On April 2, three Flemish universities will grant an honorary doctorate to Francesca Albanese. On the same day, Palestinian professor Noura Erakat will also receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Antwerp. “Albanese and Erakat deserve everyone’s support, including that of Jewish communities,” argue Itamar Shachar and Sarah Katz-Lavigne of Another Jewish Voice.
In her role as UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese is a leading voice in holding Israel accountable for its genocidal war on Gaza. She joins other experts in international law, such as Palestinian professor Noura Erakat, who will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Antwerp on the same day.
Half-jokingly, we at Another Jewish Voice (Een Andere Joodse Stem) told each other that we should be prepared with a counterstatement if Zionist organizations accused Albanese, Erakat, the universities, or all of them, of blatant antisemitism. Less than 10 hours later, the Forum of Jewish Organizations (FJO) published a response confirming this fear, in which they deemed some of Albanese’s statements “anti-Semitic under the IHRA definition.” The IHRA definition has long been criticized by the EAJS and other Jewish organizations because it wrongly conflates anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the State of Israel and its Zionist ideology.
Hobbes or Lemkin?
Historically, Jewish intellectuals and legal scholars were among those who contributed to the development of international law and institutions. Examples include Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer best known for coining the term “genocide” and for his efforts to bring about the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Drawing on their experiences during the Holocaust, Jewish survivors such as Lemkin—joined by allies around the world—sought to ensure that the lesson of “never again” truly meant “never again for anyone.”
Not all Jews—or their supporters—agree with this message. As Peter Beinhart noted in his lecture in Brussels this year, some carry with them the Hobbesian lesson of the Holocaust: that the world is a cruel place and that those who wish to survive must rise to the top—otherwise, they are easy prey for others.
The creation of a Zionist state in Palestine was consistent with this perspective: the colonization of a land and the forced expulsion of its population were justified in order to ensure Jewish security in the wake of the Holocaust.
This process of settler-colonialism reached one of its most brutal low points with the current Israeli campaign of bombardment, displacement, starvation, and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and, increasingly, in the West Bank. According to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), this amounts to a plausible genocide. International law experts such as Albanese and Erakat, along with genocide researchers and Israeli human rights organizations, have asserted that Israel’s actions constitute genocide.
The gradual development of international humanitarian law—from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the international treaties that implement it—was aimed at imposing restrictions on human cruelty, regardless of who commits it. Many of these legal texts and institutions had roots in colonial history. Nevertheless, several decolonized states were able to effectively use international law to protect themselves against neocolonial interference.
Blatantly disregarding international law
The current Israeli-American attack on Iran painfully demonstrates that international law is often distorted or simply disregarded by powerful states and their allies.
Historically, the United States has sought to position itself as the guardian of the postwar international order, despite the fact that it has utterly undermined it through its direct and indirect attacks on states—from Latin America to the Middle East—that have sought to resist its imperialist projects.
Until recently, it seemed that the U.S. preferred to maintain this order—or at least the appearance of it—rather than abandon it entirely. But now there is someone in the White House who declares, “I don’t need international law,” backed by a Pentagon chief who blatantly disregards international law.
A clear indication of the ongoing effort to reshape international institutions for the benefit of a select few was the appointment of the ironically named “Board of Peace” to oversee the Gaza Strip.
Permanent membership requires $1 billion, a sum that remains out of reach for the states or populations it purports to serve. The current U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, accompanied by an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, not only demonstrates a complete disregard for all international institutions, procedures, and laws: there are also growing signs that Israel is attempting to extend its “Gaza doctrine” to other regions.
Gaza is therefore once again a laboratory, this time not only for the arms industry, but for attempts to reshape the international order. Governments in Europe and the Middle East that failed to stop Israel in its ruthless criminal assault on Gaza now find themselves on the receiving end of a regional war that could easily spill over into Europe.
“Never Again for Everyone”
Figures such as Albanese and Erakat are striving to uphold international law by working tirelessly to draw attention to the suffering of the Palestinians and to the complicity of Western governments in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Several Jewish organizations have spoken out in support of Albanese and protested against the accusations of antisemitism leveled against her. They crucially noted that “the erroneous conflation of the State of Israel with the Jewish people actually exposes and endangers Jews.”
In 2025, Noura Erakat received the Amnesty International Chair from Ghent University, in recognition of “her unwavering pursuit of justice and her significant contributions to human rights and international law.”
Albanese and Erakat are principled voices for the preservation of human dignity in Gaza and thus truly embody the principle of “never again for anyone.” They symbolize the upholding of international law, which humanity needs most in these times of brutal, criminal wars.
