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On March 11, I attended the all-day Israel love-fest entitled
“Lawfare”, the term coined to describe any effort to hold Israel
accountable to international law. Max Blumenthal already has provided
readers* with an excellent summation of the afternoon proceedings. I
found particularly noteworthy his report that Columbia Law Professor
Katherine Franke asked Columbia Law Dean David Schizer, one of the
conference chairs, why no opposing speakers had been invited, and
Schizer lamely responded that one or two speakers had been invited but
were unable to attend. The principal organizer of the event, Brooke
Goldstein, lined up 15 or 20 speakers who shared a collective viewpoint
that Israel should be protected from any legal challenge. Goldstein
herself addressed the assembly and voiced the same perspective. The
notion that she, or someone else, invited one or two contrary speakers
for balance is simply absurd. Certainly Goldstein did not pretend that
there was any attempt to be even-handed. If Schizer wanted to
participate in this one-sided affair, he should at least be candid about
its nature.

Alan Dershowitz himself was not present, but his inconsistent
approach to the legal framework of the conflict hovered over the
proceedings. Dershowitz insists that Israel is almost completely
blameless under existing international law, b... >>>