Harvard Law Review rejects article on Israeli genocide in Gaza
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Authored by Palestinian human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah the article had undergone editorial review and was close to publication when the president of HLR intervened.
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A Gazan surveys the destruction after Israeli airstrikes in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on November 1, 2023. (AP)
The Harvard Law Review (HLR) has taken an unusual step by prohibiting the publication of an article that delves into the legal framework surrounding "Israel's" ongoing Nakba against Palestinians, especially in Gaza.
Authored by Palestinian human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah, who is pursuing doctoral studies at Harvard Law School, the article had undergone editorial review and was about to be published when the president of HLR intervened.
According to an email cited in a recent investigation by The Intercept, Editor Tascha Shahriari-Parsa revealed that the President allegedly blocked the publication over concerns that editors who might oppose or be offended by the piece could face harassment from pro-Israeli groups.
Subsequently, after days of debate and a nearly six-hour meeting, the full editorial body of HLS gathered to vote on whether to publish the article.
A subsequent vote rejected the article, with 63 percent of HLR editors voting against its right to be heard, as per The Nation. Although no reason was provided, the outcome suggests that open discussion about Palestinian suffering remains a sensitive and restricted topic.
In a collective statement, 25 editors from the Harvard Law Review (HLR) expressed concern that the editorial decisions at the university, which allegedly pledges to seek truth and safeguard academic freedom, are now influenced by the apprehension of public intimidation.
“At a time when the Law Review was facing a public intimidation and harassment campaign, the journal’s leadership intervened to stop publication,” the statement read.
“The body of editors—none of whom are Palestinian—voted to sustain that decision. We are unaware of any other solicited piece that has been revoked by the Law Review in this way,” it added.
A genocide under international law
The Nation has released the article that the Harvard Law Review declined to publish in its entirety. The piece contends that the ongoing violence and humanitarian emergency in Gaza should be acknowledged as genocide. It argues that there is credible evidence suggesting that "Israel" has the intention to destroy the Palestinian people, either wholly or partially, meeting the UN definition of genocide.
Rabea Eghbariah, “The Ongoing Nakba: Towards a Legal Framework for Palestine” pic.twitter.com/jWmceYcOFo
— Francesco (@rhtypus) November 22, 2023
The author references various statements by Israeli officials and the conditions imposed on Palestinians to illustrate genocidal intent and repercussions. The argument is made that the blockade of Gaza and the widespread killing of civilians could reasonably be considered genocide under international law.
Moreover, the article criticizes Western institutions, including influential legal scholars and journals, for their reluctance to acknowledge the reality of genocide, attributing it to the selective application of international law. It contends that Palestinian lives are undervalued and their innocence denied within a colonial framework.
The author argues that the Nakba, encompassing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 and the ongoing system of oppression, functions to politically and physically erase Palestinians.
The article concludes by asserting that, akin to how concepts like genocide and apartheid were established in international law after World War II, the Palestinian experience of genocide equally merits recognition to put an end to the crimes perpetrated against them.
Read next: A 'new Nakba' is ongoing in West Bank alongside a genocide in Gaza