These wars lead not only to unimaginable human suffering, but also to the total collapse of any possibility of maintaining a peaceful international order. That is why Albanese and Erakat deserve not only an honorary doctorate, but also the informed and active support of everyone—including within Jewish communities worldwide—who believes in human rights and justice for all, rather than for an increasingly narrow group.
Itamar Shachar is a professor of sociology at the University of Hasselt. Sarah Katz-Lavigne is a member of the Recht en Ontwikkeling research group of the University of Antwerp. They are both members of Another Jewish Voice.
On Saturday, January 3rd, we said goodbye to Jan Bernheim at the Cierk on the eastern bank of Ostend, near the iconic “Lange Nelle” lighthouse. At least 300 people from Belgium and abroad were there in the heart of the fishing port to pay their final respects. Despite the large crowd, the gathering ended as Jan, his wife Saartje, and their children had wished: peaceful, tenderhearted, with a family atmosphere.
Jan L. Bernheim (Uccle, August 25, 1941 – Ostend, December 28, 2025) was a Belgian physician, oncologist, professor, and researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, emeritus since 2006. He was a champion in Belgium for the recognition of palliative care and for the possibility of euthanasia, long before the euthanasia law came into effect. His obituary, next to his academic degrees, states: “member of Another Jewish Voice.”
Jan Bernheim developed an impressive academic career and remained deeply socially engaged throughout his life. He was also a loving partner, father, and grandfather.
It is certainly worth mentioning that he developed Anamnesis Comparative Self-Assessment, a method for measuring quality of life that is transculturally suitable. He founded the European Study Group for Quality of Life, a scientific association in this field of research. At the end of the 1970s, he established the first palliative care unit on the European mainland. As early as 1990, he published on integrated palliative care, which encompasses the entire spectrum of care for quality of life, including, if desired, euthanasia. He is internationally regarded as the designer of the Belgian model of integrated end-of-life care. He was a senior researcher at the End-of-Life Care research group at the VUB and Ghent University. In the last years of his life, he collaborated with the Evolution, Cognition and Complexity research group at the Leo Apostel Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Happiness and Progress.
He called himself a bit Jewish and unequivocally sympathized with Another Jewish Voice. He was unsparing in his criticism of the genocidal and imperialist policies of the current Israeli government. He spent the summer of 1961 on an Israeli kibbutz near Gaza, and even then he noticed the dehumanization that so characterizes the conflict in the region today, as he once wrote in an opinion piece.
In his final months in Ostend, he expressed his solidarity with the Palestinian people and participated in silent vigils.
Jan will be missed by his family and friends… He was a Man with a capital “H.”
We grieve the lives lost in Boondi and mourn all those harmed by this horrific violence. Jewish tradition teaches us: “For anybody who destroys a single life it is counted as if he destroyed an entire world, and for anybody who preserves a single life it is counted as if he preserved an entire world.” Every life taken is an entire world extinguished, and every act to protect life matters profoundly. We honour Ahmed Al Ahmed, Sofia & Boris Gurman, who risked their own lives to save others, embodying the true meaning of this teaching — a value shared by Jewish and Muslim traditions alike.
This attack came during Chanukah, a time when Jews gather, light candles, and commit to bringing more light into the world during darkness. A moment meant for togetherness, hope, and renewal, was violently disrupted.
As Jews committed to justice and liberation, we also reject the exploitation of our grief and trauma. In the wake of this attack, Israel and some Zionist organisations have already sought to exploit violence against Jews to support its genocidal agenda. They use the very real fear many of us live with to incite racism, justify collective punishment, and legitimise further violence against others, particularly Palestinians and other racialised communities. This misuse of Jewish suffering deepens cycles of harm, fuels hatred, and makes us all less safe.
We unequivocally condemn victim-blaming, antisemitic conspiracies and islamophobia that have emerged in the wake of this attack. Antisemitism and islamophobia are real, dangerous, and must be confronted wherever they appear. We insist that all lives are equally valuable and all lives should be valued and equally grievable — in Australia, in Palestine, in Belgium, and everywhere. We stand against racism in all its forms, and against the misuse of Jewish pain and trauma to justify further violence, oppression, and dehumanisation. This week we will continue to light our Chanukah candles and commit to working towards a world grounded in mutual care and shared safety, where every life is treated as sacred.
“The way Israel treats Palestinians and claims this is justified according to Jewish tradition leaves me no choice but to explicitly state that this is not Jewish. What they are doing is a distorted, perverse corruption of a beautiful and sacred tradition.”
