Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Heidi Matthews Profile picture
Heidi Matthews
@Heidi__Matthews
Assistant Prof of Law @OsgoodeNews | @Harvard_Law doc | law, war, sex | pod https://t.co/vDH2QlAB8G | Newfie | twin mommy | opinions my own
4 subscribers
Nov 21 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
Today's ICC arrest warrants against Israeli PM Netanyahu & Yoav Gallant—and Hamas' Deif—are momentous. This is the first time Western-allied leaders have been charged by an international court with war crimes and crimes against humanity. A 🧵on what we have—and don't have—today. First, note that the pre-trial chamber decisions to issue the warrants have been kept secret to protect witnesses and the ongoing investigations. The ICC has issued summaries of the decisions here icc-cpi.int/news/situation… and here
icc-cpi.int/news/situation…
Nov 8 • 37 tweets • 6 min read
Some disjointed thread-y thoughts as we go along... 🧵 Up now: Anti-Zionist theory and Practice Nasser Abourahme

What is needed is radical forgetting of Europe, to resist reading the struggle through the primary prism of Jewish Question. #TheAntiZionistIdea @UofTLaw "The content of Zionist subjectivity is the violence of the Palestinian-settler. The terms of praxis are the colonial relation itself. We must begin with the cosmo-political world of Palestinian resistance; the fate of western Jewish anti-Zionism is how it relates to Palestinian struggle"
Oct 18 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
There is good reason to believe that Sinwar was, in fact, murdered by the IDF. Rather than celebrating death using inflammatory language of "elimination", Canada should be demanding that Israel comply with an independent investigation into the circumstances of Sinwar's death. 🧵 Briefly for now: individuals who are rendered 'hors to combat' (no longer in the fight) by virtue of wounding cannot be targeted. To do so is a violation of common article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and a war crime under the art. 8(2)(c)(i) of the Rome Statute. screenshot art 3 GCs
screenshot cited RS art
Oct 9 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
I'll be live-tweeting Birju Dattani's talk at @OsgoodeNews @YorkUniversity, "Crossroads: Anti-Palestinian Racism, Islamophobia & Anti-Semitism" (w-@SherylNestel as discussant). Dattani asks: "Is human rights law fit for purpose?" 🧵
osgoode.yorku.ca/events/human-r…Image The Arab-Canadian Lawyers' Association says that Anti-Palestinian racism should be included among existing human rights protections. CRT analysis shows how definitions can be manipulated in a political manner. Definitions are not needed by movements to fight oppression.
Aug 24 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
An important read. It’s personally & collectively terrifying to cognitively confront what we all know—that with each reinfection more of us become vulnerable & fewer of us are meaningfully supported. For each of the past 3 years I’ve been infected twice=6 total known infections🧵 Like @Flannsplainer my longterm symptoms related to covid set in after the first few infections. I’m also quadruple vaxxed. Last year I was also “regularly overcome by a sensation that I can only describe as a full-body panic attack, marked by a racing heart and rapid breathing”.
Jul 22 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
The ICJ was clear—Israel's responsibilities to the population in Gaza under the law of occupation are commensurate with its level of authority. In this context vaccinating IDF soldiers for polio while failing to ensure Palestinians are vaccinated is evidence of genocidal intent🧵 Yesterday I tweeted this. The genocide & war-crimes denial crowd got upset over the phrase “refusing to vaccinate.” They claim Israel is providing vaccines to Palestinians in Gaza. There is limited evidence supporting this claim, which in any event entirely misses the point… Image
Jul 19 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
The @CIJ_ICJ will be delivering its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory in just a few minutes. This is a Very Big Deal. My thoughts and reactions 🧵

You can watch live here: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k13/k…
screenshot of questions asked by the UNGA in December 2022 @CIJ_ICJ The UN General Assembly requested this opinion in Dec 2022. Several states—including Canada—submitted that the ICJ should decline to exercise its jurisdiction to render the opinion. The Court rejects these arguments, finding there are no compelling reasons for it to so decline.
Jun 30 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
~1,000 Palestinians are detained at Sde Teiman, which can only be described as an Israeli state torture camp. Prisoners are bound in iron cuffs, continually blindfolded, starved, beaten and publicly raped with sticks. We can’t say we didn’t know. We know.🧵972mag.com/sde-teiman-pri… One whistleblower—a guard—said many “detainees had infected wounds that were not being properly treated… The floor is very dirty & it smells so bad that we were forced to wear face masks. You could hear sometimes the sound of beating and them screaming”: theguardian.com/world/article/…
Jun 27 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
The @IntlCrimCourt has authorized the UK to submit amicus observations on whether the Oslo Accords bar ICC jurisdiction over Israelis. *This* is why it was a mistake to water down the @NDP @HMcPhersonMP motion on Palestinian state recognition. 🧵 #cdnpoli icc-cpi.int/sites/default/… @IntlCrimCourt @NDP @HMcPhersonMP The UK appears to be taking the position Israel took in 2019, namely, that Palestine cannot delegate criminal jurisdiction to the ICC because (a) it is not a state & (b) under the Oslo Accords Palestine has no criminal jurisdiction over Israelis or Area C. icc-cpi.int/sites/default/…
Jun 26 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
The man tied lengthwise to the hood of a military jeep in the West Bank by Israeli forces has been with me for days. His name is Mujahed Abadi. This potentially constitutes the war crime of using human shields *but also* a number of other war crimes. 🧵 The war crime of using human shields under Rome Statute art 8(2)(b)(xxiii) requires intent "to shield a military objectives from attack". It's not obvious this intent was present here -- the cruelty looks to me simply gratuitous, rather than part of a discernible military tactic.
Jun 7 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Thus far, 50 @YorkUniversity professors have signed this Open Letter to @YorkUPresident & the York Board of Governors denouncing the decision to enlist police to raid the @PYU4P Gaza solidarity encampment on June 6. 🧵The letter is open for signature here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… Within ~24 hours of establishing the encampment, the students were issued a trespass notice by the university. Only minutes later, dozens of police in riot gear assembled in a line formation and proceeded to forcibly clear the encampment. picture of police clearing the student encampment
May 26 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Two days after the ICJ ordered Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah, Israel has attacked a ‘humanitarian area’ in western Rafah, killing 27 Palestinians and injuring dozens. This is not where rockets were fired from. There are no hospitals with ICU units to manage the injuries. 30 are now confirmed dead and that number is expected to rise significantly
May 24 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Strap in here we go! The ICJ is now issuing its decision on South Africa's request for additional provisional measures, including an end to Israeli hostilities & withdrawal from Gaza. (SA had requested withdrawal from Rafah but modified the request as the offensive intensified)🧵 watch live:

