UK: University of Leicester criticised for event with Israeli Supreme Court justice
The University of Leicester’s Palestine Society has criticised the Global South Network’s invitation to Israeli Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ronnen to address an online event hosted at the university.
Ronen is one of 15 justices in Israel’s Supreme Court and has been involved in a number of rulings that entrench the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, as well as human rights violations against Palestinians.
Last year, Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank village of Anin requested that the gate in the Israeli-built separation wall between their farmland and their village be opened daily instead of twice a week. Ronnen rejected their petition.
She also ruled along with other judges this January in support of the Israeli military barring foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip.
In February, the families of 62 Palestinians from Gaza detained in Israel filed a petition requesting information about where they were being detained and that they be given legal representation. Ronnen and two other judges dismissed the petition out of hand, citing technical arguments.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
The event, scheduled for 25 August, is part of a guest lecture series featuring judges from different countries.
The Global South Network (GSN), which describes itself as a forum for “students, scholars, practitioners, and civil society organisations from different regions of the Global South”, is run by UK-based academics and researchers.
GSN has previously held an event with the president of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Palestine, Justice Ali Mohanna.
Ronnen’s guest lecture is entitled “Being a Judge in Israel; Taking Judging Seriously”.
The University of Leicester Palestine Society described itself as “outraged” at the decision to invite Ruth Ronnen.
“Ruth Ronnen plays a key role in Israel’s apartheid regime in which Palestinians including even Palestinian children are tried in a military court and Israelis in a civilian one," the society said in a statement.
“It flies in the face of all legal and moral ethics to invite a representative of a state carrying out grave breaches of international law, and to normalise this to your students.”
A University of Leicester spokesperson told Middle East Eye:
“As a University we are clear that the killing of innocent people in Israel and Palestine is unacceptable and cannot continue – we have developed a statement and offered a number of support channels for those affected by the current conflict.
"We take seriously our obligations to ensure freedom of speech and academic freedom, within the law, as well as the need to support our diverse community to be themselves as they work and study.
"The event, organised by the Global South Network, a research-led forum looking at policy and practices in underdeveloped economies, is part of a series is part of a series looking at the role of judges in supreme courts across the global south including Pakistan, South Africa and the Maldives. It follows an event earlier this year focussing on the Constitutional Court of Palestine and will focus on legal issues around how the Israeli Court functions and is structured.”
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
