Israel Expels Human Rights Watch Director
American citizen Omar Shakir (C), the director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch for Israel and the Palestinian territories, delivers a speech at Ben Gurion airport on November 25, 2019, after being expelled from Israel. Image by Ack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
By Molly Boigon November 25, 2019
The Israeli government expelled the Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch on Monday, officials from the organization said, the first such deportation under a 2017 law targeting supporters of a boycott movement.
The director, Omar Shakir, departed after the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of a deportation order from last year that had been delayed.
That order is linked to a 2017 law that allows the country to bar entry for individuals who are seen as advocating for a boycott of Israel. The law has been used numerous times to deny entry to people at Israel’s airport or borders — and was invoked by the Israeli government to dissuade U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from visiting Israel and the West Bank this summer.
But activists said that Shakir was the first person who was living in Israel to be removed under the law.
“Israel today joins the likes of Venezuela, Iran, and Egypt in barring Human Rights Watch researchers, but it, too, will not succeed in hiding its human rights abuses,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch in a statement.
The organization announced that Shakir would continue his work in the region, only operating from the Human Rights Watch office in Jordan.
Its statement said that neither Human Rights Watch nor Shakir has actually called for a boycott of Israel, only urged businesses to cease operations in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel opted not to renew Shakir’s work visa in May 2018 on the grounds that he tried to get Israel suspended from FIFA and promoted a boycott on social media, Haaretz reported.
Shakir challenged that decision in court, but the ruling was upheld in April. Then, Shakir’s appeal was heard in front of the Supreme Court, but was rejected earlier this month. He was given until today to leave the country.
Shakir has another hearing request still pending.
Today Israel deports me, culminating 2.5 year effort to muzzle human rights advocacy. But its done the opposite: it has made plain Israel’s disdain for intl norms, unified human rights community & @hrw work on Israel/Palestine will continue w/ me at helm from outside #WhoisNext pic.twitter.com/hHpXbW2Z73
— Omar Shakir (@OmarSShakir) November 25, 2019
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) November 25, 2019
“Goodbye, everyone! I’ll be back!” – @OmarSShakir, Human Rights Watch’s Israel-Palestine Director being deported today by the Israeli government for his human rights advocacy, leaving the press conference and heading to the airport… pic.twitter.com/mczUwrMWXl
— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) November 25, 2019
Molly Boigon is the investigative reporter at the Forward. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @MollyBoigon
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker spoke at a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Its rabbi says Jews should learn from his 25-hour Senate speech.
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Fast Forward Citing post-Holocaust doctrine, Germany seeks to deport 4 pro-Palestinian protesters, including one American
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV Val Kilmer was the voice of my generation’s Moses (and God)
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker spoke at a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Its rabbi says Jews should learn from his 25-hour Senate speech.
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.