The Situation in Palestine: Emerging Domestic and International Jurisprudence

    Tuesday, July 9, 2024 - 09:00 to 16:15
    Renehan Hall Maynooth University and Online

     
    Nine months into Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, the daily atrocities continue and the UN food agencies are warning that half of Gaza’s population is now facing  the risk of famine and death.  While the situation in Palestine has long been the focus of litigation and advocacy attempts to defend Palestinian rights in multiple legal arenas, these past months have brought an unprecedented set of developments in domestic and international courts.  
     
    South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over violations of the Genocide Convention has already produced an escalating series of provisional measures orders by the Court, which have had a global ripple effect on everything from state and commercial relations with Israel to student encampments and university statements. Many other states, including Ireland, have now committed to intervening in the South African case, while Nicaragua has a separate case ongoing against Germany at the ICJ alleging complicity in Israel’s genocide and systemic violations of international humanitarian law. The ICJ is also expected to issue its advisory opinion on the illegality of Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory in July 2024. Meanwhile, after years of delay and bewildering inaction on its own investigation in Palestine, the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has recently requested arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Palestinian suspects whom it is accusing of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  
     
    In parallel, lawyers and Palestinian victims have filed a range of cases in domestic jurisdictions: cases against senior US and German respectively for complicity in genocide; cases against governments in Europe seeking judicial review of arms export licences or a halt on the transfer of weapons and fighter jet components to Israel; complaints against funds with investments in illegal Israeli settlements for benefiting from the proceeds of crime; and attempts to initiate domestic criminal prosecutions for war crimes where dual citizenship or universal jurisdiction laws allow for such prosecutions. 
     
    To reflect on these developments and more, this symposium brings together leading practitioners and scholars of international law who have been at the forefront of pursuing and analysing this emerging jurisprudence. We will reflect critically on the situation in Palestine today and the possibilities and limits of these various legal initiatives in different judicial arenas.  
     
    The event’s keynote speakers will be Raji Sourani (Founder and Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza) and Professor William Schabas (Middlesex University, Leiden University).  
     
    Other speakers will include Katherine Gallagher (Center for Constitutional Rights), Dr Reem al-Botmeh (Birzeit University), Tayab Ali (International Centre of Justice for Palestinians), Professor Triestino Mariniello (Liverpool John Moores University), Professor Mohamed Badar (Northumbria University), Dr Shahd Hammouri (Kent Law School), Dr John Reynolds (Maynooth University), Sara Elizabeth Dill (Anethum Global), Gerry Liston (Global Legal Action Network) and Dr Polona Florijančič (Independent Researcher). 
     
    This event is jointly hosted by Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology’s Research Centre in International Justice and Northumbria University Law School’s Centre for Evidence & Criminal Justice Studies. 
     
    Attendance is free and all are very welcome, please register at: https://forms.office.com/e/C1Gzd8cu4U 
     

     

    PROGRAMME 
     
    Venue: Renehan Hall, Maynooth University, 9 July 2024 
     
    8:30am — Registration and coffee 
     
    9:00 – 9.15am — Welcome remarks  
     
    9:15 – 10:30am 
    Panel 1: Keynote Panel — International Law and the Gaza Genocide 
    (25 mins each speaker + 25 mins Q+A) 
     
    Chairs: Dr Amina Adanan (Maynooth University) & Prof. Mohamed Badar (Northumbria University) 
     
    Raji Sourani (Director, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights) – Gaza: The Graveyard of International Law? 
     
    Prof. William Schabas (MRIA, Middlesex University, Leiden University)  – The Genocide Convention and its Interpretation and the Likely Outcome of Proceedings Instituted by South Africa against the State of Israel at the International Court of Justice. 
     
     
    10:30 - 10:45am — Coffee break 
     
     
    10:45am – 12:00pm  
    Panel 2: Framings — Occupation, Domination, Resistance  
    (15 mins each speaker + 30 mins Q+A) 
     
    Chair: Dr Rhiannon Bandiera (Maynooth University) 
     
    Dr Shahd Hammouri (University of Kent) – The Right to Resist Illegal Occupation and Colonial Domination. 
     
    Sara Elizabeth Dill (Anethum Global) – Sanctions, Terrorist Designations, and Social Media Content Moderation: The Challenges for Peace Negotiations, War Crimes Documentation, and Humanitarian Aid in the Gaza War. 
     
    Dr Polona Florijančič (Independent Researcher and Consultant) – Background and Legal Implications of October 7th Military Raid. 
     
     
    12:00 – 12:45 — Lunch 
     
     
    12:45 – 2:15 
    Panel 3: International Courts and Tribunals 
    (15 mins each speaker + 30 mins Q+A) 
     
    Chair: Bana Abu Zuluf (Maynooth University) 
     
    Prof. Mohamed Badar (Northumbria University) – Proceedings at the ICJ on Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 
     
    Dr John Reynolds (Maynooth University) – Apartheid, Palestine and the International Legal Institutions. 
     
    Dr Reem al-Botmeh (Birzeit University) – Beyond the Text: International Law and the Fight against Apartheid and Genocide . 
     
    Prof. Triestino Mariniello (Liverpool John Moores University) – The Palestine Situation at the ICC and the Significance of the Prosecutor’s Requests for Arrest Warrants. 
     
     
    2:15 – 2:30 — Coffee 
     
     
    2:30 – 4:00pm 
    Panel 4: Domestic Courts and Complaints 
    (15 mins each speaker + 30 mins Q+A) 
     
    Chair: Dr Polona Florijančič (Independent Researcher and Consultant) 
     
    Katherine Gallagher (Center for Constitutional Rights) - TBC 
     
    Tayab Ali (International Centre of Justice for Palestinians) – Achieving Accountability in a Dysfunctional International Rules Based Order. 
     
    Gerry Liston (Global Legal Action Network) – Proceeds of Crime: Challenging investments linked to Israeli war crimes under Irish domestic legislation. 
     
    Nora Salem – (German University in Cairo) Criminal Charges for Complicity in Genocide against German government and Administrative Charges to Deny Permission of Weapons Exports to Israel. 
     
    4:00 – 4:15pm Final Remarks  
     
     

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Information on travelling to Maynooth (please note that these are external websites)
     
    Traveling to Maynooth from Dublin Airport and return: 
     
    The best transport option from Dublin Airport to Maynooth and return is the Airport Hopper, which can be booked here: https://airporthopper.ie/  It is well signposted in the airport but you would need to give yourself about 40minutes from landing to reaching the bus depending on your gate etc. The Airport Hopper is an hourly airport shuttle service from Dublin Airport to Maynooth. The airport hopper leaves Maynooth from the bus terminus, see image below. The Hopper takes about an hour, depending on traffic, to get from Maynooth to the Airport using the hopper and booking is advised.


    Taxis to Maynooth are available outside the arrivals terminal in Dublin Airport. A taxi from Dublin Airport to Maynooth is approximately €85.
     
    Accommodation in Maynooth:
     
    Maynooth Campus Accommodation: https://maynoothcampus.com/bedrooms
     
    Glenroyal Hotel: https://www.glenroyal.ie
     
    There are also a range of Bed & Breakfast available in Maynooth, which you can find online.