International law and the colonization of Palestine: a brief analysis through the TWAIL lenses

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5902/2357797595147

Keywords:

International Law, Colonization, Third World Approaches to International Law, Palestine-Israel

Abstract

This paper examines the role of international law as an active tool in perpetuating the colonization of Palestinian territory. Conducted as a literature review and documentary analysis, it seeks to offer the Portuguese-speaking community a systematic overview of how the structural framework of international law has been leveraged to undermine Palestinian sovereignty and validate dispossession. Drawing on Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), the findings suggest that these legal instruments facilitated the non-consensual partition of land, justified military occupation, and institutionalized a colonial regime under the veneer of self-government. Ultimately, the study demonstrates how international law continues to operate according to its colonial design to subjugate the Palestinian people.

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Author Biographies

Isabella Goldoni Paludo, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria

Eighth-semester student in the International Relations program at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). Member and researcher at the Center for Research and Practice in International Law (NPPDI - CNPq/UFSM). Her article “Games and Simulations in International Relations and Strategic Studies” was published in the Brazilian Journal of Defense Studies in 2025. She was a scholarship recipient between 2023 and 2024 from the Study Group on State Capacity, Security, and Defense (GECAP - CNPq/UFSM), in the project “Methodology of International Relations: New milestones for the scientific development of interdisciplinarity,” supervised by Prof. Dr. Igor Castellano da Silva. Popular educator at the Praxis college entrance exam prep school. She is interested in peace studies, international security, the Palestinian question, public international law, international institutions, and game studies.

Ademar Pozzatti Junior, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria

Doutor em Direito das Relações Internacionais pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; Professor, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil.

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Published

2026-03-20

How to Cite

Paludo, I. G., & Pozzatti Junior, A. (2026). International law and the colonization of Palestine: a brief analysis through the TWAIL lenses. InterAção, 17(1), e95147. https://doi.org/10.5902/2357797595147

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2026): Publicação Contínua - Dossiê "Direitos Humanos e o Enfrentamento ao Tráfico de Pessoas"

Section

XIII SARI

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