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Housing Issues in East Jerusalem

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Housing Issues in East Jerusalem East Jerusalem Student research and field work address the collision of law, history, and emotion he concept of “competing HOUSE narratives” came up repeatedly as students in Professor Curtis Bradley’s spring seminar characterized the subject of their intensive academic study and HOME field work — housing rights in East Jerusalem. “There is, at minimum, an Israeli and a Palestinian narrative, and there’s quite a lot of diversity within those,” James Pearce ’11 told an audience of fellow students and Duke Law faculty on March 31, shortly after he and 10 classmates returned from a research trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank. The trip was sponsored by the Center for International and Comparative Law, which Bradley co-directs. Over eight days they toured the disputed area, talking to Palestinian and Israeli resi- dents, government officials, lawyers, activists, academics, and international aid workers, observing how the international law, interna- tional human rights law, and history they had been researching in preparation for the trip played out on the ground. The trip “brought the dispute to life in >V]b](/ZSfO\R`O9]S\WU¸ >V]b](/ZSfO\R`O9]S\WU¸ a way that simply reading about it couldn’t because we were able to see the people whose lives are actually shaped by these dif- ferent policy positions and decisions every day,” said Sarah Boyce ’12. “It reminded us that there really are strong policy positions on both sides. It was a little like reading a Supreme Court case where you feel just as 7ZZcab`ObW]\(;O`Q6O`Y\Saa strongly that the majority and dissent are Ac[[S` 2cYS:Oe;OUOhW\S % EDUCATION WITH IMPACT A7:E/<3/AB83@CA/:3; >V]b](;O`Y7`dW\S¸ 7<83@CA/:3;4@=<B@=E:@(/<<32/</8=6/<</1=::7<A!1/AA73E30AB3@83AA71/AB@7<53@ /:3F/<2@/9=3<75 B/B7/</A/7</B7!/<2A/@/60=G13 0/19@=E:@(8/;3A>3/@13A3/<:=0/@ ;/@97@D7<3 /2/;A16C>/19/<2>@=43AA=@1C@B7A0@/2:3G & 2cYS:Oe;OUOhW\SAc[[S` right. But it could be frustrating for those of us who were looking for tion permits; evictions; regulation and control of Jerusalem’s holy a way to reconcile the two narratives.” sites; laws regarding residency and family reunification; archaeology; Still, that is exactly what the students are attempting to do in a and the barrier Israel has constructed along and within the West substantive paper, the collaborative project for the seminar and the Bank over the past decade. capstone of an educational experience that brought to life the opera- “The barrier cuts right through Jerusalem, creating something of a tion and limitations of the law. EFGBDUP separation and border between populations. On our tours and in our conversations it came up a lot in terms of changing the dynam- ics — within Israel and Palestine as a whole and within Jerusalem Translating international human rights law itself,” said Pearce, who made it the focus of his initial research paper. Challenging students to approach a highly contentious issue with It bears directly on housing in numerous ways, the students noted objectivity was Bradley’s goal in developing the seminar, conceived during their presentation: Municipal authorities do not deliver servic- after he first toured Israel and the West Bank in 2009. es outside the barrier; it has separated some families and spurred an “There is pedagogic value in having students navigate through increase in non-permitted — illegal — construction on both sides of politicized issues in an objective and balanced manner that considers the barrier; and it has led to the establishment of military-controlled the roles and limitations of law and legal analysis,” said Bradley, the checkpoints, which, critics say, disproportionately impede the move- Richard A. Horvitz Professor of Law. A leading scholar of international ment of Palestinians within Jerusalem. law, he saw in the dispute a rich “translational” experience in law — an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the principles of international human rights law and translate them into very spe- Negotiating checkpoints —— and flashpoints cific issues. That sort of experiential learning is a hallmark of a Duke The International Court of Justice issued a 2004 advisory opinion Law education and a part of the overall mission of Duke University. stating that the barrier violates international human rights law It also mirrors the type of work that might be done by U.S. State and international humanitarian law for a variety of reasons. That Department lawyers, said Bradley, who served as counselor on inter- prompted a response from the Israeli Supreme Court, which national law in the Office of the Legal Adviser in 2004. invoked Israeli domestic law. “I’m sure the Legal “The Israeli Supreme Court Adviser’s Office has worked responded to the ICJ by saying, on