Naomi Kalvo-Lax, Or Malki and Amit Haim from Hebrew University of Jerusalem are the winners of the 10th national competition on International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The outstanding speaker award was given to Omri Shalev, also from the Hebrew University.

“The ICRC puts a lot of effort into promoting and disseminating IHL around the world, and one key way of doing so is through our engagement with academic circles”, said Jacques De-Maio, ICRC Head of Delegation in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

The competition is organized with the assistance of the Association for Promoting International Humanitarian Law (ALMA). “In Israel, we conduct a range of activities in cooperation with academic institutions including conferences, guest lectures, workshops, seminars and, for the last ten years, this competition”, said De-Maio. “I am proud to say that this our flagship academic event in Israel.“ Watch Jacques De-Maio’s speech

“I think it is a great experience for students”, said Sapir Blau, one of the participants. “The simulations bring out different parts of real life experiences that you might not otherwise get the chance to engage with. You learn a lot and work as a team.”

According to Dr. Hilli Moodrick-Even Chen, one of the judges in this year’s competition, it is an exciting event not only for the students but for the judges as well. “We see clever students who can talk about policy issues, as well as legal issues. They are brilliant and we have a lot of fun here”, said Moodrik-Even Chen.

Yael Sasson, one of the coaches and last year’s outstanding speaker award winner, said: “It made me so proud to see how far my teams have come, from when they didn’t know what they were talking about – to see how they got better in every single day and every simulation of the competition. It is an amazing feeling to see that they are listening to what you have told them and put it into play in the next simulation. To see them enjoy it, made me enjoy it so much more than I think I did when I was a participant – just because I have got all their enjoyment together with mine.”

The International competition on IHL, the Jean-Pictet International Competition, will be held this year in Georgia, between 18th to 25th of March 2017.

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Photo Gallery: The 10th National Competition on International Humanitarian Law