The Court must first determine whether the situation has changed since the delivery of its earlier order indicating provisional measures. If so, it must decide whether a modification is appropriate under the circumstances.icj-cij.org/multimedia-liv…
May 20 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
We can expect a lot of disinformation as the world takes in the ICC Prosecutor's request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant (+ Hamas leaders). Key is the claim that the ICC 'doesn't have jurisdiction' over Israeli leaders. This is not true. Short 🧵 Palestine became a state party to the Rome Statute in 2015 & the Prosecutor has been investigating the situation for years. The ICC has jurisdiction when the “conduct in question” was committed on the territory of a state party or by a national of a state party (art 12(2) RS). screenshot of article 12(1)-(2) of the ICC's Rome Statute
May 20 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
Today will go down in the history of international law. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for arrest warrants against Netanyahu & Gallant and Sinwar, Deif & Haniyeh. It's a game changer in global politics & the Israel-Palestine conflict.🧵 icc-cpi.int/news/statement… The Prosecutor says that "notwithstanding any military goals they may have, the means Israel chose to achieve them in Gaza – namely, intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population – are criminal."
May 17 • 22 tweets • 5 min read
Today, the ICJ heard Israel's response to South Africa's request for additional provisional measures in its genocide case in light of Israel's attack on Rafah, including an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal from Gaza. 🧵

youtube.com/live/XkVQFbUng… Israel's opens by saying that the very idea of a genocide case against it 'suggests an inversion of reality'. Fascinatingly, this is the exact language used by Irwin Cotler in his criticism of South Africa's case: nationalpost.com/opinion/south-…
May 16 • 48 tweets • 9 min read
Today the ICJ is hearing South Africa's submissions on its request for additional provisional measures. "The very manner in which Israel is pursuing its military operations in Rafah, and elsewhere in Gaza," South Africa argues, "is itself genocidal. It must be ordered to stop."🧵 South Africa is requesting that Israel cease its offensive in Rafah & facilitate the immediate & unimpeded access of humanitarian aid, UN officials, investigators and journalists to Gaza.

You can find South Africa's written application from May 10 here: icj-cij.org/sites/default/…
screenshot of para 25 of SA's written application
Apr 30 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Here we go! Nicaragua 🇳🇮 v Germany 🇩🇪

The Court has decided, 15-1, that the circumstances are not such as to indicate provisional measures against Germany at this time. It has also decided not to remove the case from court's list, as there is no manifest lack of jurisdiction. To recap the claims: Nicaragua claims that by providing weapons to Israel & suspending funding for UNRWA, Germany has failed to comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and customary international law.
Apr 26 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Former ICJ President Donoghue engages in the ethical error of obtuseness (thx @emilykiddwhite) when she attempts hairsplitting between plausible "rights" and "claims."

TL;DR the Court decided there was, at minimum, a serious risk of genocide or related acts in Gaza. 🧵 She was asked whether it was correct that the ICJ ruled there was a plausible case of genocide that should be decided by the Court.

Her answer to this question is technical and correct: The Court did not decide whether there was a plausible "claim" or "case" of genocide.
Apr 18 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Today the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution recommending Palestine for membership in the United Nations. 12 Council members voted in favour, with 2 abstaining (UK & Switzerland). Some 140 states already recognize the State of Palestine. A few notes 🧵 The UN law around admitting new members is rooted in Art 4 of the UN Charter. Once an application for membership is made, the Council must refer it to the Committee on the Admission of New Members. That Committee then assesses whether the conditions of Art 4 are met.
Apr 9 • 43 tweets • 7 min read
Today, the @CIJ_ICJ heard Germany's defence against Nicaragua's case alleging it has failed to prevent - and is complicit in - genocide in Gaza and serious violations of peremptory norms of international law.🧵

(My account of Nicaragua's case yesterday ) Germany says Nicaragua "has rushed to bring its case on the flimsiest of evidence". It says the ICJ doesn't have jurisdiction because of the absence of a dispute and the fact of Israel's non-consent to judicial resolution.