*EVENT AT 12PM ET / 7PM PALESTINE ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2024*
Israel uses international humanitarian law (IHL) to justify actions in Gaza that amount to genocide. Israel’s settler-colonial agenda systematically strips Palestinians of their rights, and has transformed Gaza into a site of extreme violence, segregation, and mass annihilation. The speakers explore how Israel’s tactics include mass expulsions, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and distorted legal discourse to present these actions as compliant with IHL, despite their genocidal nature. The appropriation of IHL is shown as a legal-political strategy to mask atrocities while framing Gaza’s Palestinian population as a “terrorist” group to be eliminated. Ultimately, the speakers raise urgent concerns about how such legal distortions may enable future genocides globally, under the guise of lawful warfare.
The three speakers have a forthcoming installment on the same topic in our Current Issues in Depth series.