This program is the first of its kind in Palestine, as a specialization in the field of international law and human rights exclusively. Unlike most of the master programs in law in Palestine –which are fundamentally positivistic, lecture-oriented, and focusing mostly on the Palestinian law- this master is unique in its combining critical legal theory, interdisciplinary and wider perspectives, practical and research-oriented knowledge production, and innovative teaching methods focusing in the centrality of the students and their intellectual agency in the learning process.The master program offers students a unique opportunity to learn the law by experiencing its application. For this very reason, the program is offered in partnership with Al-Haq, the prominent Palestinian human rights organization.
The crucial importance that international law and human rights have acquired in Palestinian political, social, and economic life, the complex evolution of these fields, and the increasing internationalization of the Palestinian cause require the development of curriculum that responds to this context. This is why this master program focuses, first, on the formation of a new generation of academic, researchers, and policy-making advisors prepared to produce critical and innovative knowledge, and international law practitioners who are well equipped to represent Palestinian claims in increasingly internationalized forums; and, second, on the training of a young generation of academics, researchers, and policy-making advisors in human rights, and human rights law practitioners prepared to address the new developments in this field, and to introduce critical and innovative arguments in the debate of public freedoms in and about Palestine.