Criminological Perspectives on Palestine: Legal Responses and Academic Complicity in Times of Genocide
9-10 April 2026
Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia: Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana
Organisers
Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana and the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana
Registration will open in:
February 2026
Scientific committee
Lior Volinz, Brunilda Pali, Tilen Štajnpihler Božič, Iva Ramuš Cvetkovič, Vasja Badalič, Amy Cortvriend
Organising committee
About the conference
This conference seeks to explore the ways in which criminologists can, and should, address state criminality; to consider how criminological scholarship may contribute critical analyses of violations committed by Israel in Palestine, including genocide; and to examine how the discipline might engage with ongoing debates concerning academic complicity and calls to boycott institutions implicated in such violations.
When?
Where?
Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, Poljanski nasip 2
Criminological Perspectives on Palestine
This conference seeks to explore the ways in which criminologists can—and should—address state criminality; to consider how criminological scholarship may contribute critical analyses of violations committed by Israel in Palestine, including genocide; and to examine how the discipline might engage with ongoing debates concerning academic complicity and calls to boycott institutions implicated in such violations. Recent developments, such as the European Society of Criminology’s (ESC) silence on these matters and its decision to prevent a democratic vote on measures aimed at addressing institutional complicity in atrocity crimes, highlight the need for an academic forum in which these issues can be critically and openly examined. We therefore invite participants to join this space, dedicated both to analysing Israel’s crimes in Palestine and to reflecting more broadly on the responsibilities and potential of criminology in confronting atrocity crimes and other serious human rights violations.
The Israeli military operations in Gaza and the broader Palestinian territories over the last two years present a continuing oppression of Israel against the Palestinians, and have resulted in unprecedented levels of civilian harm and societal devastation. To this day, mass killings and mutilations of civilians, the deliberate starvation of an entire population, widespread displacement, and a near-total destruction of infrastructure continue. These acts are crimes and constitute serious violations of international humanitarian, human rights, and international criminal law. Importantly, such violations do not occur in isolation; they are shaped and sustained by the political, financial, technical, and diplomatic involvement of a range of international actors and institutions, who (in)directly support Israel, contributing to the conditions in which crimes and harms persist. All major international, Palestinian, and Israeli human rights organisations,
as well as numerous UN institutions and experts, consider Israel’s assault on Gaza a genocide. Still, many UN member states ignore the obligations under the Genocide Convention as well as those identified by the International Court of Justice ruling, according to which they must “[c]ancel or suspend economic relationships, trade agreements, and academic relations with Israel that may contribute to its unlawful presence and apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory.” However, states are not alone in failing to fulfil their obligations. Universities are among the institutions that have been criticised for their inadequate responses to allegations of genocide and other atrocity crimes committed by Israel. In many academic settings, research and advocacy addressing these issues remain silenced, marginalised, or actively suppressed, even as financially and politically beneficial partnerships with Israeli institutions continue. Numerous scholars have exposed and examined the
complicity of their own institutions and professional networks in enabling or normalising such violations, calling upon universities, research centres, and disciplinary associations to suspend cooperation with Israeli institutions implicated in practices that contravene international law and undermine Palestinian rights. Academic collectives—including Global Sociologists for Palestine, Archaeologists Against Apartheid and Genocide, and Criminologists for Palestine—have mobilised to advocate for the exclusion of implicated Israeli institutions from scholarly conferences and professional bodies. While many higher-education institutions have remained silent, some have adopted measures aimed at limiting or ending forms of academic complicity, whereas others have responded to such calls for accountability with disciplinary actions or other forms of repression directed at scholars and students.
Paper proposal: Two streams
When submitting a paper proposal, authors should indicate their preference to participate in one of the following two streams.
