Oren Ben-Dor

Who is Oren Ben-Dor?

Oren Ben-Dor is a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Southampton School of Law in the United Kingdom. He has published two books on these topics and edited a third on the troubled relationship between law and art. He has been published in various academic and mainstream publications.

He received his Bachelor of Laws from Birmingham University, and his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from University College London.

Ben-Dor is a former Israeli, born in Nahariya in northern Israel. He has supported academic boycotts of Israel universities, writing that those on the Israeli "left" who oppose it are "sophisticated accomplices to the smothering of debate." He has written about alleged apartheid in Israel, bias in Israel's education system, the ethical and legal challenges facing Palestine, and the use of violence by the Israeli state.

As a contributor to the newsletter CounterPunch, he has written against Israel’s role in the 2006 Lebanon War and in the Gaza War of December 2008 to January 2009. Criticizing Israel's tactics against Hamas, Ben-Dor wrote that "assassinating individual members of Hamas, even toppling the organisation, destroying its infrastructure and buildings, will not destroy the legitimate opposition to the arrogant and self-righteous Zionist entity." In 2007 he joined a number of intellectuals and activists in signing a "One State Declaration" which calls for one democratic state in the whole of Israel and Palestine. He has supported that alternative in public debate. Ben-Dor has engaged in academic debate with Oren Yiftachel in the journal Holy Land Studies regarding the One-State solution.