The International Law and Palestine Blog – Call for Contributions

Law for Palestine’s International Law and Palestine Blog provides a forum for addressing some of the most pressing questions in international law relating to Palestine. Through critical writing, dialogue, and collaboration with scholars, practitioners, and communities affected by international law -as well as those committed to its defence- the Blog seeks to interrogate and reshape prevailing legal discourses on Palestine. It serves as a space for theoretically informed and critically engaged analysis of the international legal framework, with particular attention to its application, limitations, and possibilities in the Palestinian context

Recent contributions have examined a wide range of legal issues, including the Law of the Sea, interdisciplinary approaches to international law, and the implications of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on climate change for Palestine. All submissions are subject to expert review prior to publication.

We welcome submissions that:

• Develop harmonised and purposive interpretations of international law in order to realise its emancipatory potential;
• Advance new approaches to understanding and overcoming the structural limitations of international law, with due attention to its colonial origins and the historical conditions of its formation;
• Engage critically with judicial decisions or ongoing proceedings, assessing the risks and possibilities associated with different accountability pathways, including those beyond conventional legal fora, and drawing on historical or comparative perspectives where appropriate;
• Examine the relationship between law and political economy in shaping the Palestinian condition, situating this analysis within broader Global South contexts;
• Explore the role of Palestine in shaping the future of international law, including critical engagement with Palestinian international legal practice, strategies, tactics, and critiques.

Research priorities for 2026

Law for Palestine’s research agenda for 2026 centres on the following thematic areas:

• The denial of Palestinian self-determination and its manifestations;
• Emancipatory readings of international law;
• Lessons from the history of international law and settler colonialism;
• Third State responsibility;
• The future of the international legal system in light of genocide;
• Pathways to accountability.

Submissions

We invite contributions from legal practitioners, academics, and experts, as well as emerging scholars (including LLM and PhD candidates), particularly on issues engaging with recent developments in international law. Submissions from Palestinian scholars, practitioners, and students are especially encouraged. Additional support -such as preliminary discussions and enhanced editorial feedback- can be provided to early-career scholars and students.

Contributions should be between 1,500 and 2,000 words, written in clear, formal language and properly referenced using hyperlinks. Submissions may be made in either English or Arabic. All accepted posts will be published bilingually; Law for Palestine will arrange translation.

To submit, please send your proposed title, draft contribution, and a short biographical note to research@law4palestine.org . Emerging scholars may submit a proposal for feedback prior to finalising their piece. Draft submissions should be received no later than 31 March 2026.

Indicative topics:

Indicative themes include, but are not limited to:

• • The international legal order
    • Reclaiming international law as a tool for liberation and equality rather than management of occupation
    • UN Security Council Resolution 2803 as an instrument entrenching colonial domination and undermining Palestinian self-determination;
    • The role of Third States in supporting, implementing or legitimising Resolution 2803

• • Third State responsibility

• • • The obligations of Third States to uphold and realise the Palestinian right to self-determination

• • • Operationalising these obligations through sanctions, arms embargoes and judicial remedies 

• • Settler colonialism as a framework

• • • Genocide and apartheid as different facets of settler colonialism;
    • Arbitrary detention and incarceration as techniques of settler-colonial control;
    • The denial of Palestinian sovereignty over natural resources;
    • Starvation as a structural condition and its legal characterisation;
    • Illegal settlements (and settlement goods), land grab and annexation

• • Denial of Palestinian right to self-determination and return

• • • Envisioning the future of the Palestinian right to return
    • The continued denial of the right to return and its implications for political solutions in line with international law
    • The denial of Palestinian representation and governance, assassinations and detention of intellectuals and political figures
    • Israel’s targeting of human rights defenders 

• • Global corporate responsibility

• • • Corporate complicity in violations of international law and the Palestinian right to self-determination, and the legal accountability of corporate actors that support or enable the occupation under domestic, transnational, and international legal frameworks, including due diligence obligations, strategic litigation, and barriers to effective remedy;
    • The role of corporate power and political economy in sustaining settler-colonial structures, and the implications for divestment, disengagement, and post-genocide reconstruction.

• • Accountability 

• • • Structural and political barriers to accountability in international and legal systems;
    • Failures to prevent genocide and to support accountability mechanisms;
    • Observations and commentary on ongoing judicial proceedings (e.g. before the ICJ)

• • Reconstruction 

• • • The risks and possibilities inherent in reconstruction processes;
    • Structuring reconstruction efforts to uphold justice, accountability and Palestinian sovereignty 
    • Reconstruction as a site of decolonisation, centring Palestinian agency and self-determination 

• • Pressures on international law and those seeking to implement it 

• • • Global repression of Palestine advocacy (of activists, intellectuals, journalists) through counter-terrorism frameworks and related measures 

• • • Sanctions targeting ICC officials, UN personnel, and Palestinian civil society organisations.