The recipient of this year’s 18th International Hrant Dink Award is Raji Sourani, a Palestinian lawyer and human rights defender who has continued his work even under conditions in which documenting human rights violations in Gaza has become virtually impossible, and who, without bowing to threats or isolation, has defended the truth against those in power.
As I went to meet Sourani a few hours before the awards ceremony, I already had enormous respect for the work he has done and the struggle he has pursued. After meeting and talking with him, that respect was joined by admiration. At 73, Sourani possesses an inexhaustible determination to continue his struggle for Palestine and human rights. In addition to describing himself as a human rights defender, he calls himself “a romantic revolutionary who believes wholeheartedly in what he does.” When it comes to Gaza, his anger grows as he describes the genocide unfolding before the eyes of the world, the disregard for international law, and the hypocrisy on display.
Sourani represented Palestinian civilians, including children as young as 12, in military courts in the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Because of his rights advocacy, which he had pursued since the beginning of his legal career, he was arrested, spent three years in prison, and was tortured. He was arrested five more times between 1985 and 1988. Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience twice, in 1985 and 1988, because of these detentions.
“We will never give up”
Since 2015, Sourani has led a legal team representing Palestinians whose human rights have been violated. And this relentless struggle has also made him a target. After he gave a two-day special interview to Democracy Now! in October 2023, his home was bombed. Sourani survived the attack together with his family but did not yield to the threats. He joined the legal team that brought South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza before the International Court of Justice on January 11, 2024.
Despite the destruction of his office and home, being displaced repeatedly, and losing colleagues and friends, he has not abandoned his legal struggle. Raji Sourani, who has devoted himself to the Palestinian people and human rights, has now come to Istanbul—where he had previously visited but never had the opportunity to explore—this time to receive his award.
But even in Istanbul, he has little intention of taking time for himself. Rather than sightseeing around the city, he says, “I can’t stop; I have work I need to do.” Yet whenever he gets the opportunity, he continues to speak about Gaza and the struggle for rights. At every opportunity, he tells people about this injustice.
After the awards ceremony, when we encountered each other at the office, I will leave the final word to Sourani with one sentence from our brief conversation:
“We will never give up.”
First of all, congratulations. How did you feel when you learned that you had the award? Do you have any information about Hrant Dink and the Hrant Dink Foundation?
Thank you. That is very positive news. Unfortunately, I have heard a bit, not that much, about Hrant Dink and his legacy. Of course, we have to look deep into that. I think this award shows how credible, how independent the foundation is and how much they are aware of what is going on in different parts of the world. And it assures us we are doing the right thing, and we are on the right track and on the right page of history.
Of course, the issue is not me. It's the victims in Gaza and Palestine, the genocide in Gaza and Palestine, the ethnic cleansing, the apartheid, the atrocities which are going on until this moment. It's a very principled position by this fantastic organization. It is just a continuation of the legacy and the struggle of Hrant Dink, who believed in the dignity of man and justice. And of course, it is against the genocide in Palestine, as everybody should do, against the rule of jungle. So, I mean, in brief, yes, we were positively shocked, appreciated deeply the nomination and the award.
Where do you live right now?
Cairo.
When was the last time you were in Gaza?
November 30, 2023.
Could you give me some information about Gaza right now?
I can talk about the toll of almost three years of the genocide, which will coincide October 7th. But before this genocide, I have to remind that Gaza is subject to blockade since 2006. So, we have the blockade, which suffocated our socio-economical life and turned us into national beggars. We have five wars, which destroyed a lot and took a lot of lives; they targeted civilians.
Now, we have this genocide, which killed so far more than 76,000 people. Even today, I mean, we have killings. There are tens of thousands, we don't know their fate. Either they are under rubbles or forcibly disappeared in Israeli prisons. International Committee of Red Cross still didn't manage to see the prisoners and most of them haven't been visited.
“85% of Gaza has been erased”
We are talking about tens of thousands. Now, we are talking about 85% of Gaza erased. I mean you don't have houses, physical houses. Meaning 85% of population don't have home, don't have shelter. And they are in shanty tents. They were moving from one place to another. Some of them moved almost 12, 14 times. We are talking about electricity facility being bombed and erased. We are talking about water network erased. Desalination plants don't exist anymore.
We are talking about hospitals that have been attacked and destroyed. Only a small part of 39 hospitals is functional. With hundreds of doctors has been killed inside them. We are talking about patients and nurses. We are talking about famine where people are really starving. Which is one of the most chronic things. Much more painful than any other thing. We never knew famine. And this is not natural disaster. This is deliberate intention and they want to do that.
“History did not start on October 7th”
And they are not satisfied with this. They want to push the remaining people. 2.3 million people to go outside. This is evident. This is clear. This is not covert. This is not secret. We have the most documented conflict ever in history. It has been reported with legal files. History didn't begin on October 7th. Before and after October 7th we managed to alert the proper authorities. The ICC and the ICJ were very aware of what's going on. I think we are professional enough, credible enough to let them know.
