#future citizens

[reasonsforhope]

"Palestinian plaintiffs and their legal representatives on Friday [January 26, 2024] presented a powerful case in federal court accusing President Joe Biden and other top US officials of complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.

People around the world tuned in for the long-awaited hearing in Oakland, with plaintiffs appearing in person and over Zoom in an unprecedented effort to hold the Biden administration accountable for its actions in Gaza.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the lawsuit in November 2023 on behalf of Defense for Children International–Palestine, Al-Haq, and eight Palestinians in the US and Palestine. The complaint accuses President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin of failing to live up to their legal responsibilities under the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1988 Genocide Convention Implementation Act.

The United Nations convention classifies complicity in genocide, or the intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part, as a crime under international law and requires that states take measures to prevent such atrocities.

[Note: This is a big reason why politicians almost never call it a genocide, btw. Because if a country recognizes that it's a genocide, then they actually are legally required to do a bunch of things to stop it, under international law.]

The historic lawsuit contends that the Biden administration has failed to uphold its obligations by continuing to provide diplomatic and military support for Israel's brutal campaign in Gaza. Plaintiffs are asking the court to stop Biden from sending more weapons and munitions to Israel that are being used to kill Palestinians en masse.

The hearing before the US District Court for the Northern District of California took place just hours after the International Court of Justice issued provisional measures against Israel in a landmark case brought by South Africa.

-via TAG24, January 26, 2024. Article continues below.

Court contends with questions of jurisdiction and responsibility

In evaluating the allegations, questioning in Friday's hearing revolved around the so-called political question doctrine, by which federal courts regularly refrain from ruling on political matters seen as best resolved by the president and Congress.

The Department of Justice argued that according to the doctrine, the court has no jurisdiction to rule in the case.

"If the court condemns United States foreign policy toward Israel, it could cause international embarrassment and undermine foreign policy decisions in the sensitive context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," defense counsel Jean Lin told Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White.

Katherine Gallagher of the CCR countered that the court does, indeed, have a responsibility to step in: "Here, the question is a legal one, whether the actions undertaken by the United States failed to uphold the obligation to prevent genocide, and that is an active obligation that requires that the United States not provide the means by which a genocide is being furthered."

"There is no discretion for any state to evade its obligations, its legal obligations. These are not policy decisions," she said.

Palestinian plaintiffs share powerful testimonies before the court

After legal arguments in the case, Judge White heard two hours of gut-wrenching testimony from Palestinian plaintiffs and a renowned Holocaust and genocide expert.

Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History at Wake Forest University Dr. Barry Trachtenberg shared his remarks before the court in spite of vehement US government opposition.

"To have an event fall under the 1948 Convention on Genocide requires both action and intent, and here we see that very, very clearly in a way that seems really quite unique in history," he stated, noting that there is now an opportunity to stop Israel's unfolding genocide in real time to prevent further loss of lives...

Judge White said he would take the testimonies to heart as he evaluates his constitutional responsibilities, describing the case as "the most difficult judicial decision" he has ever had to make."

-via TAG24, January 26, 2024

-

Note: I know a lot of people are really not gonna appreciate that last line. I'm not thrilled with it either. But it is worth noting that having a federal court overrule the US president's huge foreign policy and military decisions would be an absolutely massive deal/precedent

This is a case that deserves to be ruled on with an incredible amount of seriousness, if only because if you're a federal judge who's going to make that call, your written decision/legal justification needs to be unimpeachable

That said, if the judge uses jurisdiction to pass the buck here and avoid his legal and human responsibility to do what he can to stop a genocide, I'm gonna be pissed

[tobytost]

some bttf game sketches + Martin Mcfly???

hi bttf fandom :3

[lexihowardhoney]

sometimes i just sit and think about that how good descendants story could be. how it could be about that not everything is black or white, that there are multiple shades of grey when it comes to morality. but then, i'm getting hit by the fact that descendants is just another classist story

[wistfulwatcher]

YELLOWJACKETS | 2.06 “Qui”

[cheriboms]

doctober day 28: metallic

local old man doesnt "get" the youths, pt 1/??

