Israeli NGO hosts 70 lawyers from 7 countries in conference to counteract BDS

Lawyers and law professors are attending Shurat Hadin event from the US, Singapore, Holland, South Africa, Germany, Canada and Belgium.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Updated: JUNE 30, 2015 03:25
Boycott Israel sign (photo credit: REUTERS)
Boycott Israel sign
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center on Monday opened a 2015 Activist Lawyers Training Task Force in Jerusalem to counter the increasingly virulent legal efforts of the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The intensive, week-long program aims to equip some 70 lawyers from seven countries with tactical tools and broad courtroom strategies to wage the fight.
Shurat Hadin said that, “The seminar program includes cutting-edge lectures and hands-on workshops taught by the most prominent scholars and experts in the field, including Alan Dershowitz, Irwin Cotler, Kent Yalowitz, and other accomplished jurists involved in legal activism.”
Lawyers and law professors are attending from the US, Singapore, Holland, South Africa, Germany, Canada, and Belgium.
Topics covered at the conference include litigation on behalf of terrorism victims, the anti-Israel BDS movement, freedom-of-speech dilemmas arising on campus, anti-Semitic groups and their efforts, and confronting the “campaign to label Israel’s building in the territories as a crime against humanity.”
The conference will also address defending IDF soldiers from war crimes allegations in courts around the globe.
In addition, the task force incorporates field trips to IDF bases and Israeli courts, including meetings with senior Israeli officials and lawyers.
“We expect many of the program’s graduates to take leadership positions in Israel and worldwide and to implement our proven strategies,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat Hadin.
According to Shurat Hadin, “Israel’s enemies are increasingly taking their dangerous struggle to delegitimize Israel and deny its right to exist into courtrooms worldwide, most notably” at the International Criminal Court.
“Many lawyers have asked us how they can join the fight,” Darshan-Leitner continued, “but they tell us that they lack” coaching on effective legal strategies and experience on the issue.
“Recognizing the broad impact that legal training and Israel-advocacy skills can have on attorneys who are passionate about safeguarding the Jewish State, we at Shurat Hadin saw the need and developed this task force,” she said.