The Trouble with Terror: The Apologetics of Terrorism—a Refutation

This essay warns against a recent philosophical confusion concerning the definition of “terrorism,” which has dominated the post 9/11 literature. Terrorism, it is suggested, is nothing but the intentional random murder of defenseless non-combatants, with the intent of instilling fear of mortal danger amidst a civilian population as a strategy designed to advance political ends. Furthermore, this essay argues that regardless of its “root cause,” terrorism is diametrically opposed to the requirements of liberal morality and can only be defended at the expense of relinquishing the most basic of liberal commitments.     

Analogies to Terror: The Construction of Social Problems in Israel During the Intifada Al Aqsa

Studies of the construction of social problems suggest that claims makers only relate to the issue that they are trying to place on the national agenda. However, an analysis of the Israeli public discourse about a number of social problems during the Intifada Al Aqsa indicates that this is not the case. The external threat served as an inferential structure for understanding and explaining the country's internal ones. Because of the centrality of the Intifada in the public imagination, claimants made a wide variety of analogies to the problem of Palestinian terror. All four areas of the discourse—about the severity of the problems, their causes, the rationales given for taking preventive and/or ameliorative action, and the solutions offered—were replete with references and analogies to the uprising. Clearly, the claimants believed that this was a particularly effective way of competing in the social problems marketplace, but the analogies may, in fact, have reinforced the existing hierarchy of priorities rather than lead to a significant shift in the public agenda.     

Determinants of Domestic Terrorism: An Examination of Ethnic Polarization and Economic Development

ABSTRACT

Many scholars have sought to explain why countries with ethnically heterogeneous populations experience higher levels of political violence, but these studies have produced mixed findings. Unlike most studies that use ethno-linguistic fractionalization indices to examine this relationship, we argue that ethnic polarization is a more appropriate measure to assess the role of ethnicity as a causal factor of domestic terrorism. This paper hypothesizes that high ethnic polarization influences the incidence of domestic terrorism, particularly when intervening economic factors are present. To test three hypotheses, we use negative binomial regression to model data from the Global Terrorism Dataset, World Bank, and the Reynal-Querol (RQ) ethnic polarization index of 116 countries between 1970 and 2012. Our findings show that terrorism is more likely to emerge in societies with high ethnic polarization and economic malaise.     

Inferno Terror: Forest Fires as the New Form of Terrorism

ABSTRACT

Between the 18th and 26th of November 2016, 220 different locations went up in flames in the Israeli forest. Israeli firefighters were powerless to contain the fires, so army and police units had to contribute. Thousands of civilian volunteers also joined the fight against the fire. The Israeli firemen were unable to curb the continuously blazing fires, which is why the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, asked and received international support. The operation lasted for eight days, more than 1,700 fires were eliminated, but the conflagration caused considerable damage. Due to the extremely dry and windy periods, many blamed the weather conditions for the damage, but it soon became clear that in several cases, the cause was arson. Although arson as a method of extremism has been continuously practiced in many incidents worldwide, it is still beyond the scope of research on terrorism. This essay aims to prove that we have to raise awareness of the issue, highlighting both relevant incidents and the extremist group’s propaganda incentive towards the enhanced use of arson. We raise the question whether on the basis of the incidents in Israel, arson could become a frequently used method of European terrorist units or individuals. And if yes, how the national counter-terrorist and law-enforcement agencies may adapt to the challenge of hardly controllable arson in order to minimize the chance of similarly executed attacks in the future.     

Palestinian Social Media and Lone-Wolf Attacks: Subculture,Legitimization, and Epidemic

ABSTRACT

This article examines the impact of social media on the wave of Palestinian lone-wolf attacks against Israelis from October 2015 through September 2016. My principal argument is that social media played an important role in shaping the identity, perceptions, and behavioral patterns of dozens of assailants, and was key in creating the dynamic that ultimately characterized both the spreading of the idea of lone-wolf attacks and its execution. Social media reflected reality on the ground while simultaneously nourishing, amplifying, and escalating the situation by providing a platform for the emergence of new sources of authority, including an online subculture with distinct codes and pseudo-ritual patterns to support assailants. Social media also contributed substantially to shaping the contagious character of the attacks, and their capacity to persist without direct organizational guidance, following a typical epidemiological dynamic of spread, containment, and preservation.     

Where Trotsky's Train Comes From: A Literary Scholar's View of a Revolutionary's Biography

The article discusses the autobiography of Leon Trotsky (published by Bronshtein in 1930) from a psychoanalytic angle. Trotsky the revolutionary leader was a key figure in the October 1917 coup, and a statesman second only to Lenin in the early years of the Soviet regime. The article concentrates on Trotsky's departure from Judaism and evolution toward Christianity. The author sees this drift as parallel to Trotsky's transition from the Jewish bourgeoisie to the Russian proletariat. The next step in this process of denationalization would be Trotsky's embracing of world revolution. Bolshevik terror became for Trotsky a form of emancipation from his personal past.     

世俗公诉源自宗教裁判?——大陆法系公诉制度起源辨析

近年来,受某种"英美中心主义"史观的影响,我国学界普遍将中世纪的宗教裁判认定为大陆法系公诉体制的源头,在未经严肃论证的前提下,这一观点及其附带的种种推论迅速流传,对诉讼法学、法律史学以及新兴教会法的相关研究都造成了相当程度的误导。本文以近代早期法文文献为基础,对大陆法系公诉制度的起源、发展过程、早期结构和运作机理进行了系统性的展示,以期辨伪析疑,为后续研究探寻一条更为规范的文献和法理路径。     

Victims’ responses after mass atrocities: a note on empirical findings

Empirical research has shown that in the aftermath of mass atrocities, a large majority of the victims of gross human rights violations are much more concerned with their immediate needs than with the criminal prosecution of the perpetrators of these violations. The focus must shift from the perpetrators to the victims and that, in order to bring about desirable compensating improvements in the lives of those victims who are directly affected by these gross human rights violations, greater weight must be given to the interests and concerns expressed by them about matters fundamental to their well-being. The attention of legal scholars, policy analysts, and human rights campaigners and activists of the imperativeness of material reparations to meet the crying needs of a society emerging from political violence, comparative to criminal prosecution of the perpetrators must be engaged.     

Extra-judicial targeted killing

This paper asks fundamental questions about the legality of remote killings by drones outside combat zones. Despite the difficulty of obtaining accurate statistics from the Obama Administration, it argues that clear legal standards are being avoided and dangerous precedents are being established, including vaguely-defined licences to kill. It also criticises the US Administration's position justifying the use of such force, as identified by Harold Koh, the Legal Adviser to the State Department. The fundamental legal question of whether IHRL should apply is discussed.     

检察机关参与社会管理创新的路径--以法律监督实践为视角

社会管理与检察工作密切相关,既是检察机关履行职责的重要内容、发挥职能的重要领域,也是检察机关必须承担的重要社会责任。检察职能具有多样性,参与加强和创新社会管理的路径也有多种。根据法律规定和检察实践,以执法办案为依托,完善检察环节的各项工作机制,配合相关部门深化犯罪预防、制发检察建议、完善行政执法与刑事司法衔接机制、参与社会管理综合治理、参与“两新组织”和虚拟社会的服务管理,是检察机关参与社会管理创新的有效路径。