Birzeit University Launches International Conference: “The Palestinians and the Genocidal War on Gaza”

Today, Monday, May 5, 2025, Birzeit University launched the international conference titled “The Palestinians and the Genocidal War on Gaza”, held by the Faculty of Law and Public Administration. A group of selected academics and experts in international law and public administration in Palestine and several countries attended this two-day conference.

Birzeit University President, Dr. Talal Shahwan, started the conference with a speech emphasizing the university’s enduring commitment to the Palestinian people’s causes and its national and academic role in facing genocide and marginalization. “Today marks the 577th day of the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” he said. “We are witnessing daily massacres broadcast live to the whole world with no accountability or real deterrence.”

He also pointed out the direct targeting that Palestinian educational institutions are facing, citing the destruction of over 500 educational institutions and the killing of thousands of students, teachers, and academics. “As Birzeit University, we stress that knowledge is a means of liberation, and that justice cannot be realized unless those oppressed speak up to expose the occupation and hold it accountable,” he added.

For her part, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Public Administration, Dr. Lourdes Habash, affirmed that this conference is being held amid a genocide that caused the loss of over 52,000 Palestinian lives, including more than 18,000 children. “We are here to take our moral responsibility as academics and jurists for defending our cause, documenting this multifaceted humanitarian catastrophe, and encountering the narratives that justify the occupation’s crimes,” she said.

She further added that the conference aims to present legal and academic approaches to confront the ongoing genocide and realize concrete accountability of the occupation before international institutions. She emphasized that academic resistance is an integral part of the Palestinian people's struggle for existence.

The conference hosts more than 50 participants from Palestine, Brazil, South Africa, Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, Lebanon, and Tunisia. It is also being held in both online and hybrid formats to ensure broad participation. The organizing committee has received over 140 research papers reviewed by specialized academics.

It is worth mentioning that this conference is part of Birzeit University’s broader ongoing efforts to document the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation and to strengthen Palestinian legal and humanitarian discourse in response to the all-out war waged against the Palestinian People.