Muwatin Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at Birzeit University, in collaboration with the University of Antwerp in Belgium, organized a Virtual Classroom titled “Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and the Question of Palestine,.” on Monday 24 March 2025. Students from both universities attended the classroom, in addition to students from and Maynooth University in Ireland. The session was led by John Reynolds from Maynooth University and Reem Al-Botmeh from Birzeit University. This Virtual Classroom is part of the joint project "Emancipatory Human Rights". The project aims to ensure that human rights are utilized exclusively for emancipatory purposes and explores strategies to safeguard them from colonial exploitation. It also focuses on teaching and learning within colonial contexts, promoting an emancipatory approach to understanding and applying international law.
In her presentation, Reem Al-Botmeh examined the historical evolution of international law, highlighting the critical moments when colonial and imperial powers shaped the legal status of Palestine. She emphasized that the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza is part of an ongoing Zionist project, dating back to the British Mandate, aimed at displacing and eradicating Palestinians. She highlighted the role of international law and UN resolutions in entrenching colonial structures. Additionally, she discussed the limitations of international law, noting its ineffectiveness and inability to intervene timely in a number of cases, including the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.
For his part, John Reynolds presented the main ideas of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), addressing the main narratives that underpin these approaches and discussing the main criticisms of these approaches. He also explained how TWAIL could be utilized as a theoretical framework to deconstruct and confront the colonial structures of international law, especially in the context of the colonial condition in Palestine.
This session brought together students and faculty from the participating universities, fostering discussions on the repercussions of the ongoing war in Gaza and the role of international law in addressing colonization and struggles for liberation. Participants also explored the application of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) in legal research and activism related to Palestine.