Glasgow professor plans joint work with Israeli ‘designer of regime of human rights abuses’
Glasgow University law professor Adam Tomkins plans joint work with Israeli 'judicial designer, enabler and backer of regime of human rights abuses
Mick Napier
Edinburgh 7th February 2010
Barak...justified shooting at civilian populations; legalized land confiscations, home demolitions and other forms of collective punishment; approved administrative detentions (imprisonment without trial), the Apartheid wall...and torture...his last verdict [justified] the policy of extrajudicial executions ( a.k.a. "targeted killings").
A legal academic at Glasgow University is working to align his institution with Israel's grave human rights abuses, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Notoriously, Israel operates two legal systems in the occupied West Bank - one for Jews and another for Palestinians. In this legal system Tomkins so admires, the age of legal responsibility for Palestinian children, for example, is lower than that for Jewish children.
According to the Jewish Chronicle of Feb 04, 2011:
"A leading British law professor has been awarded a prestigious scholarship by the British Friends of the Hebrew University (BFHU) for work promoting understanding between Israel and the UK. Glasgow University professor Adam Tomkins is this year's recipient of the Hailsham Scholarship, which has been awarded since 1987 to honour the contribution of influential legal academics.
Last year he was a visiting professor at the Jerusalem university, where he ran a course on national security. He will return to Israel next May to take part in a workshop with Aharon Barak, the former president of Israel's Supreme Court. Professor Tomkins said the prize would facilitate the next stage of what he hoped would be "a lifelong series of collaborations with colleagues at the Hebrew University". He added: "If, as a result, links between Glasgow Law School and legal scholars in Israel are strengthened, this will be an added bonus."
According to Israeli human rights group Yesh Gvul,
"Barak has succeeded in creating around him a "human-rights man" aura even outside Israel. This is a huge propaganda feat, almost unparalleled in human history – considering that Barak is, to a large extent, the judicial designer, enabler and backer of the regime of human-rights abuses in the Occupied Territories...
"Barak wa
s the "judicial commander in chief", who legitimized almost all the injustices of the occupation. He has led Israel's judicial system into the role of indentured servant to the security forces – the IDF, the Shin Bet (domestic secret service), the Mossad and the settlers. He justified shooting at civilian populations; legalized land confiscations, home demolitions and other forms of collective punishment; approved administrative detentions (imprisonment without trial), the Apartheid wall, the distortions of the Occupation's military tribunals - and torture (yes, in spite of the 1999 verdict that ostensibly forbade torture, he actually left the door wide open to continue them under a "necessity" clause, and indeed they have continued in full force). The Grand Finale was his last verdict, in which he has imprinted yet another rubber stamp, this time on the policy of extrajudicial executions ( a.k.a. 'targeted killings')."
Will Glasgow University students and faculty allow this sinister plan to succeed? Or will they manage to prevent Tomkins' project to harness their Law School in the effort to legitmise Israel's crimes.
Mick Napier
Edinburgh, 7 Feb 2010