Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza

by Lisa Hajjar

Israel's military court system, a centerpiece of Israel's apparatus of control in the West Bank and Gaza since 1967, has prosecuted hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. This authoritative book provides a rare look at an institution that lies both figuratively and literally at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Lisa Hajjar has conducted in-depth interviews with dozens of Israelis and Palestinians―including judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, defendants, and translators―about their experiences and practices to explain how this system functions, and how its functioning has affected the conflict. Her lucid, richly detailed, and theoretically sophisticated study highlights the array of problems and debates that characterize Israel's military courts as it asks how the law is deployed to protect and further the interests of the Israeli state and how it has been used to articulate and defend the rights of Palestinians living under occupation.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account based on Hajjar's observation of the military courts and interviews with their participants. One of the things that struck me was her observation that the defendants had little interest in the court proceedings, because they (rightly) viewed their performance under interrogation as decisive.

[Foxglove · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that made me cry.