The Nakba, the Law, and What Lies In Between

Author John Reynolds

Dr. John Reynolds is Lecturer in International Law at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. His research focuses on the operation of international law in states of emergency and in contexts of conflict, crisis and coloniality. Recent publications relating to Palestine include ‘Anti-Colonial Legalities: Paradigms, Tactics & Strategy’ (Palestine Yearbook of International Law, 2015) and ‘Apartheid, International Law, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory’ (European Journal of International Law, 2013).

Routine Emergency in the Jagged Time of Catastrophe

John Reynolds: Israel has operated in a self-declared and continuous constitutional emergency since the first week of its existence. Since the Nakba. Or, rather, throughout the Nakba. The logic of emergency underpins the catastrophe of 1948; its shadow continues to loom over the catastrophe of today and tomorrow. It permeates the ‘jagged time’ of catastrophe, as J.M. Coetzee puts it, in which empire locates its existence.

Challenging the Nakba through International Law?

John Reynolds: For those seeking to draw tactically on international law to confront the Nakba, the international legal prohibition of apartheid can be useful in going further than the prohibition of colonialism.

© 2024 The Nakba Files — Powered by WordPress

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