8 June 2011
De Boothzaal, Uithof Campus, Utrecht University Library
Seminar Programme:
“Challenges and perspectives to Peace Talks between Palestinians and Israelis”
16:00 – Doors open
16:30 – Prof. Dr. Mansoob Murshed – “Pivotal to Peace on the Planet:
the Political Economy of the Palestinian Question”
17:15 – Anne de Jong - “Peace Talks versus Justice: Joint Palestinian
and Israeli non-violent activism and resistance”
18:00 – Coffee break
18:15 – Martijn Dekker – “Occupational hazards: Providing security in
the context of Occupation”
19:00 – Question & Answer Session
9 June 2011
KC-07 Lecture Hall, Hoofdgebouw, VU University Amsterdam
Lecture Programme:
Dries van Agt
17:30 – Doors open
18:00 – Dries van Agt – “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the
perspective of international law”
18:45 – Question & Answer Session
6 – 10 June 2011
Uithof Library, Utrecht University
Photo exhibition:
“Children of Palestine” by Zehra Güveli
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Speakers
Prof. Dr. Mansoob Murshed is a Professor of International Industrial Economics at the University of Birmigham. He also holds a Professorship at the Institute for Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, on the Economies of Conflict and Peace. Prof. Murshed has an honorary fellowship at the Peace Research Institute (PRIO).
Drs. Anne de Jong is an anthropologist in University of London. Her research focuses on joint Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent activism and resistance. She has conducted a seventeen months of fieldwork research in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories including Gaza and East-Jerusalem. In 2010, De Jong has been a passenger on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
Drs. Martijn Dekker studied social anthropology at Vrije University Amsterdam and has conducted research on nonviolent resistance and community development in the Palestinian West Bank. Currently he is doing his PhD research on civilian initiatives in war situations, i.e. human security from below.
Dries van Agt served as a Prime-Minister of the Netherlands between 1977 and 1982. Between 1983 -1987, he was the Queen’s Commissioner to North Brabant. Afterwards, Van Agt became a diplomat for the European Union and served as ambassador to Japan and the United States. Currently, Van Agt is the chairperson of The Rights Forum, which advocates a just Middle East policy of the Netherlands and the European Union.
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Main points of the conflict today
Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return:
Started with the 1948 Palestinian Exodus (also known as Nakba, “the disaster”) and increased as a result of the Six-Day War of 1967, today the Palestinian refugee population have reached to 4.62 million. The refugees are mainly living in refugee camps in West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Israel is continuously rejecting the refugees right to return in violation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art.13), UNGA Resolution 194 (Art.11).
Israeli Settlements:
In the Six-Day War of 1967, the Israeli Army occupied the rest of Palestine including East Jerusalem and West Bank, Golan Heights from Syria and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. The dispute refers to the building of settlement areas on these occupied territories. The Israeli settlements are in violation of IV. Geneva Convention (Part3) and UN Security Council Resolution 446, the International Court of Justice declared the settlements illegal and Israel has been repeatedly condemned by the General Assembly of the UN.
Jerusalem:
The city of Jerusalem holds many holy sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the city was planned to be under international governance, however in 1948 War, Israel occupied the West Jerusalem. In 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the rest of the city and claimed it as the capital city in 1980. Today, settlements in East-Jerusalem are considered illegal accordingly.
The Wall:
The “separation fence” as named by Israelis, and the “racial segregation wall” as called by the Palestinians is a 8-meter tall concrete wall in the length of 760km inside the West Bank enclosing Palestinian towns. The International Court of Justice declared that the Wall is violating the rights of Palestinians to access water, food, health, education and work.
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We would like to thank:
Baron Alim Drukkerij & Reclamebureau Utrecht
Californiedreef 4
3565 BL Utrecht
Utrecht Nederland
+31 302 992997
Former Prime Minister Dries van Agt and The Rights Forum
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* Mr. Dries van Agt lecture is in coordination with:
SUN - Studenten Unie Nederland. www.studentenunie.nl
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Student Forum for Peace is an independent non-profit student organisation. It aims to raise awareness of human rights issues and to promote understanding of international cooperation for sustainable peace. The members of the Forum have backgrounds in Political Science, International Relations, Conflict Studies, Psychology and Economics.
Contact us at:
