Middle East – Juris

UAE Anti-Terrorism Policy: A Step In The Right Direction

November 15, 2018 Eliza Farley 0

In efforts to comply with UN anti-terrorism policy and show a commitment to anti-terrorism, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) passed a law to curtail money laundering and terrorism financing on October 23. This piece of legislation comes after many decades of the UAE being scrutinized in the international sphere for aiding terrorists and having a lax militant financing policy, and serves as a fundamental pillar for countering terrorism in an area which has never seen such a law passed. The UAE expects this law to decrease militancy and paralyze international terrorism funding. UAE Terrorism History The United Arab Emirates has an unfortunate history of involvement with terrorism. Though there have been no official links to state sponsored terrorism, the nation has long been used by investors to raise money in support of militants in the Middle East. Despite efforts by the UAE government to enforce a zero tolerance policy on […]

The Khashoggi Case and Diplomatic Immunity

October 23, 2018 Jessica Edelson 0

Khashoggi Disappearance On October 2, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and United States resident, arrived to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. With his fiancé Hatice Cengiz waiting outside, Khashoggi entered the consulate in order to obtain legal documentation authenticating his previous divorce, a requirement mandated by Turkish law in order to marry Cengiz. Three hours later, Cengiz asked consulate staff about the whereabouts of her fiancé, at which point she was told that he already departed through the back door. Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has not been seen since. The mystery of what exactly happened in the Saudi consulate soon thereafter sparked international interest and outrage. General speculation was that Khashoggi had been murdered by the Saudis, likely from direct orders of MBS, in order to silence his criticism. Given that Khashoggi’s disappearance occurred within Turkish jurisdiction, […]

The Israeli Occupation Revisited

October 4, 2018 Michelle Li 0

December 6, 2017, President Trump announced the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Israel to Jerusalem, formally declaring Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital. This move, again, made a big splash. Historically, both Israelis and Palestinians have claimed Jerusalem to be their capital. The sovereignty to East Jerusalem, part of the West Bank, is especially under dispute between the two peoples. Coincidentally, 2017 also witnessed the 50th anniversary of Israel’s military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, home to approximately six million Palestinians. 50 years has passed but the question remains: Is the Israeli occupation justified by the international law? And if not, which law does it violate? The origins of modern Israel and Palestine: two peoples, one home The root of the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict lay in the Balfour Declaration that the British government issued in 1926 to state its support for the establishment of a “national home […]