Recognition of the State of Palestine – Contested Interpretations

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What is the meaning and significance of the legal recognition of the state of Palestine in international law? On the one hand, there is the promise that formal state recognition offers Palestinians in the eyes of the international legal community. On the other hand, there are concerns that the act of recognising a “new” state of Palestine may be cosmetic or formal or apologetic. Is recognition a trap or an opening? The panel will discuss international law and the recognition of (new) states in the 20^th and 21^st centuries in light of the history of decolonisation, and will reflect on what this means for the teaching of International Law as a subject.

Speakers:

Prof Vasuki Nesiah teaches human rights, legal and social theory at NYU Gallatin where she is also faculty director of the Gallatin Global Fellowship in Human Rights. She has published on the history and politics of human rights, humanitarianism, international criminal law, reparations, global feminisms, and decolonization.

Dr. Shahd Hammouri is a Lecturer in International Law and Legal Theory from the Palestinian-Jordanian region. She is the author of the forthcoming book Corporate War Profiteering and International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2025). Dr. Hammouri is also a Non-Resident Fellow at Al-Haq for Applied International Law and a Senior Legal Consultant at Law for Palestine.

Dr Mazen Masri joined the City Law School as a lecturer in September 2013. He has previously taught at the University of Toronto and York University in Toronto, Canada. Mazen’s areas of teaching and research are constitutional law and public international law with special interest in comparative constitutionalism, constitutional theory, human rights law and equality.

Dr Nora Jaber joined the University of Edinburgh Law School as Lecturer in Law in the Globalised Muslim World in September 2024. Her research lies at the intersection of international law, human rights, and feminist theory, with a particular focus on gender justice in the Arab and Islamic world.

Chair:

Prof Gerry Simpson (LSE Law)

Panel Chair:

Dr Vidya Kumar (SOAS) is Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Colonialism, Empire and International Law and Senior Lecturer at the College of Law, SOAS (University of London).

Event organisation:

This event was co-organised by Prof Gerry Simpson, Dr Luke McDonagh and Dr Marie Petersmann (LSE Law) & Dr Vidya Kumar and Dr Parvathi Menon (SOAS Centre for the Study of Colonialism, Empire and International Law (CCEIL).