Legal Issues in Arab-Israeli conflict

3 Credit Hours

The Israeli-Arab conflict has for decades been a major foreign policy issue. Arguments about various positions in the conflict frequently focus, perhaps more than most geopolitical disputes, on questions of public international law. This seminar closely examines the legal issues ¿ and studiously avoids the policy ones. Topics will include the underlining questions of territorial sovereignty and borders; the role of U.N. Resolutions; Israeli settlements and the ICJ Wall case; refugees; Palestinian self-determination; Oslo and subsequent agreements; the status of Gaza and the Palestinian government; the role of the International Criminal Court; and the conduct of hostilities by all sides, including issues relating to the recent Gaza War. Attention will also be paid to the U.S. legal approach to these issues. An emphasis will also be placed in putting these issues in a wider or comparative perspective in relation to other conflicts where they arise. Students will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and to write a research paper on one of these issues. It is recommended but not required that participants have taken, or be taking, a more general course in international law. This class meets the Research Writing Requirement.