Join us to hear from two of Palestine’s leading human rights defenders who will discuss conditions on the ground, the status of human rights and their violations, and the future facing Palestinians. IPS’s Middle East expert Phyllis Bennis will moderate the conversation with Raji Sourani, founder and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza, and Shawan Jabarin, director of al-Haq in Ramallah. Katherine Gallagher of the Center for Constitutional Rights will introduce the program.

This visit to the United States is the first for Raji Sourani in many years, due to U.S. visa restrictions and his inability to leave the besieged Gaza Strip.  Besides his work at the PCHR, Sourani works with a wide range of global human rights movements, and was the recipient of the 2013 Right Livelihood (also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”) award. 

 Shawan Jabarin has also been subjected to years of travel bans by the Israeli authorities, and this is only his second visit to the U.S. in more than a decade. He directs the oldest Palestinian human rights organization, is Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), a member of Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Division Advisory Committee, and International Court of Justice Commissioner.

Sponsored by: Institute for Policy Studies, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Busboys and Poets, and co-sponsored by:  US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, CodePink, American Friends Service Committee, The Palestine Center, Peace Action, US Palestinian Community Network, Sabeel DC Metro, Jewish Voice for Peace – DC Metro, Washington Peace Center, Arab Studies Institute, Amnesty International USA, and US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN).