The Permanent Occupation: 50 years of state of exception in Israel / Palestine
Thursday 19 May 2916, 20:00 Universiteitstheater (Nieuwe Doelenstraat 16) Amsterdam
Public discussion with Hagai El-Ad, the Director of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم.
June 2016 will mark the beginning of the 50th year of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. What was supposed to be a temporary military control over occupied land has long become a permanent regime that has decisive and destructive impacts. Over the past seven months, there has been a sharp increase in violence. This recent violent turn is often framed outside of the context of the occupation and is even at times used to conceal its relevance.
In his talk, El-Ad will focus on the major mechanisms underpinning the occupation and Israel’s ability to maintain this regime, mostly unabated, for close to half a century. Central themes will include the longstanding Israeli policies to overtake Palestinian land in the West Bank, the role played by Israel’s High Court of Justice, and the ineffective international response to the occupation and the inherent human rights abuses it causes.
Hagai El-Ad, an Israeli human rights activist, is the executive director of B’Tselem: The Israeli information center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Among many other international awards the organization received the Dutch Geuzen medal in 2009 from the Geuzenpenning Foundation and in 2015 they were one of the finalists for the Tulip Human Rights award (given by the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs).
Before joining B’Tselem El-Ad was the director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and served as the first executive director of the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (2000–2006).
The discussion with Hagai El-Ad is organized by gate48 – critical Israelis in the Netherlands with the support of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis and the Haëlla Stichting.