Palestine: Criminological Perspectives
We invite contributions to themes addressing criminological perspectives on state crime against the Palestinians and beyond:
- Criminological perspectives on atrocity crimes committed by Israel: We invite authors to explore criminological perspectives on crimes committed by Israel within the broader framework of international (criminal) law. Contributors are also encouraged to examine legal action addressing international crimes, such as procedures before international courts, the legal obligations of states, and efforts to pursue accountability within the framework of national legislation, as exemplified by the work of the Hind Rajab Foundation.
- Critical criminology, state and corporate crime: Through the history of our discipline, some criminologists have challenged harmful state actions and the devastating effects of criminalisation on individuals and communities. On the other hand, criminology has also helped reproduce power inequalities and further marginalisation of some vulnerable communities. While critical criminology has dealt extensively with state crime, corporate crime, and crimes of the powerful, it has recently failed to grasp all the harmful implications of Israeli settler-colonialism, which is not merely implemented by the state. In her report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide”, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, for example, describes the complicity of private companies in the Gaza genocide. We thus invite authors to critically explore state and corporate criminality, as well as the harmful acts of private institutions more generally and in the context of genocide.
- Critical perspectives on Israeli criminology: We invite authors to critically examine Israeli criminological research, particularly its ethical frameworks and institutional affiliations. This includes, for example, research conducted in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and studies carried out in cooperation with Israeli security institutions – such as the development of the field of “counterterror policing” in collaboration with the Israeli police (Wind, 2024). We also welcome critical analyses of narratives and power relations within Israeli criminological scholarship and the exclusion and discrimination against Palestinian scholars.
Academic complicity
We invite contributions to themes addressing academic engagement and responsibility in Israel’s atrocity crimes and more generally:
- The future of academic responsibility and resistance tactics in criminology and beyond: Learning from the attempts to silence and criminalise academic solidarity and resistance regarding Palestine, we invite authors to consider how to resist atrocities, refuse their normalisation, and reclaim Palestinian and academic spaces in the future. We are interested in critical theoretical and practical debates about the ways in which academic solidarity and resistance should be ‘done’, also paying special attention to cooptation efforts framed as academic freedom. Contributions can entail theoretical projections of liberation from oppression and/or practical tactics of decolonisation, university/campus autonomy, and deplatforming criminological scholarship.
- Academic boycott and its practices: We invite authors to explore what an academic boycott is, how it operates, and why it has become a crucial tool for collective action. It encourages researchers to examine how universities and research institutions are complicit in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and to consider the history of academic boycotts as a means of promoting accountability and solidarity. Papers may also offer practical guidance for conference organisers and scholars seeking to align their work with the principles of academic boycott.
- Criminalising solidarity and academic resistance: We invite authors to examine the criminalisation of solidarity and academic resistance, including the policing and surveillance of student protests, the censoring of academic publications, and the disciplining of pro-Palestinian academics. We further invite contributions that critically engage with the topic of anti-Semitism and its myriad definitions, including how its misuses limit action and advocacy on Palestinian rights. This theme also invites contributions that explore strategies and the recent history of organising within universities or scientific organisations to support academic boycott initiatives.
Submission of abstracts
We welcome contributions from scholars across all disciplines, with a particular interest in work from the fields of criminology, law, and sociology. We especially encourage early-career researchers who have not yet had the opportunity to engage with the above topics to submit proposals and share their emerging or preliminary research.
Contributions can be single or multi-authored. For all paper presentations, please submit an abstract of up to 250 words through the online form. The abstract should include the title, objectives, research questions, and, if applicable, methodology and/or preliminary results. We invite theoretical, methodological, and future-looking paper presentations.
There is no conference registration fee
Participants who do not have any institutional funding and are unable to cover travel or accommodation expenses are invited to contact the organising committee to discuss possible support. Travel expenses can only be supported within Europe or from the Mediterranean region. The possibility of funding will depend on the number of applications and will be available to participants whose abstracts are accepted for the conference and who provide a brief explanation of why they are unable to obtain institutional funding for this event. In case of a high number of applications, the evaluation will be based on justified need and diversity.
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at the Faculty of Law Ljubljana
