International water law - Recent developments and the current challenges of water resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

24-25th October 2018

This conference is part of the annual conference series which are held at the faculty of law at An-Najah National University. This year’s conference will be about “International water law and current challenges of water resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)” and it aims at shedding light on the recent developments of International water law and the situation of water resources in the (OPT). The case of Palestinian water resources constitutes a challenge for modern principles of international water law given the political context of occupation and colonialism in the OPT. Further, water rights is one of the most contentious issues between Israel and Palestine. It was specifically left out of the Oslo accords and was supposed to be dealt with in the final status negotiation, along with other important issues such as Jerusalem, refugees and borders. However, the final status negotiation which were supposed to start in 2000 did not take place due to political tensions. Currently, water relations between Palestine and Israel are governed by interim arrangements. These arrangements are not fairly applied and do not address the question of water rights and proved inadequate to satisfy Palestinian water demands and needs.  The conference will explore the issue of Palestinian water resources in light of recent developments of international water law and other related laws, in particular, international humanitarian law and human rights law.

The conference will be hosted by the faculty of law at An-Najah National University in Nablus-Palestine on the 24^th and 25^th of October 2018. Researchers are encouraged to submit research papers related to the themes of the conference which will be published on the faculty website and An-Najah journal or at special proceeding for the conference. Furthermore, there will be a workshop for students who wish to present papers or ideas related to the conference.