ACADEMIA

Avi Bell

Law professor

Abraham (Avi) Bell is an Israeli Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and at Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Law. With Israel condemned by much of the media during 2021 in relation to the dispute over property ownership in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, Bell provided much needed commentary and insight explaining Israel’s position. “Critics claim that the Israeli government should -- or even that international law requires it to -- deny the owners their property rights, but these claims are not based on any credible legal argument,” Bell wrote. “The critics demand that Israel discriminate against and disregard the property owners’ lawful property rights due to their Jewish ethnicity. It’s obvious that critics of Israel would pay no notice to the dispute if the owners were Palestinian and the squatters and overstaying tenants were Palestinian.” (Photo: courtesy)