Toward Nakba as a Legal Concept

Thursday, May 8, 2025, 7 - 9pm

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Meaning “Catastrophe” in Arabic, the term “al-Nakba” (النكبة) is often used to refer to the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians and the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian villages between 1947 to 1949. But the Nakba has undergone a metamorphosis; it has evolved from a historical calamity into a brutally sophisticated structure of oppression. Rabea Eghbariah's lecture, as part of the New Public Forum, a student-led series of lectures and demonstrations aimed at instituting public dialogue between various fields as they evolve and adapt to a changing world, examines Nakba not only as a pivotal historical event, but as a comprehensive framework for understanding the Palestinian condition, one that warrants legal recognition.

Rabea Eghbariah is a lawyer and legal scholar currently completing a doctorate in Juridical Science at Harvard Law School. Eghbariah had worked as an appellate public defender before joining the Haifa-based Adalah Legal Center, where he argued landmark Palestinian rights cases.

Learn more about the New Public Forum, which is supported by The Cooper Union Grant Program and The Cooper Union School of Art, here. Lectures will be broadcast by the Cooper Radio Collective.

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