Rabea Eghbariah

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Eghbariah argues for "Nakba as a Legal Concept", which frames the Nakba not only as a historical event but as a legal and ongoing process of displacement, fragmentation, and denial of self-determination. [27] His thesis argues that the ongoing Nakba should be classified similarly to other internationally recognized crimes against humanity such as apartheid or genocide. [28]

Harvard Law Review article

This concept first became the center of controversy in November 2023 when his essay “The Ongoing Nakba: Toward a Legal Framework for Palestine” was solicited by two editors, edited, and fact-checked by the Harvard Law Review, but retracted following an intervention from the Harvard Law Review president, Apsara Iyer. [29] HLR online chair Tascha Shariahi-Parsa wrote to Eghbariah that the decision to revoke the article “did not involve any substantive or technical aspects of your piece” but rather “revolved around concerns about editors who might oppose or be offended by the piece.” [30] [31] [32]

An emergency meeting of over 100 editors of the Harvard Law Review was called and an anonymous vote was held, in which 63% of editors voted against publication. [33] [29] HLR issued a public statement emphasizing that stated:

"Like every academic journal, the Harvard Law Review has rigorous editorial processes governing how it solicits, evaluates, and determines when and whether to publish a piece. An intrinsic feature of these internal processes is the confidentiality of our 104 editors’ perspectives and deliberations. Last week, the full body met and deliberated over whether to publish a particular Blog piece that had been solicited by two editors. A substantial majority voted not to proceed with publication."

Harvard Law Review, A Note, [34]

Over 25 editors issued a dissenting statement noting that:

“[The] piece was originally solicited for publication on the Harvard Law Review Blog. Days before the finalized piece was to be posted, at a time when the Law Review was facing a public intimidation and harassment campaign, the journal’s leadership intervened to stop publication. The body of editors—none of whom are Palestinian—voted to sustain that decision. We are unaware of any other solicited piece that has been revoked by the Law Review in this way. This unprecedented decision threatens academic freedom and perpetuates the suppression of Palestinian voices. We dissent.” [29] [33] [35]

In one of his responses to the Harvard Law Review editors, Eghbariah wrote, “This is discrimination. Let’s not dance around it — this is also outright censorship. It is dangerous and alarming." [36]

Over 100 law professors, including legal scholars Duncan Kennedy, William Schabas, and Makau Mutua, signed an open letter describing the censorship as “authoritarian” and expressing concern over the impact on academic freedom. [35] Harvard Law School professor Ryan Doerfler praised the article for being “a forceful piece of legal scholarship.” [37] Yale Law School professor Asli Bali described the article as an “excellent piece of legal scholarship.” [38] One Harvard Law Review editor published an opinion piece criticizing the decision to revoke Eghbariah’s piece as “acquiescing to the Palestine exception to free speech.” [39]

Columbia Law Review article

Following Harvard Law Review's decision to not publish Eghbariah’s essay, the Columbia Law Review commissioned Eghbariah to write an expanded version to be published with the Review. [40] In June 2024, the article, now over a hundred pages long, titled “Toward Nakba as a Legal Concept,” was published on the CLR website. [41] Following its publication, the Columbia Law Review Board of Directors shut down the Law Review's website to prevent access to Eghbariah’s article, citing “deviation from the Review’s usual processes.” [41]

The suspension of the website sparked another controversy, leading several Columbia professors to openly criticize the decision. [41] [42] Editors at both the Harvard Law Review and Columbia Law Review wrote that “important procedural conventions that protect academic freedom were breached to silence Eghbariah [in both instances].” [41]

The article was ultimately restored following a strike by the Columbia Law Review editors. [41] [43] Eghbariah became the first Palestinian to publish with the Columbia Law Review. [41] In response to the decision to suspend the website, Eghbariah stated that he saw the decision as “a microcosm of a broader authoritarian repression taking place across U.S. campuses” [40] and that “there is a continuum between the material reality in Gaza and shutting down these debates.” [6]

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References

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Rabea Eghbariah
Born
Occupation(s)Lawyer and scholar
Academic background
Education