Zemi Research Convention 2024“Are Israel's actions in Palestine considered self-defence”

Ochi Seminar (team name: The Prosecutors)
Daeun Kim, Aryan Iyer, Woobin Choi, Diva Fristika Lordya, Hongbae Lim, Jun Murakami

We interviewed the members of the Ochi seminar (Professor OCHI Megumi), who presented "Are Israel's actions in Palestine considered self-defence? " at the Zemi Research Convention 2024.

●Please let us know about your seminar.

Our seminar is quite interesting – we learn about many different aspects of international law. We will not only work on our graduation thesis each semester, but also participate in various extracurricular activities and make good contacts with academics and practitioners from all over the world who come as guest speakers. Those are the most fun for me personally, as well as the zemi convention that we just participated in. You might think that an international law seminar is very academic, but in fact, the seminar atmosphere is not heavy, and everyone is very active and friendly.

●Please let us know about your instructor.

Professor Ochi is really fun and gives great feedback on our work, which really helps us improve our legal knowledge. In addition, the professor tries to give us many opportunities for extracurricular activities. Personally, I learnt from her not only a deep knowledge of international law but also how to think critically, how to conduct research, and how to write legal documents and academic articles. On a personal level, as I said, she is very fun and very approachable to all her students.

●Please give details of your Zemi Research Convention presentation.

Our presentation was about whether Israel’s actions in Palestine constitute self-defence, and it was quite interesting to do the research on an issue that is so important right now, especially considering the legal action taken by South Africa and the ICC against Israel and its prime minister. Many people believe that they can make their own judgements about what is or is not self-defence but are not able to provide clear legal grounds for those judgements under international law. This presentation provides such a legal framework.

●Why did you choose the theme?

We chose the theme because it tied into the graduation thesis of one of our members, as well as the fact that it is so relevant to this moment.

●What questions and comments did you receive at the Zemi Research Convention, and which made the most impact on your group?

We received a few questions about the procedure of international law with regard to this conflict, which made me understand how important it is to let people know that international law does not work the way that domestic law does and that we should have different expectations about international law’s ability to solve disputes.

●What kind of things did you experience as a group leading up to the convention?

We had a lot of fun designing the poster, but it was difficult to make everything fit in the way we wanted it to, so we basically had to play Tetris with the poster and move so many things around – that was so difficult. Credit to Diva for designing such a great poster. It was also impossible for us to make a judgement on the guilt or innocence of any war crimes, as no international tribunal had yet issued a verdict. Our legal assessment had to be limited to Israel's response to Hamas and whether it amounted to self-defence, so fixing the scope of the investigation was the hardest part.

●Message to the next year's participants.

Please participate in this convention! It is so interesting to do it and so rewarding. I know it's a lot of work to do research and create a poster, but I think you'll gain some valuable skills. The first is the experience of presenting an academic poster rather than a PPT presentation, and the second is the deeper level of research that comes from working as a team to complete a project. The team also met repeatedly to prepare for the presentation, helping each other to understand the theme, and even team members who knew nothing about the topic gained a deeper understanding. Lastly, the feedback from the listeners provided unexpected perspectives. The questions people ask help you deepen your understanding of the topic.

December 2024