Join us in Bergen on March 12th at 3:00 pm, where Professor Ilana Feldman from George Washington University (US) will deliver her keynote lecture 'International Encounters on Palestinian Terrain'.

In this talk Feldman examines the paradox of international humanitarian law, its growing ubiquity alongside its apparent impotence. The promise to protect civilians, regulate the use of force, and enable asylum is increasingly perceived as unfulfilled, particularly in light of the Israeli war on Gaza following the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. Yet Palestine’s role as a critical site for interrogating the operations and implications of international law, institutions, and discourse long predates this conflict.

Drawing on archival and ethnographic research, Professor Feldman explores how Palestine has shaped, and been shaped by, the international. She investigates the foundational terms of these encounters, asking how international actors claim standing and proximity, how complicity might serve as a basis for responsibility, and what forms of resolution emerge from these positions. The lecture will engage three distinct case studies:

• The International Committee of the Red Cross’s efforts to assert its authority and the force of IHL during the early years of the Israeli occupation (1967–75);
• The World Council of Churches’ evolving stance on Palestine in the 1960s, shifting from aid to advocacy and reinterpreting complicity;
• BADIL’s work to educate international advocates, challenging dominant frameworks of standing and responsibility

Read more in this interview with Ilana Feldman.

Following the lecture, a panel conversation will address the targeting of civilian populations and infrastructure in conflict, and the possibilities and limitations of peacebuilding interventions. The panel will contribute with reflections from Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Sudan, extending the discussion beyond the Palestinian context.

The event will also include the awarding of the Chr. Michelsen Prize, and conclude with light refreshments and informal mingling in the Bergen Global foyer.

KEYNOTE
Ilana Feldman, Professor of Anthropology, History, and International Affairs at George Washington University, USA.  

PANEL CONVERSATION
Lovise Aalen, Research Professor (CMI)

Munzoul Assal, Senior Researcher (CMI) 

Aslak Jangård Orre, Senior Researcher (CMI)

MODERATOR
Antonio De Lauri, Research Director and Research Professor (CMI)

The event is free and open to all.

Please register your attendance via this link.

We hope to see you there!