[forecast0ctopus]

Hello there! I am very new to tumblr and I really love your BTTF fanart and how you draw Marty :) I really enjoy the movie itself and I do fanart of it too haha I'd love to see you draw Jennifer more too :) Keep it up

omg thanks!! i love jennifer too, ive definitely gotta draw her more.. heres a lil sketch of punk jennifer from the game!!

[maidstew]

Hey do you have any thoughts on the names in tbosas, especially the Capitol students? Like how they have Ancient Greek/roman names. Do you have names you like or don’t like? I just think the way Suzanne Collins names her characters is really interesting and I was wondering your thoughts on it

oh this is such a fun question!

honestly, i LOVE the way suzanne names her characters- especially the capitol’s tendency to go for roman names. i think the capitol’s roman names vs the districts industry-related names really drives home the divide between the two.

(i wish i was one of those very smart fans who could connect the use use of roman names and culture to the capitol and come up with brilliant ideas but alas. i am not.)

and honestly, i’ve seen some people hate how on the nose some of the district names are but i actually enjoy it a lot. i love the names like hy and sol and teslee and mizzen.

my only real complaint is that i would have loved to see district 12 characters have more industry inspired names! i like katniss and peeta well-enough but as someone from appalachia, i think something more on the nose for them as well could have been interesting.

or, alternatively, it would have been interesting to see historically common last names of the area being used rather than names like ‘everdeen’ or ‘mellark’. (but that’s probably just me, and tbf i guess a name like katniss smith wouldn’t sound very good for a dystopian novel.)

sorry, i know you said tbosas and especially capitol students but somehow i keep ending up back at talking about appalachia- oopsie

anyway, what are your thoughts? do you have any names that you really liked or didn’t like?

[jinakadaisy]

Citizen Sleeper Fanart Challenge Day 1: Lem and Mina 🤍 (my loooooooves)

[bri-to-the-future]

[log6]

obsessed with the liberal zionists who self-assuredly talk about "other issues" on here as if their opinions could possibly be worth anything. They also always talk as if their insane apartheid project is not in active collapse... History will vindicate everyone who stands against imperialism. Palestine will live. And at this rate, we will be lucky if anything can ever serve for reconciliation.

[clonehub]

nobody can talk to ridge about fighting for the republic once he's succesfully escaped it, he's gotta be probably the most critical of the republic government out of all the clones. saying "our purpose [as clones] is to fight!" will get you "who told you that? The Kaminoans that 'bred' us for money or the government that won't pay us and won't let us vote?"

[mzcain27]

I don’t think Katniss and Peeta were ever going to convince Snow about their relationship. And I know Katniss says this eventually herself, that trying to play it up was pointless and everything, he was never going to let them go, but I think it could have been real and it still wouldn’t have mattered. I think other tributes before Katniss and Peeta could have maybe attempted the star crossed lovers bit and it also wouldn’t have worked with them.

From the conversation about what the kids loved about the war with Gaul, he just seems so averse to the romantics of anything. They’re talking about the war but that moment almost seems to be the turning point of him just hating the romanticism of anything. I don’t know that he knows that in the point that I’m up to yet, I haven’t seen Lucy Gray break him entirely, but even now it’s like it disgusts him and it definitely will later

Katniss could have been In Love with Peeta from back in District 12, they could have already been together and I think it would have made Snow so angry that he would have refused to believe it anyway because of a combination of that assignment and Lucy Gray Baird leaving him behind

[synthsays]

JanAUry Day 2: Citizen Valley Martin (replacement AU)

I just wanted to draw him so bad

[beliscary]

there's a tower in belisaere called dolorous bastion

[styxbugg]

in any bttf fic i wrote, someone needs to insult martys vest at least once

[backtothefistfight]

Round 1, Right Side