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1. Free access to my article with @nevegordon on international law and the history of bombing hospitals. Unfortunately, it comes with an unedifying story about the European Journal of International Law @ejiltalk https://www.academia.edu/43735197/Hospital_Shields_and_the_Limits_of_International_Law
2. The article was critical of how states justify the targeting of hospitals by applying the human shield argument: in a nutshell "hospitals are used as shields thus they can be bombed," the argument goes. The article included a critique of Israel and its wars on Gaza.
3. EJIL published a response in which the author, an academic and former general in the Israel Defense Forces, accused us of wanting to kill International Humanitarian Law by advocating for a full immunity for medical facilities in war. https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article-abstract/30/2/465/5536734
4. In our counter-response, we mentioned Beer's previous role in the military and invited him to discuss and problematise how the Israeli army justifies its killing of civilians in Gaza by using the "hospital-shields" argument. The editorial board of @ejiltalk tried to censor us.
5. The EB's argument was that we were carrying out an "ad-hominem attack." We replied that, from a sociology of law point of view a career in the military is an important element to understand how one interprets the law. And the military in question, the Israel Defence Forces...
6. Is one of the militaries leading the efforts to protect the right to bomb hospitals using the human shield argument. It was clear that the EB was trying to censor our criticism of the Israeli military, in violation of our academic freedom. The ED continued to insist, but...
7. Ultimately published our rejoinder. https://www.ejiltalk.org/hospital-bombings-empirical-and-theoretical-fallacies-of-those-rejecting-a-ban/ But, but, but...
8. This is not the end of the unedifying story. Breaching the protocols in which the authors have the final say, the @ejiltalk EB gave Beer the last word and published a counter-rejoinder without even informing us. We discovered the link only recently... https://www.ejiltalk.org/hospital-targeting-a-remedy-is-required-not-counter-effective-wishful-thinking/
9. The relationship between criticism of Israel's state crimes and the violation of academic freedom and protocols has a long history. It is crucial to continue to denounce this relationship. Such an important journal as @ejiltalk should apologise and not repeat the mistake. End.
