Journal of International Studies

If Kerry’s proposal doesn’t include an agreement to eventually end Israeli control of Palestinian territories, then his economic plan simply becomes another iteration of a failed strategy.

I spent last week at the United Nations, meeting with ambassadors of countries in the Middle East and presenting my final report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly as my term as Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine comes to an end. My report emphasized issues relating to corporate responsibility of those companies and banks that are engaged in business relationships with the settlements. Such an emphasis seemed to strike a responsive note with many delegations as a tangible way of expressing displeasure with Israel’s continuing defiance of its international law obligations, especially in relation to the unlawful settlements being provocatively expanded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at the very moment that the resumption of direct negotiations between the Palestine Authority and the Government of Israel is being heralded as a promising development. Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territori...

General Observations During my period as the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine on behalf of the Human Rights Council, I have been struck by the persistent efforts of Israel and its strong civil society adjuncts to divert attention from the substance of Palestinian grievances or the consideration of the respective rights of Israel and Palestine under international law. I have also observed that many, but by no means all, of those who represent the Palestinians seem strangely reluctant to focus on substance or to take full advantage of opportunities to use UN mechanisms to challenge Israel on the terrain of international law and morality. Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 This Palestinian reluctance is more baffling than are the Israeli diversionary tactics. It seems clear that international law supports Palestinian claims on the major issues in contention: bo...

DAMASCUS  –  In Damascus and many other areas of Syria this weekend, citizens will celebrate the accomplishments of the 19-day war launched on October 6, 1973 by Syrian and Egyptian armies to regain Arab land illegally occupied since 1967. Syrians will honor the 6,000 of their own who died during battle. Many events are planned including special television broadcasts which will revisit the conflict; also numerous art exhibits, plays, films, concerts, rallies, and wreath-laying ceremonies. Public and government officials will appear at the monument, located atop Qasioun Mountain in Damascus, mindful of the many sacrifices being made today.  In Egypt, October 6 is Armed Forces Day, commemorating the Egyptians’ role in that October War. For both peoples,  breaking Israel’s sense of invincibility  after its 1967 aggression was victory enough.  The results of the battle were mixed as history records, but the political...