along with B’nai Brith, The American Jewish International Relations Institute, The International Council of Jewish Women, World Council of Conservative/ Masorti Synagogues, Jewish Law Students Association of Fordham Law School, American Zionist Movement, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Women’s League for Conservative Judaism

Present

The UN’s Goldstone Report:

The Defamation of Israel & The Threat to American National Security in the Age of Terrorism

DATE: April 27, 2010; 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

VENUE: Fordham University School of Law, 140 W 62nd Street, New York

International law and legal institutions are being used to pursue strategic and political goals as a corollary to modern warfare. In the case of Israel and the threat posed by terrorism in the 21^st century, “lawfare” can be as biased and lethal as any other form of weaponry. Attacks on the legitimacy of actions taken in self-defense by democratic states, in the halls of the UN and international and domestic courts, radically undermine the ability to protect the welfare of the Jewish state and all democracies from the scourge of terrorism. This assault empowers and emboldens the enemies of democracy and encourages the intolerance and antisemitism at the root of the terrorist and anti-Zionist agenda.

In particular, the semblance of authenticity and the cloak of legal language surrounding the Goldstone Report have given it an undeserved legitimacy and inspired a plethora of further mechanisms intended to demonize and delegitimize the state of Israel. The report and the lawfare strategy it embodies, erode the legitimacy of international law and pose a clear and present danger to the right of all democratic states, including the United States, to defend themselves. This program will explore, examine and expose the fallacies of the Goldstone Report, and other manifestations of lawfare, as well as suggest strategies for fighting back.

THE PROGRAM INCLUDES: The Goldstone Report and The Libelous Demonization of Israel; Antisemitism as Human Rights; The Role of Law in Undermining the Defense of Democracy – From Domestic Law to International Courts; Turning The Tide – The Potential for Legal Advocacy.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Anne Bayefsky, Director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust; Lt. Col David Benjamin, former Director of the Strategic and International Branch, International Law Department, Israel Defense Forces; David Matas, Senior Honorary Counsel, B’nai Brith, Canada; Samuel Edelman, Former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, American Jewish University, Executive Director of SPME; Allan Gerson, Chairman, AG International Law, PLLC; Peter J. Haas, President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East; Malvina Halberstam, Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law; Martin Kramer, Senior Fellow, Shalem Center; Wexler-Fromer Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Nathan Lewin, Partner, Lewin and Lewin, Washington DC; Kenneth Marcus, Ackerman Visiting Professor of Equality and Justice in America, Baruch College; Ed Morgan, Professor of Law, University of Toronto; Nicholas Rostow, University Counsel and Vice Chancellor of the State University of New York; Gabriella Shalev, Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations; Shmuel Trigano, Professor, Paris X University Nanterre, Richard Landes, Professor of History at Boston University and Director and co-founder of the Center for Millennial Studies

KOSHER LUNCH PROVIDED.

SEATING IS LIMITED AND PARTICIPANTS MUST PRE-REGISTER.

PLEASE RSVP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO info@jewishlawyers. org