Lifelong Learning
Rights Remain, Despite Many Wrongs
GAA seminar explores universal principles in times of war
Marty Rosenbluth sets a high standard understand the situation in
for the human race. He believes that Palestine. Rosenbluth also
people recognize certain humanitarian values became an active volunteer
even in times of war. He argues that our with Amnesty International,
ability to wage war and still abide by inter- increasing his expertise and,
nationally accepted standards for human finally, deciding that he would
rights is fundamental to our existence as a go to law school to hone his
civilization. grasp of international and
Since the signing of the first Geneva accepted and set off for north-Convention in 1864, the agreements, proto- ern Israel while a partner team
cols and vehicles of international law that went to Lebanon. By the end On a fact-finding mission for Amnesty International, Marty Rosenbluth interviews
govern what is and is not allowed in times of the summer, Rosenbluth Israeli children in a bomb shelter in Nahariyya. Now a UNC law student, Rosenbluth presented a Carolina College for Lifelong Learning class in March.
of war have steadily evolved, including stan- would be responsible for issu-dards that guarantee protection to the civilian ing a report documenting the human rights
population. Rosenbluth, a UNC law stu- situation on both sides of the war. “There
dent and a Palestine specialist for Amnesty should be a warning in the career office,”
International, is passionate about the rights Rosenbluth says and laughs. “Beware of any
of the people of Lebanon and Israel to job that calls for a flak jacket.”
expect protection under these standards. Rosenbluth is more serious when he
Rosenbluth first got involved in the situ- describes the situation he encountered in
ation in Palestine and Israel in 1985, when Haifa. The streets of the formerly bustling
he took a three-month leave of absence city were so quiet you could sit in the mid-from his job as an organizer with the United dle of the road, set up a chess game and
Auto Workers to go to the West Bank and never have to move for traffic. The bomb-Gaza to look at the situation of Palestinian ings were so frequent that many people hid
workers who were employed in Israel. His 24 hours a day in shelters. One day
assignment was to work with Israeli trade Rosenbluth counted 14 sirens. “And when
unions to improve the situation. The sum- the siren sounds,” he says, leaning toward his
mer job turned into a commitment to audience for emphasis, “it’s already too late.
resolving issues of human rights in Palestine The bomb blasts go off only seconds later.”
that lasted almost eight years. Rosenbluth Amnesty International’s job in a conflict
accepted a position with Al-Haq, the West zone is fact-finding. When the media go
Bank affiliate of the International into a war zone, working to get the news
Commission of Jurists, and became deeply out quickly, they often are forced to collect
involved in the world of human rights. information from the first available source.
AMNEST Y INTERNATIONAL
Rosenbluth set out to explain how his human rights law.
beliefs about the human race apply to the In 2006, when Amnesty
war between Lebanon and Israel in 2006 in International asked Rosenbluth
“At War: Protecting Innocents in a Conflict to spend his first law school
Zone,” a Carolina College for Lifelong summer vacation documenting
Learning lecture held in March. human rights violations, he
Rosenbluth returned to the U.S in 1992 AI investigators take time to talk to as
so that his wife could pursue her master’s many people as possible. In Israel this meant
degree at the School of Public Health at meetings with people such as Israeli
UNC. He decided to build on his experi- Defense Force generals, hospital workers,
ence in Palestine working as a senior victims, police and anyone who could give
researcher on a documentary for Frontline eye witness accounts. In Lebanon,
and started his own documentary film Rosenbluth’s partner team did the same.
company, Insightment Video Productions, Rosenbluth says it is clear that both sides
based in Hillsborough, to make films that committed violations. While Israelis were
would help people in the U.S. to better being bombarded by Hezbollah rockets that
62 May/June 2007
sprayed as many as 40,000 small metal pellets, ball-bearings that ripped indiscriminately through objects and people, the
Israeli forces destroyed electrical stations,
roads and even hospitals and supermarkets,
leaving the civilian infrastructure of
Lebanon in ruins. “They dropped leaflets
telling people to flee,” Rosenbluth adds,
“but there was no petrol for cars and no
roads to drive on, so people could not flee.”
The legal criteria that have been laid out
by international law are based on three
principles which, according to Rosenbluth,
clearly delineate boundaries, limits on warfare that were violated in Lebanon by Israel
and in Israel by Hezbollah. He explains that
many Americans think of the Red Cross in
terms of emergency services in a natural
crisis like Hurricane Katrina. For the rest of
the world, the International Red Cross is
even more important. It is the organization
that ensures the governance of human
rights principles above national conflicts
and protects individuals in time of war. The
three key principles behind these standards
for human rights are: proportionality, necessity and distinction.
Proportionality means asking: Who is
affected more by an act of war, the fighting
forces or the civilian population? Does an act
of war have a disproportionate effect on the
civilian population? If an Israeli bomb
