Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter: Issue No. 8, August 2009

This month's issue of IDI’s Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter includes four articles, three of which related to the hostilities that took place in the Gaza Strip between 27 December 2008 and 17 January 2009 (also known as "Operation Cast Lead"). First, we address the report of the Israeli Government on the factual and legal aspects of the operation. This report explains Israel's conduct during the operation and details the violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) committed by the Palestinians. The second article discusses a report authored by Human Rights Watch, which focuses on the civilian casualties caused by the rocket attacks launched by Palestinian armed groups against the Israeli civilian population. The third article describes a recent UK Court decision in which the Court rejected an attempt by a Palestinian human rights NGO (Al-Haq) to compel the British Government to respond to the allegedly excessive counter-terrorism measures employed by Israel during “Operation Cast Lead”. The fourth and final item in the newsletter addresses the latest development in the Shehadeh case (an investigation into the criminality of a targeted killing operation in Gaza): a decision was handed down by the Spanish Court of Appeals to dismiss the criminal inquiry due to the lack of universal jurisdiction over the matter.

The monthly IDI 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.