Welcome to the Evolving Man Project’s “Evolved Man of the Week” profile. Each week we will highlight an individual that embodies what it means to be an evolved person, famous and non-famous individual alike. The world needs to know their stories and deeds. This week’s honor goes to the lawyer, author, activist, and the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, Omar Shakir.
Shakir’s past includes being a Fulbright Scholar in Syria. Shakir got a JD from Stanford Law School. He contributed to a report on the effects of US drone strikes in Pakistan while participating in the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic. He also has an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.
Shakir investigated reports of human rights violations in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Among his accomplishments are several major reports, including a comprehensive 2021 report that thoroughly documents the crimes against humanity, apartheid, and persecution inflicted upon millions of Palestinians by Israeli authorities. Because of his advocacy, the Israeli government deported Shakir in November 2019. Shakir’s previous experience includes being a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights. During this time, he specialized in US counterterrorism policies, focusing specifically on providing legal representation for Guantanamo detainees. In his role as the Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, notably the Rab’a massacre, which stands out as one of the deadliest instances of protester killings in a day.
Shakir, who started in the HRW Israel post in 2017, appealed his deportation, but the Supreme Court backed the government’s decision in 2019. Israel considers the BDS movement a strategic threat and accuses it of fostering anti-Semitism, a claim activists refute. People compare it to the economic isolation that contributed to the downfall of apartheid South Africa. In his own words, Omar Shakir discusses the use of legal methods to confront injustice, apartheid, and crimes against humanity:
“For Human Rights Watch, the focus is the law. The prohibition against apartheid is a peremptory norm of international law. Apartheid as a crime against humanity is also one of the most odious crimes internationally. The world decided after the experience in South Africa that apartheid will be made a universal crime. Crimes against humanity are literally crimes against all of us. There is an obligation on all states to not only end that practice but to end all forms of complicity with it.”
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