Criticality as refusal: counterstories of the occupied, (non)-collaboration, and resisting silence

Palestinians face an ongoing Nakba along with the erasure of their universities. Prompted by the escalation of violence in the region, this Point of Departure (PoD) explores criticality as refusal–refusal of silence, complicity and collaboration with oppressive systems such as apartheid, settler colonialism, and racism. We draw on Malkani’s ([2024]. Racial justice and the limits of law. Bristol: Policy Press) four principles for anti-racist lawyering–reflection, creativity, collaboration, and accountability–as a framework for recognising and resisting these structures within and beyond higher education. Building on this, we propose counterstories in teaching as pedagogical tools that can generate discomfort within learning spaces and disruption beyond them. We argue that refusing collaboration with Israeli universities complicit in occupation constitutes one concrete and urgent form of critical disobedience that the academic community in Global North universities can take. Interwoven throughout this PoD and guiding our analyses are counterstories of Jawlani/Golani and Palestinian youth living under occupation, drawn from an ongoing qualitative study.