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One-Sided Deal
Imagine a sheriff offering the head of a criminal gang the following
deal: 'If you agree to stop stealing from your neighbours for three
months, I'll give you cutting edge weaponry and block any efforts by
other law enforcement authorities to restrain your criminal activities.'
Nov 15, 2010
Imagine a sheriff offering the head of a criminal gang the following
deal: 'If you agree to stop stealing from your neighbours for three
months, I'll give you cutting edge weaponry and block any efforts by
other law enforcement authorities to restrain your criminal activities.'
Sounds absurd? Then how about this:
in return for a three-month freeze of illegal construction in the
occupied West Bank (but not in occupied East Jerusalem, where it may
continue), Barack Obama has promised to deliver 20 F-35 fighter jets to
Israel, a deal worth $3 billion. Moreover, his administration has vowed
to curb action by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report, block
anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid, and defeat resolutions aimed at exposing Israel's nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In
such situations it's important to keep in mind that the sheriff (Obama)
and not the gang leader (Netanyahu) is the major culprit.
This article appeared first appeared on the LRB blog. Neve Gordon can be contacted through his website www.israelsoccupation.info
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Neve Gordon
Neve Gordon is a professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London. He is an Israeli activist and the author of "Israel's Occupation" (2008) and co-author (with Nicola Perugini) of "The Human Right to Dominate" (2015) and "Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire" (2020).
Imagine a sheriff offering the head of a criminal gang the following
deal: 'If you agree to stop stealing from your neighbours for three
months, I'll give you cutting edge weaponry and block any efforts by
other law enforcement authorities to restrain your criminal activities.'
Sounds absurd? Then how about this:
in return for a three-month freeze of illegal construction in the
occupied West Bank (but not in occupied East Jerusalem, where it may
continue), Barack Obama has promised to deliver 20 F-35 fighter jets to
Israel, a deal worth $3 billion. Moreover, his administration has vowed
to curb action by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report, block
anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid, and defeat resolutions aimed at exposing Israel's nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In
such situations it's important to keep in mind that the sheriff (Obama)
and not the gang leader (Netanyahu) is the major culprit.
This article appeared first appeared on the LRB blog. Neve Gordon can be contacted through his website www.israelsoccupation.info
Neve Gordon
Neve Gordon is a professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London. He is an Israeli activist and the author of "Israel's Occupation" (2008) and co-author (with Nicola Perugini) of "The Human Right to Dominate" (2015) and "Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire" (2020).
Imagine a sheriff offering the head of a criminal gang the following
deal: 'If you agree to stop stealing from your neighbours for three
months, I'll give you cutting edge weaponry and block any efforts by
other law enforcement authorities to restrain your criminal activities.'
Sounds absurd? Then how about this:
in return for a three-month freeze of illegal construction in the
occupied West Bank (but not in occupied East Jerusalem, where it may
continue), Barack Obama has promised to deliver 20 F-35 fighter jets to
Israel, a deal worth $3 billion. Moreover, his administration has vowed
to curb action by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report, block
anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid, and defeat resolutions aimed at exposing Israel's nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In
such situations it's important to keep in mind that the sheriff (Obama)
and not the gang leader (Netanyahu) is the major culprit.
This article appeared first appeared on the LRB blog. Neve Gordon can be contacted through his website www.israelsoccupation.info
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