Cotler warns of new strain in delegitimization of Israel

Canadian PM says 5 manifestations include protective “covers” of the UN, int'l law, humanitarian law, struggle against racism, struggle against genocide.

By MORDECHAI I. TWERSKY
cotler 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
cotler 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Prof. Irwin Cotler, the Canadian member of parliament and former minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada, is warning of a new strain in the delegitimization of Israel, what he calls “lawfare.”
“The phenomenon of delegitimization of Israel is not new,” said Cotler, who delivered a presentation on the subject at a Bar Ilan University-Began-Sadat Center Conference titled “Democracies and the Right of Self-Defense.”
“What is new is the laundering of that delegitimization under the cover of law, specifically, what could be called “lawfare,” he said.
According to Cotler, lawfare's five manifestations include the protective “covers” of the United Nations, international law, humanitarian law, the struggle against racism and the struggle against genocide.
“Israel is seen not only to be the enemy of all that is good, but the repository of all that is evil,” said Cotler, who has written extensively on the Holocaust, genocide and international humanitarian law. “It  has an impact not only on the way Israel is perceived in the court of public opinion or in the world of diplomacy, but even in how its supporters are perceived.”