these issues because the ‘Israel is interested in uphold- United States has to deter- ing its obligations under inter- mine what position to take,” “[The trip] reminded us that there really national law, but the ICJ didn’t he said. “A lot of diplomacy take into account the security involves quiet discussions are strong policy positions on both consequences and the security with the Israelis or the sides. But it could be frustrating for implications of the barrier,’” Palestinians, but policymakers Pearce explained. “‘So first of need advice from the lawyers those of us who were looking for a way all, it was an advisory opinion in the State Department about to reconcile the two narratives.” and we’re not bound by it, and the relationship between these second, the reasoning is weak contested issues and interna- — Sarah Boyce ’12 and thus not particularly useful tional law.” for our policy and legal conclu- During the first eight sions.’ It’s yet another flashpoint weeks of the semester, Bradley in the debate.” guided his students through He observed that the barrier, a rigorous syllabus of reading and discussion on the history of the which the students crossed many times during their trip, also dem- Israel-Palestine conflict, the status of Jerusalem, and applicable onstrates one — of many — semantic flashpoints: What Palestinians aspects of international law and international human rights law. refer to as a “segregation wall,” “apartheid wall,” or simply “the wall” Readings addressed aspects of modern Israeli and Palestinian history (as it was called in the ICJ advisory opinion), Israelis call a “security and the various approaches international actors such as the United fence,” which they credit with substantially reducing suicide attacks Nations and the European Union have taken to the dispute; hearing in Jerusalem. Likewise, what the Israeli government calls “neighbor- from guest lecturers and students who have lived in or visited the hoods” of Jews within East Jerusalem, Palestinian residents and their Middle East helped the group grasp some of the cultural sensitivities supporters call “settlements.” and nuances involved. “This sort of gets to the educational value of the trip,” Pearce Each student conducted in-depth research and wrote a short paper said. “It is an introduction to a part of the world where everything on a relevant subject. These covered areas such as the contested is political and everything has valence politically and legally. One of sovereignty over Jerusalem, the applicability of the Fourth Geneva the values I think a lawyer or law student can bring is the ability to Convention, and the law of occupation; pertinent regional laws and walk into a conflict and in a very careful, thoughtful way, navigate practices for proving ownership of land and distribution and delivery that minefield. As a lawyer, you have to advocate the side of ‘your cli- of municipal services; processes for obtaining building and demoli- ent.’ In this situation, however, if you’ve identified who your client is Ac[[S` 2cYS:Oe;OUOhW\S ' EDUCATION WITH IMPACT and come in with throaty, adversarial advocacy on that client’s behalf, then you’ve lost the other side.” A listening tour Each day’s itinerary, which Bradley developed with assistance from the Minerva Center for Human Rights at Hebrew University, included a tour of a different part of East Jerusalem, giving students a chance to engage with residents and experts on site. One Palestinian family discussed their eviction from their home in the Sheikh Jarrah neigh- borhood near the Old City; another told the students about having to vacate a portion of their home in order for an Israeli family to move in. A frequent guide, in addition to Minerva Center colleagues, was a Palestinian lawyer who represents individuals in litigation in Israeli courts concerning evictions and demolitions and tries to contest these actions. “As an Arab-Israeli lawyer who is committed to the rule of law, he had an invaluable perspective on trying to use the judicial pro- >V]b](/ZSfO\R`O9]S\WU¸ B6@33>/:3AB7<7/<@3A723<BA=4B63A637968/@@/6<37560=@6==2B=:22C93:/E cess to foster social change,” said Bradley. ABC23<BA/0=CBB637@1=<13@<A=D3@3D71B7=<A/<23F>@=>@7/B7=<A “I learned how little practical Palestinians have a very intimate connection to the land and very effect international law can have. clear senses of why they are justified in calling it their ‘home,’ and that’s what makes the situation so complex. It makes it very difficult Understanding aspects of interna- to zero in on housing as if it’s a discrete thing, as opposed to some- tional human rights and humani- thing that’s inextricably linked with every aspect of our lives.” tarian law is important to see the Backroom candor, polarized rhetoric, overview, but in reality, they have and the limits of international law little effective value.
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