The Mallisons

Supposing you see a pair of white knights, tilting their legal lances, coming at you from over the horizon. If you are on shaky legal ground, it might be wise to duck for cover. The riders could be W. Thomas and Sally V. Mallison, jousters extraordinary.

Of course, the Mallisons do not have the time to joust against just anybody—so how seriously you would be in trouble would depend on who you are and what you are doing. Chances are excellent, however, that if you happen to be a representative of Israel, responsible for an act which the Mallisons believe to be in violation of international law, you will feel the thrust of their steely tips.

The Mallisons are a teaching team at George Washington University, in the U.S. capital. He is Professor of Law and Director of the International and Comparative Law program, and Mrs. Mallison, his wife, is Research Associate of the program. Together, they conduct a seminar in humanitarian law, and on his own Prof. Mallison teaches a course on the United Nations.

Telling it Straight

Both Mallisons are widely known for their vocal opposition to many policies of the government of Israel, but Prof. Mallison emphasizes: "We never take a partisan position in the classroom. We give the students the arguments of both sides, and we then encourage them to come to conclusions on their own." Mrs. Mallison adds: "When the Middle East is discussed at all, it's because the students bring it up. We might make a presentation on what constitutes aggression and self-defense in international law, for instance. The students then ask questions. It would be pretty odd if the Middle East didn't keep coming up in this context."

It is when they get off campus that the Mallisons put on their armor and sally forth into Middle East affairs with searching eyes and readied lances. They often draw blood, too.

One of their earliest triumphs, while acting as consultants to the American Council for Judaism, was to prevail upon the State Department to write an official letter stating that it "does not regard the 'Jewish people' concept as a concept of international law." Says Mrs. Mallison: "The Council had been very concerned at Israel speaking out for all Jews, including American ones, in all contexts. Prof. Mallison says that the Israeli government “was really upset by the letter. It put tremendous pressure on the Department to revoke it," but failed.

On another occasion, the Mallisons cantered up to the Justice Department and convinced it that the Jewish Agency (American Section) was in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act because it had not included information in its registration that showed it was acting as an arm of the Israeli government. "This was important because it meant that the Jewish Agency's philanthropic entities, such as the United Israel Appeal, were not bona fide charitable organizations," Prof. Mallison says. The Department made the agency include the information, but later the agency got around this requirement by reorganizing. "I think they're still in violation," Prof. Mallison adds with an ominous tilt of his lance, "and when I get a little time, I'd like to go back and do it again."

Growing Body of Work

What seems to concern the Mallisons far more than such legal victories, however, are the broader problems of war and peace in the Mideast. Writing sometimes jointly and sometimes as individuals, they have been producing a growing body of work based on juridical analyses of such subjects as Israeli settlements in occupied territories; the conflict in Lebanon; the Israeli raid on Baghdad's nuclear reactor; and the rights of Palestinians. Scheduled for publication in 1984 is a book on which they have been working for four years: "The Palestine Problem in International Law and World Order."

The Mallisons are also peripatetic lecturers—and as with their writings, they appear sometimes together and sometimes separately. Last year they attended conferences in Florida, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia (twice), Geneva and Hawaii, with a stopover in American Samoa. One of their favorite subjects, which has become a speciality for Mrs. Mallison, is humanitarian law—i.e., the protection of civilians in wartime and under occupation. "If you can't stop force," Mrs. Mallison says, "the next best thing you can do is to humanize it a bit." The Mallisons have worked closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross in this field.

Mrs. Mallison studied international relations and political science at the University of Washington and has had decades of what she calls "on-the-job" training in international law. Professor Mallison received the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science from Yale University Law School, was the Stockton Professor of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island—while on leave from George Washington University—and served as principal U.S. negotiator on various international agreements made by the U.S. Atomic Energy commission.