13 June 2013
SHARES Debate: The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories: is there a responsibility for the Netherlands?
On Thursday 13 June 2013, the third SHARES Debate is organised in cooperation with SPUI25, an academic-cultural centre that offers a forum for among others lectures, debates and book presentations.
SHARES Debates are organised throughout the academic year to provide a platform for discussions with a broader (non-academic) audience on questions of shared responsibility. The upcoming debate is entitled: The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories: is there a responsibility for the Netherlands?
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for 60 years. Israel has been occupying the West Bank, East-Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip for 45 years. It seems that this asymmetric conflict can only be resolved by interference of third parties. It is in this respect that the role of the Netherlands deserves special attention. The Netherlands attaches great importance to the promotion of the international rule of law. Moreover, it maintains close relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authorities.
Two issues will be discussed during this debate: first, what is the responsibility of third states (the Netherlands in particular) from the perspective of international law in relation to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories? And to what extent do third states live up to their international legal obligations? Second, can the Netherlands make a difference, alone or in cooperation with other states? Is posing the question pertaining to the responsibilities of third states just a matter of principles, a hypothetical endeavour, or could it really make a difference?
The panel consists of:
- Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, former professor international and European law at the Universities of Groningen, Leiden and Tilburg. He also has had a long career in Dutch and European politics. He was among others State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economic Affairs, member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, Ambassador of the European Community in Japan, and member of the European Parliament. Laurens Jan Brinkhorst currently gives advice on matters related to European and international policy areas.
- John Dugard, emeritus professor of public international law at the University of Leiden. He is a member of the Institut de Droit International, and has been a member of the International Law Commission from 1997-2011. John Dugard became the Special Rapporteur on diplomatic protection to the ILC in 2000. Between 2001 and 2008, he has served as Special Rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights, and its successor the UN Human Rights Council, on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He is currently a door tenant at 20 Essex Street Chambers in London.
- Chair: André Nollkaemper, professor of public international law at the University of Amsterdam and director of the SHARES project.
Please note that this SHARES Debate will take place in Dutch.
Registration is mandatory through SPUI25.
Further questions can be addressed to Iona Tjiong at: shares-fdr@uva.nl.
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See here for a blog post on this topic.