Naji Tilley, at The Blogs

Nov 20, 2024, 7:51 PM

Selective name and blame puts UNRWA and UNIFIL to shame

Humanitarian aid being airdropped over Gaza, March 2, 2024. (U.S. Air Force Courtesy Photo)

A recent and now widely-discussed statement by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) on the violent hijacking of one of its humanitarian aid convoys in Gaza is, frankly, remarkable - both for what it chooses...

Oct 11, 2024, 12:33 AM

Wild claims against Israeli Embassy in Ireland and IDF remain uncorrected

The Embassy of Israel in Dublin, Ireland.

Two recent sets of accusations made against certain elements of the State of Israel by the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, still call for explanation. Far from helping to contribute to any constructive debate about how the State...

Oct 8, 2024, 5:21 AM

Why pretend it’s not political, Part 3: a gift-wrapped clue on arms sales

The newly-installed UK Government has today given us further reason – perhaps accidentally, out of showing extra solidarity with Israel on the first anniversary of October 7 - to suspect that its decision to suspend certain arms export licences...

Sep 17, 2024, 2:37 PM

Why pretend it’s anything but political, Part 2: from the ICC to arms licences

We appear now to have a second instance of the new UK Government disingenuously attempting (presumably as a fig leaf for its change of attitude towards its ally Israel) to hide behind the rule of law when making controversial...

Sep 4, 2024, 6:26 AM

Debating responsibility for Hamas’s hostage executions: a missing component

There is a particular angle of analysis that I believe to be missing (with disagreement and correction by readers most welcome) from current debates about responsibility for the brutal executions of six young innocent Israeli hostages by Hamas: Hersh...

Jul 29, 2024, 7:36 AM

UK clears path to ICC arrest warrants: why pretend it’s anything but political?

© ICC-CPI.

All photographs holding the copyright © ICC-CPI are available free of charge. They may not be manipulated. You must credit the ICC when you publish any ICC picture: © ICC-CPI

In our enlightened political age, when a highly controversial political decision is taken, the decision-maker is normally expected to be able to justify the decision in political terms, both to those whom it benefits and, particularly, those whom it...

Jun 27, 2024, 4:46 AM

Glastonbury, Gaza and the General Election: Pitfalls for BBC impartiality

You may at first have noticed that the subjects listed in the title above may seem disparate and unconnected. Yet their link is no accident, ahead of what is predicted to be the most politicised iteration of the UK’s...

Jun 18, 2024, 6:16 AM

(Mis)Understanding the ICJ’s latest provisional measures order

Quite apart from the controversy accompanying its latest Provisional Measures ruling against Israel (24 May 2024), it seems to me that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) risks undermining public understanding in its work with the way it reached...

Jun 14, 2024, 8:23 PM

‘There is every reason’ that soundbite culture poisons debate on Israel

Last week, a vast amount of UK media analysis of Israel’s campaign in Gaza was notable for its focus on certain remarks made by US President Joe Biden in an interview with TIME Magazine - a focus which all...

About Me

Naji Tilley is a trainee lawyer based in London, UK. He holds two Law degrees from the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Birmingham, both with Distinction/First Class Honours, and the Legal Practice Course (LPC), also with Distinction. Naji had his Bar Mitzvah and was married in Israel, and has led various trips to Israel for school and university students, as well as trips to Poland and Ukraine. Naji's current interests are in the ways in which the Israel and Hamas war is debated, covered by the media and litigated in domestic and international courts. All views expressed are Naji's own, and not those of his employers past or present.