doubtful, as a thorough analysis of the (intensely debated) provisions on the status of movements of national liberation in IHL tells us. Continue reading >>31 October 2023
Hamas’ Atrocities, Israel’s Response, and the Primacy of International Law to Protect Civilians
In light of the atrocities committed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters in Israel on October 7, 2023 and the days thereafter, and against the backdrop of Germany’s historical responsibility, the German government and German politicians have unanimously expressed solidarity with Israel and emphasized its right to self-defense. Following the October 17, 2023 call by Kai Ambos for a differentiated debate, we explain which international humanitarian law precautions are relevant and what German policy can contribute to contain the escalation of violence as well as the suffering of the civilian population in the immediate conflict and in the future. Continue reading >>20 October 2023