Hold up to

[Laura91]

Hi, folks! How are you? I was ready Wiki's entry on controversial jurist Richard Falk and came across an unsual - at least as far as I'm concerned - employment of the expression "hold up to", which I usually associate with "resist to" or even "obstruct".

Here's the text:
Falk responded to the criticism by saying, "If this kind of situation had existed for instance in the manner in which China was dealing with Tibet or the Sudanese government was dealing with Darfur, I think there would be no reluctance to make that comparison." He attributed the reluctance to criticise Israel's policies to the sensitive history of the Jewish people, as well as the state's ability to "avoid having (its) policies held up to international law and morality."

I tried not to translate it in my head, but grasp the meaning instead. It seems he's saying that Israel is not seriously demanded, or asked, to comply with international law and moral rules.

Would that be an accurate paraphrase?

I reached this conclusion by means of another meaning of "hold up", which is "being loyal or faithful to". If one holds up to international law, it means he's loyal to it; if one succeeds in avoiding to be held up to international law, it seems to mean that he acts in such a way that people or the public in general don't demand him to behave according to the law.

What do you think? What would be alternative ways of writing it, in your view?

Thank you very much, as always!
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[Laura91]

Hi folks, any thoughts about it? Thank you, as always!

[Thredder]

Hmmm, it's more like 'compared against'.

Here it's saying that Israel avoids having its policies compared against international standards.