Israeli Supreme Court approves humanitarian leader’s expulsion

Omar Shakir, local director for Human Rights Watch, has been given 20 days to leave country

Human Rights Watch says neither it nor Omar Shakir, pictured at an earlier court hearing in September, have called for a boycott of Israel. Reuters

Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the expulsion of the local director of Human Rights Watch, sparking fierce criticism from rights groups that it would harm freedom of expression and their work in the country.

The director, US citizen Omar Shakir, was initially ordered to leave the country because Israel claimed his advocacy against Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank amounted to support for the Palestinian-led boycott movement.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal against a lower court’s decision to have Mr Shakir deported.

An Israeli law from 2017 bars entry to those who publicly support a boycott of Israel or its West Bank settlements.

Mr Shakir’s case was followed closely internationally as a Litmus test for how Israel would enforce the legislation.

“Does Israel want to join the ranks of countries like Iran, North Korea and Cuba that block access for Human Rights Watch staff?" he asked.

"Today’s decision will have significant ramifications. It really goes to the heart of what kind of country Israel is and wants to become in the future."

Tuesday’s ruling came after a long legal saga. Mr Shakir was allowed to remain in Israel for the trial and appeal.

The judge who wrote the decision appeared to play down its future effect on other rights groups and activists.

“There is nothing in the decision to reflect upon other human rights organisations and activists,” Justice Neal Hendel wrote.

His ruling primarily dealt with the legality of the decision to expel Mr Shakir, rather than the 2017 boycott law.

The court gave him 20 days to leave the country and ordered him to pay the legal fees associated with the case.

Human Rights Watch says neither it nor the director have called for an outright boycott of Israel.

The organisation said that Mr Shakir, who took up the director's post in 2016, was being attacked because of the rights group’s opposition to Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, and its calls for companies to stop working with the outposts.

“The Supreme Court has effectively declared that free expression in Israel does not include completely mainstream advocacy for Palestinian rights,” said Kenneth Roth, the group’s executive director.

“There’s no telling who it will throw out next.”

Other rights organisations also condemned the ruling. Amnesty International called it reprehensible and a “cowardly move".

“The court has made it explicitly clear that those who dare to speak out about human rights violations by the Israeli authorities will be treated as enemies of the state,” Amnesty said.

Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal.

Israel has adopted a tough stance in recent years toward the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which it says is aimed at delegitimising Israel’s existence and wiping it off the map.

The movement says it is a non-violent campaign for Palestinian rights and does not endorse a specific solution to the conflict.

Maurice Hirsch, a lawyer for the pro-Israel NGO Monitor group, which joined the case against Mr Shakir, said it presented evidence going back to 2010 of him publicly supporting BDS.

Mr Hirsch said the ruling was “an important expression of Israeli democracy".

“The court confirms that, while in Israel, Shakir spent his time unjustifiably vilifying Israel and promoting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activities,” he said.

“Despite his claims, Shakir’s work had very little, if anything, to do with protecting human rights.”