[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Occupation, Intervention, and Law and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the O.I.L. Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each biweekly roundup to OIL@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every other week.]
News
"NSA Collecting Phone Record of Millions of Verizon Customers Daily," Glenn Greenwald
Greenwald details a secret court order wherein the NSA obtained the communications records of all domestic call data.
"Palestine Drops Bid to Register New UNESCO Heritage Site," Ammar Owaineh, George Hale
Palestine has withdrawn its plans to ask the United nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to place Battir, an ancient West Bank village southwest of Jerusalem, on its World Heritage in Danger list.
"U.S. Disrupts al-Qaeda`s Online Magazine," Ellen Nakashima
The Washington Post reports on efforts of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) to disrupt the publication of Inspire, an English-language publication of al-Qaeda.
"Inquiry call over Israel`s `Torture of Palestinians`," BBC News
United Nations Special Rapporteur Richard Falk has criticized Israel`s blockade of Gaza and treatment of Palestinian prisoners in his most recent annual report to the UN Human Rights Council.
"Pakistan Protests Drone Strikes; US CdA Summoned," Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Pakistan`s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that it has summoned the US Ambassador Richard Haogland to Islamabad to lodge a formal complaint on the US practice of carrying out drone strikes in the country.
"UN Requests More Time as Austria Readies Golan Pullout," AFP
The Agence France-Press reports Austrian UN peacekeeping forces have begun to pull out of the Golan Heights amidst UN calls for them to remain stationed there.
"Rohani Wants to Renew Direct Talks with World Powers," Reuters
Sources close to Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani report he wants to renew nuclear talks with each of the five members of the UN Security Council and Germany separately.
"Alicia Keys Urged to Cancel Concert in Israel," Steve Jones
USA Today details the efforts of Palestinian-American groups to persuade Alicia Keys to cancel an upcoming concert in Tel Aviv.
"15th Government of Palestinian Authority Sworn In," Khaled Abu Toameh
The Jerusalem Post reports on the swearing-in of the new Palestinian Authority government headed by Rami Hamdallah.
Blogs
"Reminder: Pretrial Hearings Tomorrow in the 9/11 Case," Wells Bennett
Lawfare offers a preview of upcoming Guantanamo hearings in United States v. Mohammad et al, including a statement from Chief Prosecutor Mark Martins and the docketing order for the hearings.
"Legally Meaningless `Red Line` Crossed in Syria," Julian Ku
Ku argues on Opinio Juris the revelation that the Syrian government has used chemical wagons against the opposition does little to bolster the US legal case for intervention.
"Law Professor Urges Ethiopia to Take Nile Issue to International Court," Tadias
Tadias Magazine details the legal dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the plans of the latter to build a hydroelectric dam project on the Nile.
Commentary
"Time to Fix the AUMF," Yasmine Taeb, Isaac Levey
Taeb and Levey, of the Arab American Institute, argue for the unconstitutionality of the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed in late 2001.
"Sentence Goes on For Pakistani Detainees in Bagram," AFP
The Agence France-Press reports that the US handing control of Afghanistan`s Bagram jail to Afghanistan has changed little for the legal circumstances of those detained there. Many are denied access to lawyers and have not been formally charged with a crime.
"Guantanamo Bay: A Medical Ethics-free Zone?," George J. Annas, Sondra S. Crosby, Leonard H. Glantz
Annas, Crosby and Glantz argue in the The New England Journal of Medicine that the force-feeding of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp violates medical ethics.
"Bad Idea, Mr. President," Ramzy Mardini
Mardini, an adjunct fellow at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies, urges the Obama Administration to avoid military intervention in Syria.
"My Fight For Justice in Guantanamo," Shaker Amer
Amer, the last British resident held at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, explains his reasons for hunger striking in an op-ed dictated to his lawyer.
Reports
"Iraq Unrest," AFP
Agence France-Press provides a Google Drive spreadsheet detailing casualties in Iraq from 2012 to 2013.
Conferences
"ASIL Research Forum 2013"; 1-3 November 2013; New York University School of Law; Call for Papers here.