International Law and Israel-Palestine (LAWS70344)

In 1993, the Israelis and the Palestinians signed a Declaration of Principles initiating a peace process that promised to deliver a solution to the Israeli– Palestinian conflict within five years. Nearly 20 years later, the peace process is in tatters and the prospects of a peace agreement between the parties have never seemed bleaker. The failure to reach a political settlement on issues such as refugees, Jerusalem and settlements, which also have a strong international legal dimension, has given rise to a range of questions about the role of international law in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process and in peace processes more generally. This subject explores these questions critically and comparatively with reference to other conflicts, including East Timor, Western Sahara and Cyprus. In addition to her academic work, the lecturer has direct practical experience of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and has lived in the Gaza Strip, working with a human rights organisation.

The subject will be split into parts.

History and the international legal framework

Principal topics will include:

• The legal history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• The right of self-determination: From East Timor to the Western Sahara and the West Bank
• Revisiting the history of the international law of self-determination: The untold story of population transfer
• The law of statehood and recognition
• The international law of occupation
• The applicability of international human rights law to occupied territory
• The Israeli–Palestinian peace process: From Oslo to the road map to peace.

International law and the two-state solution

Principal topics will include:

• Refugees
• Settlements and settlers
• Jerusalem
• Case study: The Wall.

Alternative models

• Transitional justice: Peace-building, reconciliation and dealing with the past
• One-state solution; earned sovereignty; international trusteeship.

This subject will finish with an assessed, student-run Israeli–Palestinian peace conference.