Jonathan Adler / Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network / New York, NY
On May 5th, I awoke to the news that the Israeli High Court had approved the state’s decision to forcibly transfer over one thousand Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank. In a case that has extended over twenty years, the judges issued a unanimous opinion that dismissed the international prohibition on forced transfer of civilians in occupied territories as a mere, non-binding “treaty norm”.[1] The decision constitutes one of the largest instances of forced expulsion in the fifty-five-year history of the Israeli occupation, and, according to the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, only reaffirms that “the occupied cannot expect justice from the occupier’s court.”[2]
We often think of the worst human rights violations as the ones that go unseen – state-sanctioned torture in secret prisons, or extrajudicial executions – and that the role of human rights advocates is to bring such abuses to light. But, as legal theorist Susan Marks has asked, what if the worst violations take place in broad daylight?[3] This is particularly apparent in the Israeli context, where clear violations of human rights and international law are routinely green-lit by the Israeli legal system and thus there is no need to hide them. Yet such abuses are only plain to see for those who know where to look; while this instance of forced expulsion will hopefully generate widespread media coverage and international outrage, many violations of Palestinian human rights often go unreported, especially here in the United States.
My hope is that I’ll be able to help address this knowledge gap through my work this summer, as an intern at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network. Al-Shabaka is an online Palestinian-led think tank, that for the past decade has provided critical analysis of policy issues that affect Palestinians, for both an English and Arabic-speaking audience. The organization aims to “educate and foster public debate on Palestinian human rights and self determination,” with specific reference to international law. And by drawing upon its large member network, which includes activists, academics, human rights advocates, journalists, and others from across Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora, Al-Shabaka has played an important role in amplifying Palestinian voices – voices that have long been left out of mainstream Western media and policy circles.
The bulk of my work at Al-Shabaka will be editorial, where I’ll solicit and edit policy briefs and roundtables, organize panels and podcast episodes, and craft op-eds for placement in mainstream outlets. Much of Al-Shabaka’s output provides an analysis of current political realities in Palestine, and helps to place individual human rights abuses in their larger structural context. But given Al-Shabaka’s equal interest debating political futures, I also hope to explore how human rights and international law will continue to play a role in ongoing political and social movements to achieve justice for Palestinians.
[1] Bethan McKernan, “Israeli Court Paves Way for Eviction of 1,000 Palestinians from West Bank Area,” The Guardian, May 5, 2022, sec. World news, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/05/israeli-court-evict-1000-palestinians-west-bank-area.
[2] “The International Community Must Prevent the Forcible Transfer of Masafer Yatta Communities, Approved by Israel’s High Court of Justice,” B’Tselem, https://www.btselem.org/press_release/20220505_international_community_must_prevent_the_forcible_transfer_of_masafer_yatta_communities_approved_by_hcj.
[3] Susan Marks, On Four Human Rights Myths, LSE Legal Studies Working Paper No. 10 (2012)