Disrupting Civility: Amateur Intellectuals, International Lawyers and TWAIL as Praxis
21 Pages Posted: 7 Jul 2020 Last revised: 13 Oct 2020
Date Written: September 17, 2016
Abstract
This paper is a reflection on the role of intellectuals in engaging with Palestinian solidarity movements and liberation discourses, and on the place of international lawyers specifically within that context. The paper considers 'the question of Palestine' as a rigorous test for intellectuals in the Global North today, and examines particular debates over free speech, civility and balance that unfolded in the wake of Israel's 2014 war on Gaza. It considers the interventions of international lawyers in these debates with reference to Edward Said's 'amateur' and 'professional' intellectuals, and explores ways in which anti-colonial international lawyers (as amateur intellectuals) can transcend prevailing professional orthodoxies to deploy language, arguments or tactics that rupture liberal legal processes and narratives on Palestine.
Keywords: International Law, Palestine, Israel, Edward Said, Third World Approaches to International Law, TWAIL, praxis, civility
JEL Classification: K33
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