The May 2011 issue of IDI’s Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter includes five articles. The first summarizes the U.S. State Department’s 2010 report on the state of human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories. The second article reviews the High Court of Justice’s rejection of a petition of a Palestinian from Gaza who requested to be allowed to return to Gaza despite the potential risk to Israeli security and the danger to the petitioner’s life cited by the State. The third article briefly discusses a recent amendment to the Israeli citizenship law that allows courts to revoke the citizenship of persons convicted of committing certain terror offenses. The fourth article presents statistics on IDF investigations of violations of International Humanitarian Law that were recently submitted to the Turkel Commission, which is investigating, inter alia, the lawfulness of Israel's system of military investigations. The fifth and final article briefly describes a recent decision of a U.S. District Court in Dallas to "unfreeze" funds confiscated from a U.S.- based Hamas-related philanthropy "Holy Land Foundation," so as to satisfy a judgment awarding monetary compensation to victims of terror attacks that occurred in Jerusalem.
IDI’s monthly Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter aims to shed light on some relatively unknown measures and policies adopted by Israel or related to Israel, and to foster discussion on the balance between security interests on one hand, and democratic principles and human rights on the other hand. It surveys recent developments in Israeli law and practices that are intended to reduce or repress terrorist threats. IDI believes that a greater knowledge of Israel's experience in this area may be of value to other societies. We also believe that engaging in international and comparative discourse about Israel's experience is valuable to Israeli society.
Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter: Issue No. 29, May 2011