Law, Rights and Resistance in Occupied Palestine Symposium

The symposium Law, Rights and Resistance in Occupied Palestine was held on the 24th April 2015 at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The event was organised by postgraduate students, with support from a group of academic staff members at the UNSW. The event examined and discussed the extent to which contemporary public international legal frameworks including international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law, allow or disallow forms of resistance to occupied rule in Palestine. As well as a legal focus, the event featured theoretical, post-colonial, historical, political and anthropological perspectives on the notion of ‘resistance’.

Some of the specific concerns addressed included:

• Whether there is a legal right, as opposed to a mere moral right to resist occupied rule under international law and, if so, under what conditions it can be exercised.
• What characterises the right to resist? What forms can it take? What are the boundaries of resistance.
• What are some manifestations of daily forms of resistance and civil disobedience from occupied Palestine?
• How has Palestinian resistance to occupation evolved over time?
• What is the role of academia, particularly scholars in international law, in perpetuating or resisting the occupation?

The speakers included Amira Hass, Lisa Hajjar, Ben Saul, Michelle Burgis-Kasthala, Samah Sabawi, Peter Slezak, Ibrahim Qaadaan, Michaela Sahar and Say Zananiri.

Further Resources:

View the Law, Rights and Resistance Symposuim program here.

View the Speaker Biographies here.

View recordings of all guest speakers at the symposium here.

The organisers of the symposium can be contacted here: palestinesymposium@unsw.edu.au.