The Hague Colloquium is an integral part of the Hague Prize for International Law which is awarded biannually by The Hague Prize Foundation. Each year the laureate receives not only the prize, but is also given the honour of choosing the fundamental principal of law on which the next Hague Colloquium will be organised.
Professor Cherif Bassiouni, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, who was awarded the 2006 Prize, has chosen this topic in order to foster the knowledge and in-depth understanding of one of the major challenges facing the contemporary international community.
Introduction
Since 11 September 2001 and the attacks on the World Trade Center, Jihad has become the symbol of the confrontation between Muslims and the West. The concept of Jihad has been central to many modern conflicts including that of resistance to US occupation of Iraq or the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.
According to the most popular view, Jihad ideology represents a religiously sanctioned aggressive war to propagate or defend faith. However, the meaning of Jihad is not as straightforward as proponents of the clash of civilizations would like it to be. The aim of the colloquium is thus to clarify the meanings of Jihad, its understanding and the manipulation of its sense since the rise of political Islam during the 1960s. It aims also at understanding the relationship between Jihad, Islam and national and international law. Scholars from Muslim as well as Western countries will discuss the different views of Jihad and its relationship with law, politics and armed conflicts, in an environment that stimulates discussion and the exchange of views.
Due to limited space, participation is limited to invitees only.
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