International Symposium: A Vision of the Future (?). The Palestinian Question and the Future of Palestinians in the Wider Regional Dynamics, University of Padova, 30 September 2026

The event will inaugurate the academic year 2026-2027 for the Master's degree programme in Human Rights and Multi-level Governance of the University of Padova.

To participate to the International Symposium is required the registration. 
The registration form will be available at the beginning of September, 2026.

Programme

Introduction

Sara Pennicino, Director of the MA Degree in Human Rights and Multi-level Governance, University of Padova
Pietro de Perini, Human Rights Centre “Antonio Papisca”, University of Padova 

Speakers

Honaida Ghanim, Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies – MADAR and Birzeit University
Aya Ashour, Università per stanieri di Siena
Amira Hass, Journalist, Haaretz

Discussion

Concept Note

Against the backdrop of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the expansion of the occupation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, the military operations in South Lebanon, the uncertain aftermath of the war on Iran, and the unresolved transition in Syria, this conference asks a fundamental question: what are the present and future scenarios for the Palestinian question and the Palestinians in the emerging setting?

International law, including criminal, humanitarian and human rights law, has been systematically sidelined. Powerful states have deeply affected the architecture of the international system, casting shadows darker and more dystopian than the present. Yet civic and academic communities across the world have been shaken into motion, imagining alternative futures grounded in hope, social justice, equal rights and mutual respect.

This conference aims to go beyond the mainstream frameworks that have long dominated the analysis of the Palestinian question in its regional frame. It seeks to restore the historical record, to foreground the lived experiences of Palestinian communities, and to share the space with authoritative dissenting voices. Drawing on the sociology of memory and dispossession, the critical historiography of settler colonialism, and the moral philosophy of human rights, the conference invites reflection on what justice might look like — and how it might be built.

The International Symposium: A Vision of the Future (?) is organized by the Human Rights Centre “Antonio Papisca”, the UNESCO Chair “Human Rights, Democracy and Peace” and the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies of the University of Padova.