Al-Haq: A Global History of the First Palestinian Human Rights Organization

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Writing al-Haq -- Scholarship : al-Haq and human rights -- Framing the work -- Al-Haq contributions -- The occupied territories, Israel and the PLO -- West Bank legal profession -- Camp David -- Human rights organisations -- International law -- Human rights in the region -- Raja Shehadeh -- Jonathan Kuttab -- Charles Shammas -- LSM Steering Committee -- Who are we? 1983 -- The politics of LSM -- Participation, voluntarism and Wednesday evening meetings -- The role of a human rights organisation under occupation -- Members and staffers -- Into the intifada -- Twenty years of occupation-: a time to reflect -- Interventions -- Allies -- The ICRC -- The Enforcement Project -- Fieldwork methodology -- The risks of fieldwork -- Intifada expansion -- From affidavit to publication and campaign -- Affidavits and the Palestinian audience -- Fieldwork and the database -- Publishing on prisons -- Structural work -- Legal advice and know your rights -- Invoking the law.

"Established in Ramallah in 1979, al-Haq was the first Palestinian human rights organization and one of the first such organizations in the Arab world. This inside history explores how al-Haq initiated methodologies in law and practice that were ahead of their time and to which can be traced the origins of many strands of human rights work in Palestine and elsewhere today. It looks at the founders of this internationally recognized organization, its staffers, its work, and its legacy. Al-Haq's history answers important questions, such as: Why would one set up a human rights organization under military occupation? How would one go about promoting the rule of law in a Palestinian society deleteriously served by the law and with every reason to distrust those charged with implementing its protections? How would one go about educating overseas allies and activating international law in defense of Palestinian rights? This revelatory story speaks to the practice of local human rights organizations and their impact on international groups"-- Provided by publisher.