This seminar will examine a wide variety of legal issues raised in the various stages of conflict in Israel/Palestine considered from a variety of legal perspectives. We will survey these issues as they arise in both the occupied Palestinian territory (the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip) as well as within Israel proper. The legal frameworks engaged include international humanitarian law/law of armed conflict, including the law of belligerent occupation, international human rights and international criminal law, as well as Israeli civil and constitutional law. In addition to critically considering how these bodies of law describe, construct, frame and analyze the conflict, we will also consider the implications of these framings for obligations found under the domestic legal systems of third states, including Canada. These implications are particularly relevant for the expressive and associational activities of the Palestinian diaspora in the west and its supporters and advocates. The course will begin with a survey of the relevant moments of significance in the history of Israel/Palestine, beginning in the early 20th century and extending to the events of October 7, 2023 and their aftermath. The focus of inquiry is legal–the course integrates international, domestic and comparative law with secondary sources, including policy and scholarship, to contextualize the classroom analysis of relevant issues. For each issue, there will be some background readings and then presentation of opposing legal positions. Topics will include the legality of Israel’s policies and practices of occupation; local government, land, water, and education policy; the treatment of the Arab minority in Israel; free trade agreements and the human rights obligations of corporations operating in territory controlled by Israel; the historical and contemporary role of the United Nations in overseeing the conflict; counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency law and policy; the right of resistance, self-determination and state recognition; the utilization of domestic legal levers, such as consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and defamation, to secure space for human rights advocacy in third countries; allegations of state responsibility for genocide as well as state and non-state actors’ individual criminal liability for various international crimes, including at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice.
Method of Evaluation:
(1) In-class assignments (75%): Combination of individual and group assignments involving research, writing, and oral presentation.
(2) Class participation and attendance (25%). Attendance will be mandatory, subject to absences approved with the instructors. Participation will be assessed based on quality and quantity of in-class interventions over the course of the term.