Dear friends, partners and sponsors,
The month of February has been a very busy month for the thinc. team. We have been focused on several strategic projects:
International Court of Justice – Advisory Opinion
These proceedings before the World Court are an existential attack on the sovereignty of the State of Israel.
We have had the privilege of working with the government of the Republic of Fiji to make submissions to the International Court of Justice in relation to the Advisory Opinion proceedings in The Hague on the “occupied Palestinian territories”.
This has been a unique opportunity to present arguments to the Court that no other country has done.
Israel has not been actively involved in this case. However the outcome of the case could affect the existential security of the State of Israel.
The background to these proceedings – in December 2022, 87 UN member states adopted a UN General Assembly resolution requesting the ICJ to issue an opinion on the following questions:
- (a) What are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?
- (b) How do the policies and practices of Israel referred to in paragraph 18(a) above affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences that arise for all States and the United Nations from this status?”
In 2023, 52 member states plus “the State of Palestine” and three international organisations (League of Arab States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and African Union) submitted written statements and observations to the Court.
Many of them argued that the Court should issue an opinion that the occupation is illegal. They demand the “immediate”, “unconditional” and “total” end to the occupation – that is, the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli military and civilians from the entirety of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Over recent months, thinc. has been working closely with the Fiji government to draft Fiji’s written submission to the Court in July 2023, and to prepare its oral presentation to the Court on 26th February 2024.
Read the full press release here
Israel on Trial Foundational Course
We are developing an on-line “Israel on Trial – Foundational Course”. We plan to launch a pilot program for a limited number of students in April–May 2024. The course will then be finalised for broader publication.
This course is for non-lawyers. It gives a solid understanding of “lawfare” against Israel, and how to fight it.
Download the course brochure here
Invitation video to IOT foundational course 2024.
Are you interested in participating?
Please contact us!
[email protected]
or go to to our contact us page here
Policy papers and briefings
We continue our collaboration with Israel Allies Foundation (IAF) Europe to brief and inform European members of Parliament on key legal issues.
On 7th February, Andrew Tucker participated in a briefing organised by IAF Europe in the Dutch Parliament on the funding of UNRWA.
On 8th February, Tucker spoke to the Dutch Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on the international law aspects of the Gaza/Hamas war.
Websites
We have been optimising our English-language website, and working on a Dutch website, which will be launched shortly.
Webinars
thinc. continued its monthly webinars. On 27th February we held two webinars on the ICJ Advisory Opinion proceedings, with special guests: Jonathan Turner (UKLFI), Prof. Gregory Rose (University of Wollongong) and Prof. Steven Zipperstein (UCLA).
The two new recorded February webinars are published and can be found here:
12PM Session:
On thinc.’s Calendar
Coming up!
Next thinc Webinar to be held on March 26th at 7 PM (Amsterdam time).
Recommended Reading
1) The Status of Jerusalem under international law, read the article here
2) 30 years after Oslo, 30 years after Oslo – Read here
thinc. Young Leaders’ community
thinc. is in the process of establishing a thinc. Young Leaders community. The main goal of this network is to train a new generation of lawyers and international relations experts in the international law issues relating to the State of Israel. Already lawyers from Europe, Asia/Pacific, Africa and North America have joined this network.
Research projects
We are working on several high-level research projects, including projects relating to Jerusalem and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Please give to support our work!
Lawfare against Israel is intensifying. Never has Israel been under such attack in the legal domain as it is now.
We really need more funds to enable us to continue this ambitous program of activitoes. Thank you for your support!
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