2nd of April – third day live streaming
UCC morning session live streaming: https://ucc.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=46f1e37f-85bf-40bc-8b25-ed18315b1268
UCC round table live streaming: https://ucc.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=0d66083f-bb8d-427c-a7cd-73584db097eb
Conference update – March 2017
Cork City Hall and University College Cork, two institutions at the very heart of Cork City, will host the upcoming three day conference, “International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Exceptionalism and Responsibility”, from 31st March to 2nd April.
The Organising Committee emphasises that this conference is open to the public, but reminds those interested in attending that prior registration online is required at https://israelpalestinelaw.com/registration/
In spite of a concerted and highly organised campaign by a small minority against the conference, we are proud that the conference will take place in Cork, on the banks of the beautiful River Lee. We take this opportunity to thank all of those who have stood by us and given their support to academic freedom and an open debate of this timely and increasingly pressing issue.
We look forward to seeing you in Cork!
Conference update – Feb 2017:
The Organising Committee of “The State of Israel and International Law: Legitimacy, Exceptionalism and Responsibility” is delighted to confirm that the conference will take place in Cork March 31-April 2. We are aware that confusion has arisen about the timing and location of our event, due in part to inaccurate reporting in the press. We now warmly invite you to register for and join this interdisciplinary debate, with a highly exciting programme, about one of the most pressing issues of our time.
Organisers’ statement – Dec 2016:
It is with excitement that we are announcing the launch of the conference “International Law & the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Exceptionalism, and Responsibility” that will be held between the 31st of March and the 2nd of April 2017 at University College Cork, a constituent university of the National University of Ireland.
This conference will be the first of its kind and constitutes a ground-breaking historical event on the road towards justice and enduring peace in historic Palestine. It is unique because, while most attention today is directed at Israel’s actions in the 1967 Occupied Territories, the conference seeks to expand the debate surrounding the nature of the State of Israel and the legal and political reality within it.
The conference will raise questions that link the suffering in historic Palestine to the manner of Israel’s foundation and its nature. It aims to generate a debate on legitimacy, exceptionalism and responsibility under international law as provoked by the nature of the Israeli state. It will also examine how international law could be deployed, expanded, and even re-imagined, in order to achieve peace and reconciliation based on justice.
The conference is interdisciplinary; its examination of the themes of legitimacy, exceptionalism and responsibility will link issues pertinent to a wide range of academic fields. Speakers include leading scholars from Law, Politics, Philosophy, Theology, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, History and other disciplines.
Keynote addresses and panel sessions will provide a much-needed platform for scholarly debate and disagreement. Speakers and participants will come from widely differing backgrounds, having different, and indeed opposing, perspectives on the central questions addressed by this conference.
Recent developments in some countries – particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom – have evidenced a chilling repression of academic freedom when it comes to critique of Israeli state policy. This renders it all the more crucial to provide forums for such debate. The history of this conference reflects these developments. Originally, it was planned to hold the conference at the University of Southampton, but growing pressure on academic freedom in the United Kingdom forced a decision to move the conference to Ireland. We look forward to productive and constructive academic engagement in Cork with the vital themes and questions raised by the conference.
Organising committee:
Ms. Juman Asmail, Independent Researcher.
Professor Oren Ben-Dor, University of Southampton.
Professor George Bisharat, University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
Professor James Bowen, University College Cork.
Mr. Mike FitzGibbon, University College Cork.
Dr. Kathy Glavanis-Grantham, University College Cork.
Dr. Piaras MacEinri, University College Cork.
Dr. Jacqui O’Riordan, University College Cork.
Dr. John Reynolds, Maynooth University.
Professor Suleiman Sharkh, University of Southampton.
In collaboration with ZED Books
