“Our age” wrote Julien Benda in 1927 in La Trahison des clercs “is indeed the age of the intellectual organization of political hatreds.”  The newest example of this organized hatred is the Conference to be held in the UK between April 17 and 19, 2015 under the auspices of the Southampton Law School. The given title is “International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility, and Exceptionalism.” The title betrays the underlying animosity behind the conference: the existence of Israel, now in its 66th year, is something to be discussed and, for many of the participants, ended.  The conference is intellectually limited in two senses. No other country’s right of existence is being questioned, or denied, not even Syria, Libya, or Iran.  Moreover, little genuine discussion of complex issues pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict can be expected. Some of the participants in this “academic” conference...(Read Full Article)