Looks like it’s an amazing trip. The Jerusalem Post covers it here:
A delegation of 14 US federal judges arrived in Israel on Sunday for a week-long educational tour on the impact of the October 7 massacre and its challenges to the Israeli legal system and the laws of war.The delegation, facilitated with the help of the World Jewish Congress, also saw the judges visit the Supreme Court of Justice and meet with Justice Ofer Grosskopf.
"We came to learn about how the Israeli legal system works," said Florida Southern District Court Judge Roy Altman, one of the organizers of the trip.
The Jewish Venezuelan-born judge—the youngest federal judge appointed in the US—wanted to know how the legal system managed to address terrorism in general and post-October 7. He noted that the United States saw a lot of new security legislation introduced since the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the discourse centered around the balance of individual rights against safety concerns.
Altman said he was interested in learning "How is Israel managing that balance?"
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Florida Southern District Court Senior Judge Rober Scola said that he and the entire world were hoping for peace in the Middle East and hoped that Israelis and Palestinians would one day cease fighting over the land and achieve harmony.
On Monday, the delegation spoke to a Palestinian activist, who Scola said impressed upon him the needs required to achieve peace. He hoped that the activist was not a lone voice in the Palestinian community but represented a broader consensus.
Altman said that the judges were there to learn from all sides; in addition to hearing from the Palestinian activist, they also "heard from the acting American ambassador at the time of October 7, so we also heard the American perspective."
While he hoped to see advancement toward peace, Scola said that trust and the quest for peace were going to require the return of hostages, and it had to be appreciated that it was going to take a while for Israelis to process the trauma of October 7.
"One thing that is palpable is how devastating this attack has been to the people here," said Scola.
Scola said that trust and the quest for peace were going to require the return of hostages, and it had to be appreciated that it was going to take a while for Israelis to process the trauma of October 7.
ReplyDelete"One thing that is palpable is how devastating this attack has been to the people here," said Scola. Ya think????? So emblematic of the Western mind-set when it comes to conflict resolution with hostile powers. All just a matter of logic, reason, and cooperation. So once Israel "processes" the barbaric torture, rape and murder of its people, it's business as usual? Back to funneling money to Hamas, Iran, and every other terrorist faction in the region to be then followed by Nobel Peace prizes to Muslim fanatics before the blood on their hands is even dried? We are dealing with pure evil. Not a time to send in a phalanx of intellectuals looking for a happy medium as they munch on caviar and wine at a posh 5 star hotel as they fete the one or two Palestinians out of a million who do not want to see every Jew murdered.
And 10:21, ladies and gentlemen, is why right wing uber-settlers are fine with their government (not Jews, not Israelis, the government) killing 30,000 + civilians...and starving the remaining 2 million.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem, they believe, is that they haven't been able to murder another 100k (perhaps sparing the 1 or 2 Palestinians out of a million), and blame Hamas on their way to building another 100k homes for settlers in the West Bank.
Explain how the Jewish people are settlers when they arrived at least in 1200 BC and as far as Hamas—claiming allegiance to Islam—Mohammed wasn’t even born until 570 AD. In any of these discussions and comments it would be helpful to actually know some facts instead of gaining education by Slate or whatever your news sources are.
DeleteIf only there was a map with internationally agreed upon borders I could point to.
DeleteI would show you where your side is and point out that you should not be setting up homes and cities on the other side.
Of course, that argument always falls when you say…’but God gave it all to us!’, and round and round we go.
Your tune will change when the U.S. stops supplying Israel with endless aid and it becomes an international pariah. Decent and fair minded people understand you can’t just go killing civilians when you are responding to terrorists because the Torah tells US that WE own the land from the Jordan to the sea.
This Jew rejects the idea that it is okay to continue provoking conflict by building settlements on other peoples land. And, this Jew understands that Hamas and Palestinian Jihad prosper because of Israel's provocations.
Yes, some segment of the Arab world will always want to destroy US, but Israel has been doing everything it can for the past 20 years to give them a more sympathetic space to operate in.
Now, please tell me that I am a self-hating Jew and I should be ashamed.
But before you do, understand that I actually want to see Israel thrive. I just understand that it cannot until it begins to treat its neighbors as human beings instead of prisoners.
“Continue provoking conflict” seems a bit much when the conflicts have all been Israel defending. You sound like someone who also thinks the U.S. was “provoked” into the Vietnam War. You probably also think Kennedy was right to authorize the use of Agent Orange even though both Truman and Eisenhower both forbade its use in previous conflicts. I don’t need a map because you’ve created your own definition of settlers and so the facts really don’t matter to you.
DeleteUnelected government officials conducting foreign policy. Intriguing strategy.
ReplyDeleteUm youngest federal judge? Judge Mizelle in MDFL would like a word.
ReplyDeleteWhat excellent company to keep
ReplyDeleteIt is a terrible shame that civilians in Gaza are being killed, whether it be 30,000 or whatever the actual number is. But, at the end of the day, a two state solution can only exist if Hamas is eliminated. And, all the folks who fret over the Gaza civilians never address that issue.
ReplyDeleteThe 1300 Israelis who were massacred on October 7 were not combat soldiers and were not doing anything to harm Gaza citizens. So, the folks who worry about the impact of Gaza simply have to come up with a solution for getting rid of Hamas, and they have not. And, now, the Biden administration seems willing to undermine the safety of Israel in exchange for Michigan's electoral votes. That makes no sense either and will do nothing to eliminate Hamas or sensibly advance a two state solution.
And, the ultimate irony appears to be the NIMBY approach of other Arab states to the plight of the Gazans. Joe Klock
Thanks for your insight Joe. I feel like a complete fool for not thinking about how to eliminate Hamas. I will get right on that.
ReplyDeleteAlso the fact that you use the word "fret" to describe people who are concerned with innocent Palestinians (and Israelis)being killed tells us all we need to know about how much of a shame you think the killing is.
SDFL now stands for the State Department of Florida.
ReplyDeleteYes, such a modern and tolerant government, free from the shackles of extremism:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.jpost.com/omg/article-789809
"Two soldiers have been sentenced to 20 days in military prison after being caught warming up hot dogs in a military kitchen on Shabbat, according to a KAN11 report on Friday."
Thank you 7:28.
ReplyDeleteDo they have the cajones to tell Netanyahu to knock it off?
ReplyDelete