Abstract
There is consensus today in the global human rights movement, spanning the major Israeli, Palestinian and international organizations, that Israeli authorities are committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against millions of Palestinians. More and more other voices, from the former Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and ex UN Secretary General to the governments of South Africa and Namibia and foreign ministers of Luxemburg and France, have also referenced apartheid in relation to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The executive director of Israel’s premier human rights group B’Tselem, Hagai El-Ad, and Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine Director Omar Shakir and Gaza senior research assistant Abier Almasri will trace the evolution of their organizations human rights advocacy, how they reached the apartheid determination and the road forward to dismantling apartheid, including the role of states like Norway, international corporations and global civil society.
The event will be moderated by Professor Cecilia M. Bailliet.
About Omar Skakir
Omar Shakir serves as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, where he investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza and has authored several major reports, including a 2021 report comprehensively documenting how Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. As a result of his advocacy, the Israeli government deported Omar in November 2019. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.
Zoom link to the lecture
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https://uio.zoom.us/j/68300512027?pwd=SDl3UWZkRTdoQmNlNXQxYk1SQ1Jndz09
Meeting ID: 683 0051 2027
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