The deterrent value of UN membership

Husam Zomlot, deputy of Fatah’s foreign relations department, makes the case for Palestine’s membership bid largely on the grounds of legal self-defense: Legally, this will establish a legal parity, as a state. The main idea is for defense, to prevent [Palestine from] an attack. There is a lot of talk about the ICC and how ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Husam Zomlot, deputy of Fatah's foreign relations department, makes the case for Palestine's membership bid largely on the grounds of legal self-defense:

Husam Zomlot, deputy of Fatah’s foreign relations department, makes the case for Palestine’s membership bid largely on the grounds of legal self-defense:

Legally, this will establish a legal parity, as a state. The main idea is for defense, to prevent [Palestine from] an attack. There is a lot of talk about the ICC and how as a state we can pursue cases through the. Our intention is not only to pursue cases, but to stop a crime from happening. Legally, a Palestinian state is a deterrent weapon. We are not going to engage in attacks like Israel does. Our deterrent is international law. Soldiers at checkpoints will think twice before hurting a lady at the border.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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