Human Rights Watch official Omar Shakir to be deported today

Human Rights Watch Israel-Palestine director Omar Shakir will be deported from Israel on Monday. Earlier this month, the High Court of Justice endorsed the government’s decision not to allow the activist to remain in the country because of his support for boycotting Israel. The decision sent shock waves around the world, with praise from the right-wing in Israel and even some centrists like Blue and White No. 2 Yair Lapid, but led to worldwide condemnation, as well.

Don’t fall for @OmarSShakir’s lies or @hrw @KenRoth spin.#WhoIsNext? If Omar stuck to just human rights advocacy, fine. But he used cover of ‘human rights’ to advocate for racist BDS campaign & support Palestinian terror. #Israel, like every democracy, has right to deport him! https://t.co/yHbCDCVGJq

— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) November 25, 2019

In 2017, the government passed anti-BDS legislation. At the heart of the Shakir case was whether foreign human rights officials in Israel can call for boycotts against the country, what standard to apply to them (much of the evidence against the HRW official was from his personal Twitter account), and questions about deportation being used by the government to quash criticism of human rights violations. Shakir has denied the charge of supporting the boycott against Israel, saying that he criticizes the country in an attempt to improve its human rights record just as the HRW does with other nations. Ultimately, the court decided that Shakir’s calls for Israel boycotts relating to Airbnb, Booking.com and a Spanish company justified the decision not to allow him to stay in Israel. “Not only was there [from Shakir] systematic support for BDS which continued after he began his work for the organization [HRW], his conduct surrounding FIFA, as well as his repeated calls for boycotting Israeli assets in the region, is based on a sweeping denial of the legitimacy of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria,” the Court’s ruling read. “This is a case in which is a boycott was promoted only because of an affinity for the area [Israel] ─ as opposed to its conduct. Therefore, the Minister’s decision does not go beyond the limits of his authority,” it added. Shakir is going to address the press later on Monday. Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.
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