Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory

Part of the RSC Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2024

Series convened by Dr Catherine Briddick

Register for the seminar here 

REFUGEE HISTORY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Convenor: Dr Catherine Briddick

This research-led seminar mini-series provides an opportunity to engage with current events in Israel and Gaza. Our speakers are scholars whose expertise and research illuminates issues relevant to the conflict. With them, we are able to discuss how displacement has shaped the history of Gaza and to explore the relationships between international humanitarian, refugee, and human rights law.

Consonant with the RSC’s commitment to build knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of forced migration, this series aims to encourage reflection and contribute to debate in academia and in practice.

‘there is no justification for studying, and attempting to understand, the causes of human suffering if the purpose of one’s study is not, ultimately, to find ways of relieving and preventing that suffering.’ Dr David Turton

DISPLACEMENT FROM CONFLICT: OLD REALITIES, NEW PROTECTIONS?

Wednesday 31 January, 5pm (Refugee Studies Centre, in person)

Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler, Associate Professor in International Refugee Law, University of Reading 

Seminar page

Refugee history in the Gaza Strip

Wednesday 7 February, 5pm (Refugee Studies Centre, in person). Registration required.

Anne Irfan, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Race, Gender and Postcolonial Studies, UCL

Seminar page. 

BONAVERO DISCUSSION GROUP: IMPLICATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE’S PROVISIONAL MEASURES IN APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE IN THE GAZA STRIP (SOUTH AFRICA V. ISRAEL)

Tuesday 27 February, 12.30-2pm, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights and online

Speakers: Janina Dill (Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford), Victor Kattan (Assistant Professor in Public International Law, University of Nottingham School of Law), Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler (Associate Professor in International Refugee Law, University of Reading)

Chair: Cathryn Costello (Full Professor of Global Refugee and Migration Law, Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin)

Seminar page

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Wednesday 13 March, 12 noon UK (via Zoom) [please note, this is rescheduled from 26 February]

Francesca P Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Francesca Albanese is an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, and a Senior Advisor on Migration and Forced Displacement for the think tank Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), where she co-founded the Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP), a coalition of renowned professional and scholars engaged in/on Israel/Palestine. She has published widely on the legal situation in Israel/Palestine; her latest book, Palestinian Refugees in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2020), offers a comprehensive legal analysis of the situation of Palestinian refugees from its origins to modern-day reality. She regularly teaches and lectures on International Law and Forced Displacement in European and Arab universities, and speaks frequently at conferences and public events on the legal situation of Palestine. She worked for a decade as a human rights expert for the United Nations, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees. In these capacities, she advised the UN, governments, and civil society across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Asia Pacific, on the enforcement of human rights norms, especially for vulnerable groups including refugees and migrants. She holds a Law Degree (with honors) from the University of Pisa and an LLM in Human Rights from the University of London, SOAS. She is also author of two RSC Working Papers (with Lex Takkenberg): ‘UNRWA and the Palestinian refugees: Protecting refugee rights while structurally addressing the agency’s financially unsustainable modus operandi’ and ‘Rethinking solutions for Palestinian refugees: A much-needed paradigm shift and an opportunity towards its realization’.

Registration

The seminar will be held online via Zoom. Please register here.

Please note the day and time of this seminar.

All enquiries should be directed to rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk. 

Download the seminar series poster for Hilary term 2024.