RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian law schools in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will boycott the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition organized by Tetra Tech DPK on the grounds that it is funded by the US government. The Dec. 23 decision came in the wake of US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The competition is the largest moot court competition in international law, with participants from hundreds of law schools in 95 countries. It is held in the United States every March, and Palestine had been taking part in it for seven years.

Moayad Hattab, the dean of the faculty of law at An-Najah National University in Nablus, told Al-Monitor that the boycott came in response to Trump's decision on Jerusalem, as the US government funds the competition and covers the ticket costs of the participating teams, their training expenses, other logistics and hotel accommodations.

Hattab explained that the schools' refusal to participate in the competition “rejects Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which is a violation of international law. It also aims to convey the message to Washington that its conditional support and threats to cut support for Palestine are rejected.”