Abstracts of Papers

Kate Crockford:
International HR Law in the Levant: Palestine and Israel

The Israel/Palestine situation is arguably the most discussed, researched and reported modern conflict. Israeli assassinations, Palestinian bombings, diplomatic relations and peace plans make the front pages of newspapers the world over. The conflict is important, for many reasons, to diverse groups of people throughout the globe; it has been raging for a century and its many victims cry out to the international community in order to put a stop to the terror felt by both Israelis and Palestinians, notably since 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Thus, this important and far-reaching conflict has myriad potential as a test-tube for realizing Human Rights Law on a global level. And yet it has not. Numerous UN resolutions have been passed in the General Assembly and the Security Council, and yet their proclamations are rarely, if ever, enforced or heeded.

For this project I am interested in unearthing the pieces of international legislation that are used by either the Palestinians or the Israelis as means to achieve their ends. These articles and resolutions are for Palestinians and many Israelis the only hope for an imposed and just solution.

Finally, I will undertake a discussion of the responsibility of the international community to approach these resolutions and articles with more than an activist's preaching. International human rights law, itself no doubt flawed and questionable in many respects, is an important step for humanity as arranged through the capitalist state system. My final argument will be that if parties in this specific, highly reported conflict do not adhere to international law - if demands are not met and punishment not doled out to those who choose to flout its dictum - the future of international law will be less than bleak.

(Session IV)