Must-See

The so-called ‘Two-state Solution’ appears to be up for grabs. Basically, the Two-state Solution says that the Palestinians have a right to a state covering all of the so-called West Bank, including ‘East Jerusalem’ as their capital. Years of failed negotiations have given way to the growing sentiment that the two-state solution is simply no…

May202019

Blog

‘Settlements’: International Criminal Court considers prosecuting Israeli leaders for war crimes

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has for some time been looking into whether Israeli leaders are potentially guilty of war crimes – first, in relation to the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and, second, in relation to Israeli settlement policies. The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has announced that the Prosecutor, Fatou…

May182019

Blog

Why International Law is important

By Gabriele Kuchenbecker and Andrew Tucker

There is no other state and dispute where international law is invoked with such passion and conviction as Israel and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Not only Israel and the Palestinians but also governments in general, NGO’s, international organizations and the media inevitably refer to international law to support their views. No other state and no other…

May82019

Blog

Former EU leaders urge EU to reject Trump’s ‘deal of the century’

Former European leaders and NATO officials jointly urge the EU to reject Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ if it falls short of the two-state solution. In a recent letter titled ‘Europe must stand by the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine’, 37 high-ranking former EU and NATO officials urge the EU to reject President…

Apr302019

Blog

International Criminal Court Afghanistan decision – what are the implications for Israel/Palestine?

By Andrew Tucker and Gabriele Kuchenbecker

On 12 April 2019, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) unanimously rejected the ICC Prosecutor’s request to authorize her to open a formal investigation into alleged ‘crimes against humanity’ and ‘war crimes’ in Afghanistan over the last 15 years. The Prosecutor (Fatou Bensouda) wanted to investigate possible war crimes by the Taliban,…

Apr182019

Articles

US Recognition of Israeli Sovereignty over the Golan Heights – An International Law Perspective

By Dr. Matthijs de Blois, Senior Fellow, thinc. Exec summary President Trump’s recent proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights has attracted much criticism. This criticism is often simplistic and unrealistic. The prohibition on the use of force to acquire territory is an important foundation of modern international law, but it does not…

Apr82019

News

IDC student delegation visits The Hague

From 1- 4 April, a group of 20 students from the prestigious Abba Eban Center for International Diplomacy in Herzliya (Israel) visited Paris and the Netherlands. The Abba Eban Center is part of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya – a private research university in Herzliya, Israel. The IDC is also known internationally for its conferences…

Mar152019

Blog

Wie wind zaait, zal storm oogsten.

On 8 January 2019, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations – Clingendael – has sent a Policy Brief to the Permanent Committee of Foreign Affairs of the Dutch Parliament, entitled: ‘Wie wind zaait, zal storm oogsten: bezetting en de Staat Israël’. In this Policy Brief (December 2018), the authors claim that with regard to the…

Jan112019

Blog

The future of the Two-state Solution

On 13 September 2018, the 25th anniversary of the ‘Oslo Accords’ was passed. The Dutch government has always been a supporter of these accords. Unfortunately, the implementation of the Oslo Accords has stalled and the belief in the Two-state Solution is waning. Positions on both sides of the conflict harden and the situation among the…

Dec112018

Articles

The Legal Status of Jerusalem: Is Trump Right?

The following article was written exactly one year ago by Professor Gregory Rose of the School of Law at the University of Wollongong, Australia. It was published on 13 December 2017 in the Australian Outlook, the national online showcase for high-quality analysis and comment on international affairs of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Today, the…

Nov262018

Seminars

Jerusalem and the future of the Two-state Solution

Jerusalem and the future of the Two-state Solution A seminar on the legal status of Jerusalem under international law and the future of the Two-state Solution, organized by the William Wilberforce Institute in the Czech Republic in cooperation with The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation (thinc.). 8-9 January 2019, House of Parliament, Prague In 2018, the…

