Shakir heading to Europe to brief governments, then will work from Jordan

A few hours before boarding a plane to Sweden, deported human rights activist Shakir vows to continue and even intensify his work to highlight what he claims are widespread human rights violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Shakir, who directs the Israel/Palestine department at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said he will spend the next few days briefing various European governments about his case, and will ultimately return to the region to continue his work. Despite his Israeli visa having been revoked he will remain in his current position, though he will be working from Amman, Jordan.

“Today marks the culmination of a multi-year effort to muzzle Human Rights Watch and to muzzle the human rights movement more broadly,” he says at a press conference in East Jerusalem’s American Colony Hotel.

— Raphael Ahren