ACLA Annual Soiree: An Evening with Omar Shakir

https://facebook.com/events/s/acla-annual-soiree-an-evening-/616538540214108/

ACLA is excited for the return of our annual soiree – a night of networking followed by a keynote address by an esteemed guest. This year we are honoured to host Omar Shakir, Israel/Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch and author of their recent report on Israel’s crimes of apartheid. He will present how Human Rights Watch reached the apartheid determination and the road forward to dismantling apartheid.

This event is co-hosted with our partners: Human Rights Watch and Hearing Palestine

Event Details

November 7, University of Toronto, William Doo Auditorium

6:00pm – doors open for ACLA’s social – light refreshments

7:00pm – Keynote Address

Discussion Summary

There is consensus today in the global human rights movement, spanning the major Israeli, Palestinian and international organizations, that Israeli authorities are committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against millions of Palestinians. More and more other voices, from the former Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and ex UN Secretary General to the governments of South Africa and Namibia and foreign ministers of Luxemburg and France, have also referenced apartheid in relation to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine Director Omar Shakir, who authored the organization’s major report on Israel’s apartheid and who the Israeli government deported in late 2019 over his human rights advocacy, will present how Human Rights Watch reached the apartheid determination and the road forward to dismantling apartheid.

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford. He speaks English and Arabic.