Article

A discourse of distinction ? : Palestinians, international law, and the promise of humanitarianism

Michelle L. Burgis

• The Palestine yearbook of international law, Vol. 15, 2009, p. 41-66

English

This article acknowledges the scholarship of those international lawyers intent on 'solving' the 'problem' of the Palestinians, but takes an alternate route in trying to make sense of the legal status of the Palestinian territories. It is argued here that a new approach to understanding the legal construction of the conflict is needed. Palestininans do not need more law of more law enforcement; they need a better way to make sense of the construction of legal discourses so that perhaps law can be used as a tool of liberation. Rather than blaming the current impasse of interminable occupation on a lack of law, this article argues the opposite: being drenched in a particular discourse of international law, we need a new way of approaching the problem that is the occupied Palestinian territory and the role of the law.

• Full text : restricted access

• The Palestine yearbook of international law
• The Palestine yearbook of international law [Vol. 15, 2009]