WHY ARE THESE TERRITORIES DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER TERRITORIES? THE LAW, JUDEA, SAMARIA AND GAZA
MODERATOR: AMIT SEGAL – Correspondent, Israel Channel 2
PROF. RACHEL VANLANDINGHAM – Former Judge Advocate, U.S. Air Force, Southwestern Law School
PROF. EUGENE KONTOROVICH – Professor at Northwestern University School of Law and Head of International Law Department of Kohelet Policy Forum
PROF. AMICHAI COHEN – Dean of the Faculty of Law at Ono Academic College
PROF. GUY HARPAZ – Arnold Brecht chair in European law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
MATAN KATZMAN – Co-founder and Chairman of ‘My Truth’
Officials in the PLO and other Palestinian organizations have attempted to convert the Palestinian Authority into an internationally-recognized sovereign state. This is no mere formalism. Rather, if successful, it could change the legal framework under which the IDF operates, and could expose individual IDF service members to personal liability for alleged violations of a previously inapplicable body of treaty law.
Panel members will discuss how the territories of Judea and Samaria should be legally classified, for example, as disputed territory, as territory under Israeli sovereignty, as occupied territory under the Geneva Convention, sui generis, or using some other classification, or whether or not the West Bank or Gaza should constitute a sovereign entity. The panel will also discuss the effects this classification has on the coastal blockade of the Gaza Strip.
