WEBINAR: Israel-Palestine at the International Criminal Court

Resource

On April 13, the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), with the co-sponsorship of Human Rights Watch, invites you to join a webinar on Israel-Palestine at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently considering opening a formal probe into Israeli and Palestinian actions in the Occupied Territories. This webinar  examined that case — what it is about, why and how it was brought before the ICC, and the controversy that it has generated. Our expert panelists also delved into the broader stakes involved in this case – a case that is testing the legitimacy and viability of both the court and the international law it is designed to uphold. It featured Dr. Michael G Kearney (Al Haq)
Hagai El-Ad (B’Tselem), Liz Evenson (Human Rights Watch), and Katherine Gallagher (Center for Constitutional Rights), in discussion with FMEP’s Lara Friedman (bios below).

 

Resources from our Webinar Speakers:

 

Panelist Biographies

Hagai El-Ad is the executive director of B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Previously he was director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI, 2008–2014) and the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (JOH, 2000–2006). In 2014, El-Ad was among Foreign Policy’s “100 Leading Global Thinkers”. In 2016 and again in 2018, he spoke before the United Nations Security Council calling for international action in order to end the occupation. He lives in Jerusalem and tweets at @HagaiElAd.

Liz Evenson is acting director in the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. Her research and advocacy centers on the International Criminal Court, monitoring the court’s institutional development and conducting advocacy toward court officials and its member countries. She holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago, an M.Phil from the University of Nottingham, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Katherine Gallagher is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where works on holding U.S. and foreign officials, and corporations, including private military contractors, accountable for serious human rights violations through domestic civil actions, criminal cases under universal jurisdiction laws and actions using human rights special procedures mechanisms. She has represented victims before the International Criminal Court, regarding sexual violence by Catholic Church officials; U.S. torture in the Situation of Afghanistan et al, and persecution by Israeli officials in the Situation of Palestine. Prior to joining CCR, she worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) from 2001-2006.

Dr. Michael Kearney lectured on human rights and international law at the University of York, LSE, and University of Sussex, and is a legal researcher with Al-Haq. His academic publications include works on propaganda and incitement, statehood and self-determination, and various elements of international criminal law, including extensive analysis of legal aspects of the situation in Palestine.

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP).