Every year, Ghent University awards the Amnesty International Chair to a person who makes a special contribution in the field of human rights. The laureate gives a public lecture at Ghent University and additional guest lectures for students. This year laureate of the Amnesty International Chair is Noura Erakat, a prominent Palestinian lawyer and activist, whose courageous and relentless work as a human rights academic and attorney has reshaped legal and political discussions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

It has been one year since 7 October 2023. One full year of watching unfathomable levels of death and destruction of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, as well as that of people in surrounding countries. One year of unceasing shock and horror. To paraphrase Palestinian attorney Lara Elborno, every day has been the worst day.

As we announced previously, the article titled “Impossible Solidarity” was taken down when it was discovered that proper in-house editorial procedure had not been followed prior to publication. After a full review that included relevant Page Editors as well as Jadaliyya Co-Editors, the article was removed permanently, and the author was notified. The editors fundamentally disagreed with the article’s placing of settler colonial genocide and authoritarian state repression on equal footing, regardless of what the author’s intentions may have been. The article also included several questionable and/or patently incorrect statements. The consequence of the publication of this piece has been temporarily costly to our mission, regardless of whether readers understand the decentralized and volunteer-based nature of how Jadaliyya operates.