Phosphorus and Stone: Operation Cast Lead, Israeli Military Courts and International Law as Denial-Maintenance

Abstract

Almost seventy years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the birth of Israel, and the beginning of the Palestinian naqba (all in 1948) it is now clear that international law has fallen short of its promise to alleviate suffering, hold transgressors to account, and to encourage peace in the Middle East. Even John Humphrey, a drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, came to despair the efficacy of international law in Israel and Palestine. “He went there thinking that the proper application of the rule of law and respect for human rights could resolve the situation and came back thinking nothing could (since the debate was not a rational one)” (Hobbins 2006). Taking Humphrey’s despair over international law’s ability to guide behaviour in Israel and Palestine as its starting point and drawing on Stanley Cohen’s landmark book, States of Denial: Knowing about Atrocities and Suffering, this chapter argues that international law has fed into a process of denial maintenance in Israel, creating the backdrop against which Israeli leaders deny Palestinian suffering.

Between December 2008 and January 2009, international law and the Israeli military came face to face in two sites: Israel launched a sophisticated military attack against the Gaza Strip known as “Operation Cast Lead,” while simultaneously rounding up, trying, and sentencing Palestinian children for throwing stones against the wall — a structure built by Israel to contain the Palestinians and separate them from their land (ICJ 2004). Israel’s response to these events reveals a selective stance towards international law that is driven by denial of Palestinian suffering. The international system, with its emphasis on domestic implementation and state sovereignty, has largely tolerated this selectivity.

Keywords: Israel, Palestine, Stanley Cohen, States of Denial