Transitional Justice Courses for 2021 - 2022:
Courses in Hebrew:
62373 - Landstown Planning and Preservation in Jerusalem - Dr. Sami Ershied (first semester):
The course will offer practical studies of key issues in transitional justice, alongside studies of conflict resolution and legal issues in the field of human rights and more particularly social and economic rights. These studies will provide students with knowledge that will allow them to study complex legal and political issues and to suggest solutions by individual position papers and by working in small groups and focusing on different issues relating to real estate rights in Jerusalem.
The students will receive practical guidance in choosing the issue to be addressed by the group and will learn how to implement transitional justice tools and experience learned from other conflicts throughout the world.
The issues to be selected by the students will be those at the heart of the Jewish-Arab rift or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and for which there are similar examples elsewhere in the world, where they have undergone a process of completion, reconciliation, or resolution.
62794 - Transitional Justice: Theory and Practice - Dr. Or Avi-Guy and Dr. Michal Saliternik (first semester):
The course will focus on transitional justice as a prism for addressing the legacy of wrongdoing, in the aftermath and during violent conflicts. The course will initially introduce the historical, theoretical, political and legal context in which the conceptualization of transitional justice had been developed: changes in global conflict patterns and the increase in internal conflicts; the emergence and development of theoretical approaches in the fields of conflict resolution, peacebuilding and reconciliation and the focus on the interaction between peace and justice; a discussion about the legal framework around transitional justice.
During the course we will also analyze key concepts and mechanisms of transitional justice, including criminal proceedings, reparations (compensation, restitution and satisfaction), truth committees, and non-recurrence. We will then explore central aspects of transitional justice from a critical gender perspective and discuss the potential relevance and applicability of transitional justice mechanisms in the context of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict.
Course materials include interdisciplinary academic literature and legal sources. Videos and documentaries will also be presented in class.
Courses in English:
62284 – Transitional Justice Colloquium: Comparative Jurisprudential and Regional Perspectives - Prof. Ruti Teitel (first semester):
This Spring's Fried Gal Colloquium in Transitional Justice marks the 20-year anniversary of the landmark book which articulated the concept Transitional Justice on the heels of multiple transitions. Moreover, it is also three decades since the fateful fall of the Soviet Union and the ensuing post-Cold War transitions throughout the world. Therefore, it is an apt time for stock taking and evaluation of the development of the idea and the political developments associated with that time. Through foundational texts and speakers, this intensive course will revisit the origins of the concept of transitional justice, trace the normative evolution of the field and engage with how this discourse and practices have been utilized in various regional contexts such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
62103 – Introduction to Transitional Justice - Dr. Einat Ronen (first semester):
The purpose of the course is to provide students with knowledge about transitional justice, its theoretical principles, and its practical applications. At the end of the course the students will understand the different connections between the concepts of justice, peace, reconciliation, and democracy. They will recognize the mechanisms of transitional justice that have operated in various areas of conflict, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, the Justice and Peace Tribunal of Colombia, the War Crimes Tribunal in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the traditional Gacaca courts in Rwanda, and more. Students will be familiar with the content and legal sources of transitional justice, such as the right to truth, the right to justice, and the right to remedy. In addition, they will understand the tension between international perceptions and local perceptions of justice, pragmatic approaches, and idealistic approaches to justice.
62319 – Transitional Justice in Israel – Dr. Or Avi-Guy (first semester):
This course focuses on transitional perspectives in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as on different aspects and challenges for transitional justice in Israel, as a divided society in continuous and multi-layered conflict. While traditional approaches to transitional justice focus primarily on processes which take place following the formal resolution of conflict, this course examines transitional justice in the context of a protracted and ongoing conflict.
The course addresses several thematic issues: linkage and tensions between transitional justice and tangential fields such as conflict resolution, peacebuilding and reconciliation in the Israeli context; the role and potential of transitional justice mechanisms such as reparations and apologies: historical narratives in truth telling and truth seeking in conflicts in Israel; interaction between civil society and the State in the context of transitional justice; and comparative transitional justice.
While discussing these themes, the course examines closely a few key issues that are central in discussions about transitional justice in Israel, including: Transitional justice and the Holocaust; the Yemenite children’s affair; East Jerusalem; the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev; and the disengagement plan.