Is International Human Rights a Lie?
Omar Shakir tells me he is a hopeful realist
This week on The Thinking Muslim, I have a candid conversation with Omar Shakir, formerly the head of Israel Palestine division at the international Human Rights NGO, Human Rights Watch. This was until he resigned in January after the leadership blocked a report critical of Israel and its activities in the West Bank.
Omar remains confident, yet a realist, about the extent to which international human rights law can hold perpetrators of abuse to account. In a world where the so-called rules-based order, or at least its façade of consistency, is rapidly being replaced by the exercise of might, any recourse to rules to counterbalance tyranny is a fool’s errand, at least in my mind.
But this is a really good interview, and I ask you to comment and tell me what you think.
With great respect for Muhammad Jalal, his commitment to human rights, I noticed the framing incorporated into many responses. He is (in my experience) not alone. This and other instances have caused me to consider the notion of "power": 1. Since 'democracy' is actually governance by "majority rule," I think we can infer that in this instance the concerns of the minority are essentially ignored, discounted. Thus, the 'majority' have "power" over the 'minority.' Thus, there are also great efforts made to become the 'majority.' Regardless of the from of governance, we can point to many examples in which "wealth" is a form of power. Power over those without equal wealth. The greater the inequality, the greater the power of those most wealthy.
This leads me to conclude that the seeking of power can legitimately be considered seeking to dominate, to have one's way. There has been, in my experience, no evidence that this seeking of power includes any consideration of the concerns of others. Regardless of the nature of the power being sought.
I wonder if we might enhance our search for a better world that we might briing into existence by examining our use of the word "power" and by our desire for power. Whether we are chanting/singing "power to the people" or discussing how an organization such as DAWN can become more "powerful."
https://www.godobjectively.com/p/human-rights-are-not-enough