Cork conference debating Israel’s legitimacy to go ahead

University College Cork has said that a conference debating the legal legitimacy of the State of Israel will go ahead in the city at the end of March, but questions remain over whether the University’s campus facilities will be used.

The three-day event, called ‘International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Exceptionalism and Responsibility,’ was cancelled by the University of Southampton last year, and delayed by Cork this year, after Jewish leaders in London called it a “propaganda gathering”.

In a statement this week, UCC said conferences organisers plan to host two of the three conference days in an off-campus location in Cork on 31 March and 1 April.

“Discussions are ongoing between the organisers and the University regarding the use of campus for the final day, based on the conditions previously set by UCC,” they said.

Last month, the University noted that while the conference organising committee included five UCC staff members, “it is not a University-sponsored or promoted event”.