Raja Shehadeh

Raja Shehadeh (b. 1951) is a Palestinian human rights lawyer, activist and writer who lives in Ramallah, in the Palestinian occupied territories. He graduated in 1973 with a degree in English literature and philosophy from the American University of Beirut; studied law in London and was called to the English Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1976. Mr. Shehadeh has practiced law in Ramallah since 1978. In 1979, he co-founded the pioneering human rights organisation Al-Haq, the Palestinian affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists which he co-directed until 1991. In the course of his legal practice, he handled and participated in a number of precedent-setting cases including the recent request to the International Court of Justice at The Hague regarding the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.


 * Founding Trustee, Center for Palestine Research and Studies
 * Winner of the 2008 Orwell Prize also see

Publications
Mr. Shehadeh also wrote several books on the legal aspects of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories including:
 * Occupiers Law, (Institute of Palestine Studies, 1985 revised 1988)
 * From Occupation to Interim Accords (Kluwer, 1997).

Novels

 * Strangers in the House (Penguin 2002)
 * When the Bulbul Stopped Singing (Profile 2004). This novel was adapted to the theatre and performed in Edinburgh, Tehran and New York."
 * Strangers in the House, Penguin, 2007.

Affiliations

 * Al-Haq