Fundacions Ferrer and the UB create the first chair on Palestine at a European university
Fundacions Ferrer and the University of Barcelona presented this 14th of October UB-Fundacions Ferrer Chair of Palestinian Studies, the first chair on Palestine created in a European university and one of the five that currently exist in the world. The initiative aims to act as a stable space for analysis and the generation of knowledge about Palestine, with a multidisciplinary perspective that allows addressing the Palestinian reality from legal, political, historical, social, cultural and environmental perspectives.
This new chair will be developed in collaboration with Acció Palestina, the Fundacions Ferrer’ cross-cutting project that works to promote the knowledge, awareness-raising and defense of the human rights of the Palestinian people through educational, cultural, academic and public outreach initiatives.
“At Fundacions Ferrer, we work to contribute to a more just and inclusive society, putting resources and capabilities at the service of the common good,” emphasized Estefania Rico, director of Fundacions Ferrer. “Promoting this pioneering chair with the University of Barcelona is a way to contribute to the defense of the human rights of the Palestinian people, generating knowledge, building alliances, and opening spaces for reflection that help us understand a reality that concerns us as a society.”.
For the rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, “The situation in which the Palestinian people find themselves challenges us not only as an institution and committed community, but also directly as an academic institution. It is no coincidence that the University of Barcelona is the first in the state to establish a chair of this nature: we want to contribute to the production of rigorous knowledge about Palestine and facilitate the dissemination of this knowledge to society.
A space for knowledge, analysis and debate
The chair will be attached to the Faculty of Law of the UB and will be directed by Elisenda Calvet, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Barcelona. For Calvet, “Palestine cannot be understood from a single discipline” and that is why the chair incorporates faculty from different fields of knowledge, who “complement and each contribute a different perspective on the same context, in a space of encounter between the academic world, public institutions and civil society.”.
“At Acció Palestina we believe that defending the rights of the Palestinian people also involves preserving their memory, making their voice heard and contributing to generating rigorous knowledge about their reality. This Chair is born from this conviction: that knowledge should not be limited to explaining the world, but should contribute to transforming it,” has stated Júlia Pastor, responsible for Acció Palestina
Among the priority research lines of the UB-Fundacions Ferrer Chair in Palestinian Studies will be occupation and international law, forced displacement and refugees, the preservation of Palestinian heritage and cultural identity, the role of women in peacebuilding, conflict resolution initiatives, and environmental impacts. The gender perspective will be a transversal feature in all activities.
Research, dissemination and training of journalists
The new chair will develop a stable program of academic, training and outreach activities. Among the main initiatives planned is the organization of an annual international conference on Palestine, which will bring together specialists from different disciplines and serve to present an annual report dedicated to relevant issues of the Palestinian reality.
Another of the highlighted areas will be the training of communication professionals. The chair will promote seminars aimed at journalists, communication students, and analysts with the aim of providing tools and academic sources that allow for contextualizing information about Palestine from a historical, legal, and political perspective.
The initiative also envisages the creation of a digital portal to facilitate access to publications, documentary resources and informative materials, as well as the organization of public debates and the promotion of research projects among university students.
With these activities, the chair aims to contribute to combating misinformation and foster a more comprehensive and contextualized understanding of the Palestinian reality.
Collaboration with Palestinian universities
The international dimension will be another of the project's central elements. The chair will promote academic cooperation with Palestinian universities through shared research projects, joint seminars, exchanges, and stays for research staff.
Among the expert individuals with whom collaboration is expected are Oroub El-Abed, affiliated with the Birzeit University, and Sanaa Al Sarghali, a professor of constitutional law at the An-Najah National University. The chair also plans to have the support and collaboration of Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The chair is also part of Faculty 18, an initiative of the University of Barcelona that aims to coordinate and continue various activities of the university community related to Palestine and to strengthen ties with Palestinian universities and their university communities.
With this new initiative, the Fundacions Ferrer and the University of Barcelona are reinforcing their commitment to putting knowledge and education at the service of human rights, peace and global justice, and to contributing to the creation of spaces for critical thinking and debate about the Palestinian reality.