A month after 57 states made submissions to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as it prepares its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory requested by the UN in December 2022, Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, shared his insights on what’s at stake with the ICJ advisory opinion, as well as the International Criminal Court’s Palestine probe.

His talk, titled International Courts and Palestine: Challenges and Opportunities, was hosted by Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), where Shakir is currently a Visiting Fellow. GU-Q is a partner university of Qatar Foundation.

Following a warm introduction by GU-Q dean, Dr Safwan Masri, Shakir addressed the audience of faculty, students, staff, and members of the public, delving into the legal issues in front of the world’s most prominent legal institutions and on the road to justice and accountability in Israel/Palestine.

After the talk, the audience had a chance to ask questions during a session moderated by Dr Masri.

Human rights within the Israel-Palestine context

The UNGA resolution requests the ICJ’s opinion on Israel’s prolonged occupation, its policies and practices, and their impact on Palestinians and their rights. It also seeks to understand how these actions affect occupation’s legal status and consequences for member nations and the UN.

The issue of human rights has become highly politicized, said Dr Masri – much to its detriment. He said that politics is always partisan, while human rights are universal and should be universally inviolable.

Dr Masri introduced Omar Shakir as a globally recognised human rights advocate, whose presence at the GU-Q campus offers students a unique opportunity to engage with an experienced practitioner of his knowledge and stature. He said that inviting the public to his lecture underscores their belief that justice is a reality, not an abstract concept.

The talk, which also addressed other international legal endeavours to address human rights concerns within the Israel-Palestine context, offered attendees a glimpse into the challenges and opportunities of pursuing accountability for violations of international law.

According to Shakir, the world’s most prominent courts have an unprecedented opportunity to address the decades-long effort to rewrite the basic rules of international law and maintain a wall of impunity.

For victims of serious abuses, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

In his role as a Visiting Fellow, Shakir is also teaching a one-credit course titled Mightier than the Sword? The Human Rights Challenge to Israel’s Apartheid. The course offers students the opportunity to explore the role of human rights work in situations of protracted conflict and in challenging systematic repression.

He is also offering a workshop for students interested in advocacy on Human Rights Fact-Finding and Documentation later in the week.

For more details, visit qatar.georgetown.edu.

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