Panel Discussion with Richard Falk: The Validity of the Geneva Conventions in the Context of Prolonged Occupation – Israeli Occupation as an Example
Join us in the fifth panel discussion of the monthly webinars of the Jurists for Palestine Forum
Main Information:
- Date: Wednesday, 10th March 2021.
- Time: 7:00-8:30 PM (Jerusalem Time), At 5.00-6.30 PM (London Time).
- Registration fees: For the members of Jurists for Palestine Forum (You are not a member? Register below).
- Location: Online – Participants will be provided with a link prior to the webinar time.
- Last Day to Register: Tuesday, 9th March 2021.
- Note: The panel discussion is in English, the forum will provide live interpretation to Arabic.
On the subject of the panel discussion:
At this webinar, Jurists for Palestine Forum seeks to discuss a currently debated issue among scholars and legal professionals, i.e. the validity and feasibility of the rules of Geneva Conventions and the regulations of International Humanitarian Law in situations of prolonged occupation (in particular, the Israeli Occupation ). Meanwhile the current interpretation of the Geneva Conventions implies that occupation is usually short term (thus designed its principles according to this), there are cases of long-term occupations that put those principles into question. In this regard, the most well-known and longest occupation in the modern history is the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories which exceeded 70 years now. Therefore, this panel discussion will discuss the effectiveness of Geneva Conventions in light of this case.
This webinar seeks to raise legal debate on this issue and tries to answer the following questions:
- Are the rules of the Geneva Conventions applicable to situations of prolonged occupation? In Palestine, for example?
- Does the conservationist principle (which is a main principle in the Geneva Conventions) come into clash with the need to develop the welfare of the population under a long-term occupation?
- Is there a need to amend the Geneva Conventions to accommodate the new reality of prolonged occupations? How?
- To what extent is it possible to modify these conventions (if needed)? And why is there a big debate about this?
The panel discussion Guest:
To raise this important debate, The Forum hosts the Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Professor Richard Falk.
- About Richard Falk:
An international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for forty years. He also taught at University of California in Global and International Studies and since 2005. He also chaired the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Prof. Falk is the former UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories between 2008-2014. In 2004, he was listed as the author or coauthor of 20 books and the editor or coeditor of another 20 volumes.
The discussion will be moderated by
- Ahmad Khalifa:
Assistant Professor of International Criminal Law at Ain Shams University, Egypt, and a visiting professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands and the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Lebanon. Dr. Khalifa is the coordinator of Oxford University moot court competition in human rights in the Middle East region since 2014. Dr. Khalifa works as a legal expert and a trainer with the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as an expert in comparative criminal law with the United Nations Regional Office for the Middle East on Drugs and Crime.
To participate in this discussion, you must register for a membership with Jurists for Palestine Forum