Nov262018

Training programs

Summer School 2019

10 DAY SUMMER SCHOOL 2019 For INTERNATIONAL LAW and INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Students, Graduates and Practitioners International Law and the Israel-Palestine Conflict Wednesday 26 June – Friday 5 July 2019 Jerusalem – Israel The Israel-Palestine conflict is perhaps the oldest and most complex conflict in the world. The State of Israel came…

Oct312018

Conferences

The Hague Conference 2019

Autumn 2019, The Hague. Based on the successful ‘The Hague Seminar’ (June 2017), thinc. plans to organise a conference about The status of Jerusalem under international law and the case Palestine vs the USA pending before the International Court of Justice concerning the relocation of the Embassy of the United States of America to the Holy…

Sep122018

Publications

Haag-uttalelsen fra jurister om den israelsk-palestinske konflikten

By Matthijs de Blois and Andrew Tucker

12 September 2018; thinc. is pleased to announce that on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the “Oslo Accords” the Senter mot antisemittisme (Center Against Anti-Semitism) in Oslo has issued a translation of ‘The Hague Statement of Jurists on the Israel-Palestine conflict’ in Norwegian. With this translation the Statement is now available in the…

Aug22018

Articles

The Status of Jerusalem

The status of Jerusalem is one of the main legal issues in the debate on Israel and its relationship to the Palestinian Arabs. The speech of the American President, Donald Trump, and the fierce reactions it provoked, as well as the recent resolutions of the UN General Assembly (GA) illustrate this. In order to address…

Jun122018

Publications

Israel on Trial

By Matthijs de Blois and Andrew Tucker

How International Law is being misused to delegitimize the State of Israel In 2018, the State of Israel turned 70, but it has never been fully accepted as a member of the international community. Notwithstanding peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, conflict between Israel and some of its neighbors in the region is looming. And…

Apr32018

Articles

Secure and Recognized Borders: UN Resolution 242 and the ’67 Lines

By Cynthia Wallace

In this article the author, Dr. Cynthia Day Wallace, demonstrates cogently that the 1967 lines are not “borders” under international law. Therefore, this word should not be used to create and perpetuate the impression that Israel has illegally transgressed the borders of another State. Dr. Cynthia Day Wallace is a Senior Fellow of thinc. She…

Jan112018

News

The boy who cried wolf?

By Avi Bell and Eugene Kontorovich

The UNGA’s Emergency Special Session about Resolution A/RES/ES-10/19 on Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital. On the 21st of December, 2017, the General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations (UN) again adopted a resolution on Jerusalem (A/RES/ES-10/19), within a month of its previous resolution on the 30th of November, 2017 (A/RES/72/15). The most recent resolution is…

Nov172017

Publications

Palestine, Uti Possidetis Juris, and the borders of Israel

Israel’s borders and territorial scope are a source of seemingly endless debate. Remarkably, despite the intensity of the debates, little attention has been paid to the relevance of the doctrine of uti possidetis juris to resolving legal aspects of the border dispute. Uti possidetis juris is widely acknowledged as the doctrine of customary international law…

Nov162017

Agenda

Agenda 2018-2020

We have chosen one of the oldest powder kegs in the world, the conflict between Israel, the Palestinians and some nations in the region, as point of departure, because we see it as the most glaring case of the consistent and unabated misuse of law, and the pivot of worldwide political action. We are convinced…

Nov142017

Articles

A Report full of dynamite

… this is how Matthijs de Blois, Senior fellow of thinc., characterises the report of the Special Rapporteur of the UN on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, the Canadian law professor S. Michael Lynk. The Report has the clear objective to heighten the pressure of the “international community” on Israel. It is…

Nov102017

Articles

The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation

Why it is important to study the position of Israel under international law. Every day, media around the world report on the “illegality” of Israeli settlements, and the obligations of Israel under international law to withdraw from the “occupied Palestinian territories”. Time again, Israeli presence in the “Palestinian territories” is claimed to be an “obstacle…

Jun262017

Seminars

Towards A New International Law Paradigm