We asked eight international legal scholars, human rights attorneys, and experts on Palestine to share their reflections on the role of international law in the struggle for Palestinian liberation. How does international law currently hinder this cause? And how might it be used — or how must it transform — to contribute to it?

Foto de Gigi Ibrahim

Mais de um ano após o ataque genocida de Israel a Gaza, pode-se ficar tentado a descartar a ideia de que o direito internacional tenha algum potencial real para proteger o povo palestino, muito menos para ajudar na sua libertação.

Foto de Gigi Ibrahim

En el último año, la resistencia y fuerza palestinas han generado las condiciones para una reactivación de la solidaridad en todo el mundo y han cambiado los términos de la contestación política en los Estados imperialistas que arman y protegen al sionismo.

Foto por Gigi Ibrahim

The history of the Right’s campaign to seize the courts reveals how closely the electoral and judicial arenas are linked, and how politics shapes the interpretation of the law. The structural changes that the Right has put into place are going to take decades to address, not only through Congressional action but also through informed action on the part of people.

While keeping people safe and fighting for immediate material wins, we must also be steadfastly committed to the project of creating long-term governing power.  Ultimately, lawyers are needed to dream and plan alongside organizers as left strategists.

Lawyers must be prepared to help defend the terrain on which we organize, stop the criminalization of protest, and help build ecosystem-wide approaches to safety and security.

Any issue that progressive lawyers hope to advance–no matter how local–is bound up with the worldwide rise of authoritarianism. We need to better understand the threat so that we can play our part in a pro-democratic front to both thwart authoritarian power grabs and build a better future.

We are inviting you to bravely step into an arc of work upon which all of our other work depends. At a minimum, each of us must deepen the connections between the work we’re already doing and the collective task of defending, building and strengthening a multiracial democracy.

Under slogans such as “The Canary Islands have a limit,” “Enough! Let’s put limits to tourism,” or “It’s over! Let’s lower the rents,” mass mobilizations have recently spread throughout Spain. The movements are a reaction against the overexploitation of the territory, real estate speculation fueled by international capital, and the effects of extreme touristification.

Com slogans como “As Ilhas Canárias têm um limite”, “Chega!Vamos impor limites ao turismo”, ou ”Acabou!Vamos reduzir os aluguéis”, as mobilizações em massa se espalharam recentemente por toda a Espanha. Os movimentos são uma reação contra a exploração excessiva do território, a especulação imobiliária alimentada pelo capital internacional e os efeitos da extrema turistificação.

Bajo lemas como “Canarias tiene un límite”, “¡Basta!Pongamos límites al turismo”, o “¡Se acabó!Bajemos los alquileres”, movilizaciones masivas se han extendido recientemente por toda España. Los movimientos son una reacción contra la sobreexplotación del territorio, la especulación inmobiliaria alimentada por el capital internacional y los efectos de la turistificación extrema.

By Lamine Benghazi Avocats Sans Frontières en Tunisie - ASF spotlighting Tunisia as a case study on democratic backsliding - acting as a cautionary tale for what we may lose when we allow authoritarians to seize power and reflecting on the ingredients necessary for building a robust democratic polity post-revolution.

Photo by Xingtu

A Tunísia tem sido aclamada como um farol de esperança democrática na região do Oriente Médio e do Norte da África. O país inspirou revoltas em todo o mundo árabe, adotou uma constituição democrática e progressista, organizou várias eleições livres e justas e até recebeu o Prêmio Nobel da Paz.

Photo by Xingtu

Túnez supo ser aclamado como un faro de esperanza democrática en la región de Oriente Medio y el Norte de África. El país inspiró levantamientos en todo el mundo árabe, adoptó una constitución democrática y progresista, organizó múltiples elecciones libres y justas e incluso recibió el Premio Nobel de la Paz.

Photo by Xingtu

This past July we gathered practicing lawyers, academics, and activists in Rio de Janeiro to discuss how movement lawyers in different global contexts have used law to support social movements in the face of repressive or authoritarian regimes. 

No início deste verão, 2024, reunimos advogados atuantes, acadêmicos e ativistas no Rio de Janeiro para discutir como os advogados de movimentos em diferentes contextos globais têm usado o direito para apoiar os movimentos sociais em face de regimes repressivos ou autoritários. 

En julio de 2024 reunimos en Río de Janeiro a un grupo de abogados, académicos, militantes y activistas para discutir cómo los abogados populares han utilizado y están utilizando el derecho en diferentes contextos para apoyar a movimientos sociales que enfrentan regímenes represivos o autoritarios.

Whether it’s fighting against authoritarian policing, advocating for mothers facing racially discriminatory criminal legal system, or challenging economic injustice, our Movement Partnerships team stands ready to flank, support, and build a future rooted in justice and equity.

Earlier this year, dozens of U.S. college campuses were the centers of protest encampments led by Palestinian students and their allies. These encampments, protesting the unfolding genocide in Gaza, were part of a decades-long struggle for freedom for Palestinian people. Student demands to disclose and divest from genocide, colliding with university official’s desire to return the campus to routine operation, resulted in a number of negotiations.

Recap of “Session 3: How Did We Get Here: A History of the Conservative Legal Movement” offers insights into the authoritarian crisis, highlights valuable resources, and invites you to register for our upcoming webinars.