Head of human rights group facing expulsion from Israel
JERUSALEM — Unless a last-minute appeal is success- ful, Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch, will be forced to leave here on Thursday as Israel puts into practice a recent amendment to its immi- gration laws aimed at fighting supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
While the new legislation has been applied to BDS activists seeking to enter the coun- try, this is the first-time Israel is applying it against a person already inside. If Shakir is expelled, critics argue it places Israel into a highly undesir- able group of nations that have banned human rights activists.
Lawyers for Shakir are chal- lenging the order but a request he be allowed to stay in the country pending the court case was turned down last week by the Jerusalem District Court. His legal team have turned to the Supreme Court.
“Denying e ntry to or deporting people from a coun- try because they are or were in their past critical of its governmental policies, is a classic feature of authoritarian regimes,” said Michael Sfard, Shakir’s attorney.
By his own admission, Sha- kir was once active in promot- ing boycotts against Israel but says that since taking up his position with HRW and being granted a work permit by Israel a year ago, he has not engaged in such activities.
Shakir, a U.S. citizen, was initially denied a work permit, but in March 2017, the Interior Ministry relented and granted him a year-long visa. When he applied to renew that visa, however, he was told his status was under review. On May 7, Shakir was notified that the permit had been revoked. He was ordered to leave Israel within 14 days.
“After a thorough investi- gation, it was found that in recent years, Mr. Shakir has worked consistently, prom- inently, and continuously to promote boycotts against the State of Israel and inter- national companies invest- ing in Israel,” read a statement from the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, which has been tasked with combating the BDS movement.
The Israeli government says that the boycott campaign actively promotes the country’s demise and denies Israel’s basic right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. Those who advocate for BDS say their goal is to pressure Israel into complying with international law vis-à-vis its policies toward the Palestinians. The movement discour- ages the purchase of Israeli goods, pressures international companies not to conduct business in Israel and urges celebrities not to visit or perform in the country.
The ministry, which worked with the Interior Ministry to pass legislation banning BDS activists from entering Israel, pointed to Shakir’s contribution to a U.N. Human Rights Council report blacklisting international and Israeli companies operating in the West Bank, his role working with the Palestinian Authority to ban Israel from the international soccer association, FIFA, and his call for an investigation by the International Criminal Court against Israel.
“It is unacceptable that boycott promoters are allowed visas to stay in Israel, while at the same time attempting to harm the country,” said Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri in a statement. “I will do everything in my ability to prevent such individuals from entering or residing in Israel.”
Gilad Erdan, minister for strategic affairs and public diplomacy said: “Even when they attempt to hide their promotion of anti-Israel boycotts by appropriating the language of human rights, we will reveal their hypocrisy and moral double standards, and hold them accountable for their actions.”