Marc Cogen

Marc Cogen is a Belgian jurist.

Career

Cogen began his career as a lawyer at the Antwerp bar in 1978, and started his academic career at Ghent University in 1982. He also taught at the University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel for periods, and advised in the financial world and in politics. From 2004 to 2007 he was an advisor to Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht. He ran for rector elections in 2009, which he lost.
He is a co-founder and member of the board of directors of the European Friends of Israel, and sits on the board of directors of the Jewish nature movement "Keren Kayemeth Le Israel", which organises tree planting campaigns in Israel. In 2007, he participated in the international counter-jihad conference in Brussels.

In 2010, he was preventively suspended from his position as Professor of Public International Law after allegations of "transgressive behaviour". He has made his positions on international politics public, about Israel, the United States and the Iraq War, and had previously accused the university and a number of colleagues of antisemitism. In 2011, he was seconded to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.