Orna Ben-Naftali – författare

The idea that international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) are complementary, rather than mutually exclusive regimes generated a paradigmatic shift in the international legal discourse. The reconciliation was driven by a humanistic ethos and its purpose was to offer greater protection of the rights to life, liberty and dignity of all individuals under all circumstances. The complementarity of both regimes currently enjoys the status of the new orthodoxy and simultaneously invites critical reflection. This collection of essays accepts the invitation, offering diverse assessments of the merits of taking human rights to the battlefields of the twenty-first century. The book comprises three parts: part I focuses on the paradigmatic (security based "armed conflict" vs. human rights centered "law enforcement" paradigms) and the normative complexities of the interaction between both regimes in the "fight against terror" and in other, allegedly new, types of wars. Part II discusses the interplay between IHRL and IHL in the context of three specific regimes: belligerent occupation; the European Court of Human Rights and the protection of cultural heritage. Part III explores the potential fusion of IHL and IHRL into a new paradigm in two areas: post-bellum accountability and compensation to victims of war crimes. The range of issues, multitude of competing norms and narratives, and shifting paradigms explored in this collection, converse with each other. This conversation mirrors the process through which international law - paying deference to political realities while simultaneously seeking to transcend them - charts new pathways to advance its humanizing project.

Israel's half-a-century long rule over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and some of its surrounding legal issues, have been the subject of extensive academic literature. Yet, to date, there has been no comprehensive, theoretically-informed, and empirically-based academic study of the role of various legal mechanisms, norms, and concepts in shaping, legitimizing, and responding to the Israeli control regime. This book seeks to fill this gap, while shedding new light on the subject. Through the format of an A-Z legal lexicon, it critically reflects on, challenges, and redefines the language, knowledge, and practices surrounding the Israeli control regime. Taken together, the entries illuminate the relation between global and local forces - legal, political, and cultural - in Israel and Palestine. The study of the terms involved provides insights that are relevant to other situations elsewhere in the world, particularly with regard to belligerent occupation, the law's role in relation to state violence, and justice.