In this mailing: Alan M. Dershowitz: Is Palestine a State? Judith Bergman: Iran's Dissidents Plead with US to Keep Up "Maximum Pressure" Is Palestine a State? by Alan M. Dershowitz  •  February 9, 2021 at 5:00 am       The highly politicized International Criminal Court just declared statehood for Palestinians. They did it without any negotiation with Israel, without any compromise, and without any recognized boundaries. They also did it without any legal authority, because the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, makes no provision for this criminal court to recognize new states. The International Criminal Court is not a real court in any meaningful sense of that word. Unlike real courts, which have statutes and common law to interpret, the International Criminal Court just makes it up. As the dissenting judge so aptly pointed out, the Palestine decision is not based on existing law. It is based on pure politics. The Palestinians — both in the West Bank and Gaza — who have refused to negotiate in good faith and have used terrorism as their primary claim to recognition, have been rewarded for their violence by this decision. The real victims of such selective prosecution are the citizens of these third world countries whose leaders are killing and maiming them. All in all, the International Criminal Court decision on Palestine is a setback for a single standard of human rights. It is a victory for terrorism and an unwillingness to negotiate peace. And it is a strong argument against the United States and Israel joining this biased "court," and giving it any legitimacy. The highly politicized International Criminal Court (ICC) is not a real court in any meaningful sense of that word. Unlike real courts, which have statutes and common law to interpret, the International Criminal Court just makes it up. Pictured: The ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, holds a press conference on May 3, 2018 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. (Photo by John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images) The highly politicized International Criminal Court just declared statehood for Palestinians. They did it without any negotiation with Israel, without any compromise, and without any recognized boundaries. They also did it without any legal authority, because the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, makes no provision for this criminal court to recognize new states. Moreover, neither Israel nor the United States ratified that treaty, so the decisions of the International Criminal Court are not binding on them. Nor is this divided decision binding on signatories, since it exceeds the authority of the so-called court. Continue Reading Article Iran's Dissidents Plead with US to Keep Up "Maximum Pressure" by Judith Bergman  •  February 9, 2021 at 4:00 am       "[T]he Islamic Republic Theocracy is on the verge of collapse". — Letter from 38 Iran-based dissidents to the Biden administration, February 1, 2021. "The moment Biden joins the nuclear deal and unblocks the money for the Islamic Republic, the regime will once again dish out money even to Taliban, ISIS, Al Qaeda, but Iranians will keep remaining in a bad state." — Fatemeh Sepehri, interview with Masih Alinejad, Twitter, February 5, 2021. "We don't have human rights in Iran....People are repressed in Iran... Executions, unjust sentences, abysmal prison conditions... We Iranians don't want the Islamic Republic any longer". — Fatemeh Sepehri, interview with Masih Alinejad, Twitter, February 5, 2021. Returning to the JCPOA on Iran's terms will require lifting sanctions -- an act that will strengthen and embolden the Iranian regime. Lifting sanctions is what the dissidents in Iran are literally pleading with the Biden administration not to do. Iran remains the second most prolific executioner in the world, after China. The regime reportedly executed at least 8,000 people in the years 2000-2019. In the first month of 2021 alone, at least 27 prisoners were reportedly hanged in Iran. "The executions in Islam," Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini used to say "are executions of mercy... It's like a doctor ridding our society of corrupting influences with his knife." Pictured: A prisoner sentenced to death for murder is brought to be hanged in Noor, Iran on April 15, 2014. (Photo by Arash Khamooshi/AFP via Getty Images) Taking huge personal risks, 38 Iran-based dissidents have asked the Biden administration to retain "maximum pressure" on Iran. In a letter dated February 1, they urge President Joe Biden to maintain "maximum political, diplomatic, and financial pressure on the regime" and to support the Iranians' "determination in seeking a secular democratic government through a non-violent, free, and fair referendum". "Following the JCPOA agreement, when Iran received substantial financial benefits, the Islamic Republic lost a major opportunity to implement meaningful welfare reforms for its people..." the Iranian dissidents write in their letter. "Instead, the regime spent billions of dollars gained from the Iran nuclear deal on exporting its totalitarian ideology by providing funds to terrorist networks, developing missile technology as offensive leverage to dominate the Persian Gulf and beyond, and causing chaos in the Middle East. Continue Reading Article