Palestinagård – The law as a tool of resistance or oppression?

Abstract

During the fall of 2023, the Palestine solidarity movement grew as a response to Israel’s war on Gaza. The student movement for Palestine was an important part of the Palestine solidarity movement. Palestinagård demanded LU to comply with their demands: to stand in solidarity with Palestine and Israel’s systemic destruction of the education system (scholasticide), cut ties with complicit academic institutions (academic boycott) and cut ties with companies complicit in Israel’s war on Gaza, occupation and apartheid against Palestinians. In April of 2024, the first student solidarity encampment for Palestine was set up at Colombia University, in New York. Other universities in the US and the world soon followed. In Sweden, there were several student solidarity encampments for Palestine, among them “Palestinagård” at Lund University (LU).

The first part of the essay examines the Lund student movement for Palestine, Palestinagård and the repression by LU, the police and the courts. The Lund student movement started in the fall of 2023 with Lund Students for Palestine (LSFP). After failing to establish dialogue with LU during the seven months leading up to Palestinagård, the student encampment was set up in May 2024, with the goal of getting LU to comply with its demands. The members of Palestinagård held demonstrations against the university and complicit politicians visiting the LU and continuously tried to establish a dialogue with the university. LU argued that they could not take a stance on “foreign issues” and that an academic boycott would violate “academic freedom”. On the 30th of May, LU planned to hold a “doctoral ceremony close to Palestinagård and asked the police to dismantle the encampment. The police exercised physical and psychological violence against the students. The police arrested 40 students and later charged in the municipal court in Lund with disobedience to law enforcement. The actions of the university, the police and the court infringed on the student's right to protest.

The second part dives deeper into the case for an academic boycott of Israel. The academic boycott was launched by The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. PACBI is a part of the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement and is a leading actor in pressing Israel to abide by international law: cease its occupation of Palestine, and equal treatment of Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel and the implementation of the right to return, by nonviolent pressure. There is a large case for the academic boycott: Israel's scholasticide on the Palestinian education system, the complicity of Israeli universities in the oppression of Palestinians and a non-normalization and isolation practice of Israel’s international law obligations.

The third part examines the relationship between international law, Israel and third states. According to third state responsibilities, third states have to do everything in their power to prevent genocide and other crimes against humanity, including apartheid, as well as international humanitarian law (IHL), including the prohibition of occupation. During the last year, the ICJ has issued advisory opinions, one saying that Israel is plausibly committing genocide and one saying that Israel’s occupation of Palestine from 1967 is illegal. The International Criminal Court (ICC), has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yusef Gallant, meaning that all states who have signed the Rome Statue have to arrest them were they to enter their territory. Israel has shown total disregard for these cases, for UN resolutions about its war on Gaza and occupation of Palestine, using arguments of “the right to self-defense” and “counter-terrorism”. Israel’s allies in the West have largely also shown to be reluctant to follow international law and have defended Israel’s war on Gaza with the same arguments as Israel uses. They have also continued to send weapons to Israel, particularly the US, in violation of third-state obligations.

The fourth and fifth parts will examine the right to protest and its legal and political aspects. The right to protest is protected in international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the ICCPR), regional instruments e.g. the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and national constitutions. The right to protest is an important civil right that has been used to get other rights, not the least by student movements. However, it has been infringed upon by states, both historically and now. In the case of protesting for Palestine, there has been a surge of legislation using the exceptions to the right to protest in an illegitimate manner, such as hate speech, to target pro-Palestine speech as “antisemitic” and banning slogans as “from the river to the sea” and banning the BDS movement. States have used excessive and violent police violence against protesters, including students.
The state response to Israel’s war on Gaza shows a disregard for international law and principles of a neutral and universal application of the law. States have attempted to justify Israel’s international law violations through a repressive interpretation of the law, while also targeting the Palestine solidarity movement through legislation, policing and neutrality policies at universities. The tactics have differed slightly between states: the US and the UK uses laws more directedly targeted at Palestine activists, while Sweden uses common provisions as disturbance to common order – with the same result, to silence the Palestine solidarity movement. The Palestine solidarity movement is important because they use protests and boycotts tactically to pressure states to comply with international law, isolate Israel and make Israel comply with international law.

• author: Cherp, Aili
• supervisor: Markus Gunneflo
• organization: Department of Law; Faculty of Law
• course: JURM02 20242
• year: 2024
• type: H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
• subject: Law and Political Science
• keywords: public international law, Palestine, Israel, human rights law, the right to protest, freedom of expression, international law obligations, solidarity, BDS movement, boycott, divest, sanctions, academic boycott, university obligations, complicity, third state responsibilities, student activism.
• language: English
• id: 9180342
• date added to LUP: 2025-01-28 10:58:47
• date last changed: 2025-01-28 10:58:47