Israel Court Rejects Human Rights Watch Activist's Deportation Appeal, by Faris K. Barhoum

Omar Shakir of Human Rights Watch.

November 6, 2019


By Faris K. Barhoum




   This past Tuesday [November 5] the Israeli Supreme Court upheld a ruling that a Human Rights Watch employee must leave the Jewish State. Omar Shakir, a senior member of Human Rights Watch is to be deported from Israel on the grounds of supporting the Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement or BDS. The BDS movement was started by Palestinians in 2005 to hold Israel accountable for their continued occupation of the Palestinian people and to pressure states, entities, and nations from conducting military and economic business with Israel.
   Mr. Shakir will be deported and his work permit will be revoked by the Jewish State because the interior minister of Israel stated: "He [Shakir] had supported a boycott of Israel. Israel formally revoked his work permit in the spring of 2018 for his support of the BDS movement, but for the last year Mr. Shakir challenged the state of Israel at the Supreme Court level (BBC.com, 1). Mr. Shakir is a trained lawyer.
   According to the BBC, "It [Israel], based the decision on a dossier covering his activities over the previous 10 years, almost all of them predating his Human Rights Watch role" (Ibid, 1). Mr. Shakir and Human Rights Watch have explicitly stated that neither support a boycott of Israel. Human Rights Watch for its part never supported the BDS Movement back in its inception in 2005, and they currently do not support the boycott. In the case of Mr. Shakir, he never actively pursued nor supported the boycott while in his role at Human Rights Watch. Mr. Shakir merely did his job as an employee of Human Rights Watch, which was holding Israel accountable for its human rights abuses against the Palestinians.

Article,

BBC.com, "Israel Court Rejects Human Rights Watch Activist's Deportation Appeal,"
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50300959. 11/6/19.