Justice for some Law and the question of Palestine

Noura Erakat

Book - 2019

"Justice in the question of Palestine is often framed as a question of law. Yet none of the Israel-Palestinian conflict's most vexing challenges have been resolved by judicial intervention. Occupation law has failed to stem Israel's settlement enterprise. Laws of war have permitted killing and destruction during Israel's military offensives in the Gaza Strip. The Oslo Accord's two-state solution is now dead letter. Justice for Some offers a new approach to understanding the Palestinian struggle for freedom, told through the power and control of international law. Focusing on key junctures--from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to present-day wars in Gaza--Noura Erakat shows how the strategic deployment of law has sha...ped current conditions. Over the past century, the law has done more to advance Israel's interests than the Palestinians'. But, Erakat argues, this outcome was never inevitable. Law is politics, and its meaning and application depend on the political intervention of states and people alike. Within the law, change is possible. International law can serve the cause of freedom when it is mobilized in support of a political movement. Presenting the promise and risk of international law, Justice for Some calls for renewed action and attention to the Question of Palestine"--Provided by publisher.

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Subjects
Published
Stanford, California : Stanford University Press [2019]
Language
English
Main Author
Noura Erakat (author)
Physical Description
xiii, 331 pages : maps ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780804798259
  • Maps
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • 1. Colonial Erasures
  • 2. Permanent Occupation
  • 3. Pragmatic Revolutionaries
  • 4. The Oslo Peace Process
  • 5. From Occupation to Warfare
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

Erakat traces Israel's dispossession of Palestinian lands and erosion of human rights while it countered efforts by Palestinians and international actors to stop abuses. She meticulously reveals how Israel ignored international law, the laws of war, duties of an occupying power, and efforts brought through the United Nations to censure its actions. She discusses Israel's rationale for targeted assassinations and revision of its laws of military conduct when facing "terrorism." Israel declared war on Gaza while continuing to effectively blockade and control it. The book will interest those concerned with the law and ethics of war, international law, terrorism laws, and observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its treatment by international bodies. The author criticizes the Palestinian leadership's direction since the Oslo Accords. The Palestinian Authority's security arrangements with Israel protect Israeli settlers without defending Palestinians, yet this compliance has not resulted in independence. Meanwhile, many other Israeli policies, from revocation of residency rights to dispossession and blocking family unification, have shrunk and constrained the Palestinian population. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Sherifa Zuhur, IMEISS, Berkeley

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.