A quartet of scholars told an audience at Stanford University last week that Israel’s retaliatory actions since Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7, 2023 have been “unwarranted and extreme.”
Bailey Ulbricht of the Stanford Humanitarian Program and Allen Weiner of Stanford Law School alleged Israel “should have known” the day after it was attacked that the goal of eliminating Hamas was unachievable without “causing excessive harm,” The Stanford Daily reports.
Ulbricht and Weiner were joined by CUNY graduate student Corey Scher and Oregon State University geology professor Jamon Van Den Hoek.
The Stanford scholars brought up “jus ad bellum,” (literally translated to the “right to war”) a “pillar” of war theory that governs “when states may use force in their international relations.”
Ulbricht, who “works on legal projects aimed at reducing harm in conflict settings and other insecure environments,” and Weiner, a international security and international conflict resolution expert, conceded they “did not know” precisely when jus ad bellum technically is violated, and agreed Israel had a “legitimate” right to defend itself under the UN Charter’s Article 51.
But they were certain Israel’s actions since Hamas’ attack were in breach of jus ad bellum.
Backed by data provided by Scher and Van Den Hoek, Ulbricht compared the damage Israel has inflicted upon Gaza to that which Russia has caused in Ukraine.
Ulbricht (pictured) said 88 percent of Gazan health facilities and 70 percent of water facilities were damaged after just six weeks of Israel’s counter-offensive, whereas only 10 percent of the former in Ukraine suffered damage via Russia after a full year.
Ulbricht also claimed Israel had “other legitimate options” to target such as weapons depots and “Hamas’s key military operatives.”
Israel is “simply in violation of international law,” Weiner said. It “has no capacity to dissent or excuse itself from obligations.”
Anti-Israel actions at Stanford since the Israel-Hamas war began include activists taking over the president’s office, a lecturer singling out a Jewish student in an exercise allegedly demonstrating “oppressed” vs. “oppressor,” and a 20-student strong “Sit-In to Stop [Israel’s] Genocide” which began mere days after Hamas’ attack.
MORE: Dozens of students, professors demand Duquesne U. denounce Israel ‘war crime’
IMAGES: pathdoc/Shutterstock.com; Bailey Ulbricht/X
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