And the Abuse Keeps Coming

Interpol Abuse By Palestinian Authority And Others Shows Strengths And Weaknesses Of The System, Forbes, May 31, 2019. "Over the past few days, four cases of Interpol abuse, or attempted abuse, have demonstrated several of the weaknesses, and strengths, of the Interpol system. Interpol is supposed to be limited to ordinary crime. Interpol abuse happens when it is used for political, racial, religious, or military purposes."

The Palestinians Get Started With Interpol Abuse

The Palestinian Abuse of Interpol Has Begun, Forbes, December 14, 2018. "In “How the United States Should Respond to Palestinian Membership in Interpol,” a lengthy paper published in May, I pointed out that the Palestinian Authority said it wanted to get into Interpol for political reasons, and that it had repeatedly given notice of its intention to abuse Interpol. In other words, the Palestinians want to use Interpol for political purposes. I also pointed out that, while Palestinian membership would pose a risk to Israeli officials and, more seriously, to the friends of Israel around the world, “the most likely targets are in fact Palestinian opponents of the Palestinian Authority.” The risk to Interpol, I predicted, was that it would become part of the Palestinian knife fight for control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and for the succession to the aging Palestinian president for life Mahmoud Abbas. That prediction has come true."

Weaponizing Interpol

Palestinians Use Interpol As A Weapon of War, Fox News, June 16, 2018. "Should the Palestinian Authority (PA) be able to use an international organization like Interpol as a weapon in its internal fights between factions? The question seems absurd. Yet it is exactly what the PA and its bombastic president, Mahmoud Abbas, are now trying to do."

U.S. Responses to Palestinian Membership of Interpol

How the United States Should Respond to Palestinian Membership in Interpol, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, May 1, 2018. " SUMMARY The Interpol General Assembly’s September 2017 decision to admit the Palestinian Authority to membership was a grave error. The Authority will likely use its membership both to pursue its political and legal war against Israel and to harass opponents abroad. The PA’s membership further debases Interpol, an international organization of police and law enforcement organizations that is constitutionally required to focus exclusively on ordinary crime. It also reflects awareness by autocracies that Interpol can be a valuable instrument of oppression and that the Western democracies’ historically dominant role in Interpol is fading. The U.S. and other like-minded nations should limit the damage that the Authority can do through Interpol and develop a strategy to resist the organization’s wider politicization."

Another Abusive Authoritarian Joins Interpol

How U.S. Can Stop Palestinian Authority from Abusing Interpol, Washington Times, February 19, 2018. "Interpol is supposed to help the world’s police agencies communicate with each other, not to play politics. But when Interpol’s member nations voted to admit the Palestinian Authority, they brought a supporter of terrorism into the organization, and Interpol itself into new disrepute."

Interpol, the Palestinians, and the Chinese

Interpol Did Not Reject the Palestinian Authority’s Bid for Membership, Forbes, November 30, 2016, "It’s been widely reported that Interpol rejected a Palestinian bid for membership at the latest meeting of its General Assembly, which concluded in Bali on November 10. This is, at best, only a half truth."

Oops, They Did It Again

This Would Be A Serious Mistake for Interpol, Newsday. November 6, 2016, "Just because the United States is in the final days of its election campaign doesn’t mean nothing important is happening anywhere else. Next week, the General Assembly of Interpol, the worldwide federation of law enforcement agencies, will meet in Bali, Indonesia. The General Assembly is Interpol’s governing authority, and it decides who joins Interpol. Both Taiwan and the Palestinian Authority are seeking admission. It’s time Interpol welcomes Taiwan — but letting the Palestinians in would be a serious mistake."

What Crazy Talk Means

Crazy Talk Isn’t Just Crazy, Newsday, December 12, 2014, "We shouldn't ignore this nonsense. We certainly shouldn't write it off because it's said in public: It matters precisely because it is said in public. Our politicians say lots of silly things, but in democracies, respectable people don't do crazy talk. So when you hear a foreign leader talking crazy, laugh -- but remember: You're listening to a dictator."

Favors Don't Work in International Affairs

The Genesis of Really Bad Ideas, Newsday, April 4, 2014. "Most bad ideas in the world grow from a few seeds. And there is no seed more dangerous than the belief that we can make other places see things our way by tossing out favors like candy at Halloween."

The End of a Mission

Tony Blair’s Vision for the Middle East and Britain’s Role in It Has Collapsed, Sunday Express (UK), September 1, 2013. "While Britain may not want to contribute to it, there’s fighting aplenty in the Middle East. In the midst of it stands Tony Blair, honored with the title of Representative of the Quartet on the Middle East, charged with bringing peace between Israel and the Palestinians. That mission has been a failure."