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Earlier this year, two lawsuits against United States President Joe Biden and his administration related to the conflict in Israel-Palestine saw their day in court.
The first case, Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden (“Defense for the Children”), alleged that President Biden, his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “actively incited” the State of Israel to commit genocide. ” Is. Violation of its responsibilities under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The lawsuit asks the court to order the administration to take all necessary steps to stop Israeli attacks on Gaza, stop sending military aid, and stop opposing the ceasefire in the UN Security Council.
The US provides $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel annually, and Biden is currently seeking Senate approval to send an additional $14.1 billion later this year.
In a written decision dated January 31, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California approved a preliminary ruling issued a week earlier by the International Court of Justice in a case brought by South Africa against Israel, criticizing Israel's current conduct. Found wrong. Gaza could potentially amount to genocide and he has ordered Palestinians to stop killing and injuring them.
Judge White wrote, “The undisputed evidence before this Court is consistent with the findings of the ICJ and indicates that the current treatment of Palestinians by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip may constitute genocide in violation of international law.” They found that there is strong evidence that Israel's “military siege of Gaza aims to exterminate an entire people and therefore falls within the international prohibition against genocide…”
After hearing more than three hours of testimony from Palestinians, their relatives, a physician and advocates, Judge White called the evidence in the case “severe” and “urged the defendants to examine the consequences of their support for the military siege.” ” Palestinians in Gaza”.
Nevertheless, given that under well-established legal standards, known as the political question doctrine, “foreign policy is constitutionally committed to the political branches of government, and disputes over foreign policy are non- considered a legitimate political question”, he ruled that the court had neither the competence nor the authority to decide on the matter.
The case was dismissed.
However, just days later, a completely different ruling came in another court case against the Biden administration related to the same conflict and apparently “non-justiciable political questions.”
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kaczmarik in Amarillo, Texas rejected the Biden administration's bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Republican Representative Ronny Jackson and three others alleging that President Biden and Secretary Blinken violated the 2018 Taylor Force. Act (TFA) and barred American visitors. Providing economic aid to the West Bank and Gaza has increased the risk of damage to Israel.
TFA – named after an American veteran who was killed by a Palestinian attacker in Israel in 2017 and whose parents are among the plaintiffs in the case – is a federal law that allows the U.S. government to provide assistance to the Palestinian Authority ( PA) from providing financial assistance till then. It has stopped paying stipends to Palestinians convicted of “terrorism” and their family members.
The lawsuit, titled Jackson et al v. Biden et al, claims that TFA prevents the US government from providing economic assistance that would directly benefit the PA unless it stops paying stipends. The Biden administration argues that the law does not bar all economic aid to the West Bank and Gaza, but only restricts how the money sent can be spent.
In the 2023 fiscal year, Congress provided $225 million in such assistance. In a fact sheet released on March 26, 2023, the US State Department said the aid is meant to help “the Palestinian people”, support the most needy families, and provide water, sanitation and hygiene resources.
But the lawsuit alleges that the administration is “illegally plundering American taxpayer funds” by providing aid to non-governmental organizations that directly benefits the PA, in violation of TFA.
In its efforts to dismiss the case, the US Justice Department argued that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to sue because their claims of increased risk of harm were “entirely speculative”. The government further alleged that any risk of future harm was due to the actions of people other than the US government, and argued that “dismissal was necessary to avoid entangling the courts in a high-level foreign policy matter”.
However, Judge Kaksmaryk ruled that the plaintiffs successfully demonstrated a “legitimate and reasonable” fear of harm if funding continued, and pointed to the October 7 attacks in Israel as evidence.
Ignoring the obvious violation of the “political question doctrine” in the case, he allowed the trial to proceed.
The political question doctrine, which is a cornerstone of constitutional law, prevents courts from addressing certain constitutional matters even if other legal criteria such as standing, maturity, and passivity are met. It is rooted in the principle that certain issues are better left to other branches of government or outside the judicial purview. The finding that a case qualifies as a political question strips the courts of jurisdiction, meaning they do not have the power to rule on the case.
Judge White correctly recognized this in the Children's Rescue case, but Judge Kaksmarick chose to ignore it in the Jackson et al v. Biden et al case.
The political question doctrine remains a subject of debate among jurists, particularly with regard to its origin, purpose and application. There is also disagreement over its scope and legality.
The debate over this issue is wide-ranging and multifaceted, but it is impossible to deny that this doctrine plays a significant role in shaping the relationship between US courts and foreign affairs.
In the 1918 case of Oetjen v. Central Leather Company, the Court wrote that “[t]he conduct of the international relations of our Authorities is dedicated by the Structure to the chief and legislative – 'political' – departments of the Authorities, and this political energy The propriety of what may be performed in an experiment isn’t topic to judicial scrutiny or judgment.
Nonetheless, regardless of that broad assertion, not each matter or dispute involving international relations is past judicial cognizance; Slightly, the courtroom analyzes every query on a case-by-case foundation.
Even taking a look at a case-by-case method, it’s tough to disclaim that the dispute over the allocation of international help – which is on the heart of Jackson et al vs. Biden et al – is clearly a political query. Which ought to be deserted. Administration. That is notably so on condition that the precept can be generally invoked to guard administrations from treaty obligations arising below worldwide regulation, as we noticed within the Safety for Kids case.
Like many authorized observers within the US, I used to be not stunned by the dismissal of the Protection for Kids case below the political query doctrine, however I used to be stunned by Decide Kaksmarick's choice to permit Jackson et al v. Biden et al to proceed. I went.
The contradictory software of the precept in these two politically charged circumstances – one in search of to forestall hurt to Palestinians, and the opposite stopping help from reaching them – undermines the flexibility of American establishments, like many different American establishments, to keep up their independence and impartiality. Reveals the incompetence of American courts. In points associated to Israel-Palestine, and as soon as once more the “Palestine exception” was highlighted.
The views expressed on this article are these of the creator and don’t essentially mirror the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.