Michael Lynk joins us at Columbia Law School to present a lecture, “Annexing the Future: Israel, Palestine and International Law.” Professor Lynk will be joined by Professor Rashid Khalidi, of Columbia University's Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, and Diala Shamas, Staff Attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights.

View a recording of the event here.

Is Israel moving closer to formally annexing parts or all of the West Bank? Jerusalem has already been annexed, the Israeli Knesset has been enacting and debating annexation legislation for the West Bank, and settlement approval and construction has been accelerating. Israeli political leaders have been openly calling for more annexation.

Annexation of occupied territory is strictly prohibited under international law. The prohibition is designed to curb expansionism, stop human rights abuses and dampen the risk of war. What are the trends on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territory, and what would formal annexation mean for the future of Israel/Palestine?

Speakers: 
Michael Lynk is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada. In March 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed Professor Lynk as Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967. In this capacity, he delivers regular reports to the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council on human rights trends in the OPT.

Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He received his B.A. from Yale University in 1970, and his D.Phil. from Oxford University in 1974. He has taught at the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, Georgetown University, and at the University of Chicago. He is past President of the Middle East Studies Association, and the editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies.

Diala Shamas is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where she works on challenging government and law enforcement abuses perpetrated under the guise of national security, both in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to joining CCR, Diala was a Clinical Supervising Attorney and Lecturer in Law at the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, and a Senior Staff Attorney supervising the CLEAR (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility) project at CUNY School of Law.

This event is free and open to the public, and is co-supported by the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University and the Department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. 

For questions about this program, contact Liz Boylan at eboyla@law.columbia.edu or 212.854.0167.