Trump proposed a plan almost a year ago, as he claimed, to rebuild Gaza but not even a single bag of cement got in. The medicine, basic medicine still lacks. It is very hard to find food. They push people to the edge of survival. It means institutionalization of the genocide. You don't have hospital. You don't have university. You don't have a school. You have nothing. So, ultimately you have to think about leaving. The situation in Gaza is dire. And now or in the foreseeable future there is not any political will for this situation to change.
I am just reminding as a lawyer that the convention’s name is the convention of prevention of genocide. They are not preventing it. It has been happening for three years now. And it is going on and on.
Upon your reminding I would like to ask if you believe the justice or what kind of justice do you hope to see in Gaza, in Palestine. Do you believe that?
We are not business oriented or corrupt lawyers doing business. We are human rights fighters. We are romantic revolutionaries who believe wholeheartedly in what he does. And we paid and are paying, and ready to pay a very heavy price. As Hrant Dink did. He knew it. He would pay for it. You have to believe in the cause you are fighting for, and you have to be ready to pay the price. You cannot give up. You are representing the victims, their blood, pain, suffering women, and children. It is the easy way to say, “Well, we tried our best. We invested our best. We resorted to all ways and means. The world doesn't want to listen. I have a good conscience.” No. We cannot say that. We have to continue with our mission until we accomplish it. Dignity and justice are a very costly mission. We have to continue with it. We have no right to give up. We believe we defend just the right cause. We are in the right side of history. And we have to continue with that.
My next question is actually connected with that. Your home was bombed in October 2023 after you gave an interview. You survived with your family. Before that you were advised to leave Gaza. So, you have to face so many difficulties. What's your motivation to keep that? Are you afraid?
The moment a human rights activist begins to calculate the risk he is gone. You cannot calculate the risk. You have to eat the whole pig. Not small piece. We are doing this. I have been imprisoned, tortured, denied from travel, threatened. We have three assassinated from our team in Gaza, my personal assistant and two fantastic young lawyers, who were in these hard circumstances doing this. We are part of the people, and this is our mission. No power on earth can deter us. On the contrary, our mission is to speak the truth to power. It is irrelevant how costly this is. We cannot reward the criminals by quitting our work, by leaving our work. We have to look straight to their eyes, and tell them the truth that they are genociders, they are criminals. They should be held accountable. Irrelevant how long that will take. One year, five years, ten years…
Especially in the USA or in Europe, for example, when you say something against Israel, or support the Palestinians people, they claim you are an anti-Semitic. How do you see this?
We are credible and professional enough. We are self-confident enough. They should be afraid of what they say to us. They cannot look straight to our eyes. We are not hanky-panky people. We have local recognition. We have international recognition. I think that's enough to enable us to stand in the face of these people. When we talk to European leaders, we bang on the table and tell them, “shame on you”.
Legitimizing genocide, saying that Israeli genocide is a legal defense mean you are inciting them. You are covering them. You are giving them legal-political cover. What a shame! You see judges, prosecutors, lawyers, special rapporteurs, the most important court on earth being punished by the US, and you do nothing, you do not react...We didn't invent international law. We didn't invent international humanitarian law. We didn't invent the ICC. This is not ours. Neither is the ICJ. These are shared values.
This means the world shouldn't live with a new Holocaust, a new Armenian genocide, or a gypsy genocide, with cities, villages abolished and destroyed. No Nagasaki or Hiroshima. You have to protect civilians at the time of war. They are targeting their own civilians in the eye of the storm. And this is declared, known, and everybody sees it.
“A genocide streamed live to the world”
Look at ordinary people, how they react like the people of the flotilla in Europe, or how the people in Italy, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Turkey; and look how the governments react. It is shame. Shame on them. Three years of genocide streamed live to the whole world, and they have done nothing. Look to Ukraine, how they reacted. Occupation of Ukraine by Russia, of course, is ugly. This is evil. Ukrainians have the right of resistance, armed resistance. Free Europeans should join the forces, take arms and go help the Ukrainians. We have to sanction Russia. We have to provide Ukraine with economic aid, with military aid. This is how you deal with the occupation.
But when it comes to Israel you say Israel has the right of self-defense. Criminal belligerent occupation has the right of self-defense. Where is international law? Do you want to have the rule of jungle? This is the rule of jungle. Not the rule of war.
What do you think about the young Palestinians? They have their own resistance, but they also have a legacy. Do you consider or do you think there are differences between generations and resistance?
The most traumatized ones are the young Palestinians. I'm not saying we are not traumatized. Even myself, I mean, I'm personally traumatized. I mean my son, he's 32. He is a young lawyer. He studied in Liverpool, London University, and Geneva. He said, in the first two months, that “Gaza is the graveyard of international law”. He asked, “Should we keep believing?” He added, “You invested more than 40 years of your life in this. And now I'm doing this. I mean, do we really believe in this?” Yes, we are traumatized. We are greatly disappointed. We feel this is very selective and politicized. But we cannot give up because we are doing and saying the right thing. We are defending the shared values that humanity agrees upon. And, most importantly, you cannot reward the criminals. You have to stand, speak, and vote against power.
Do you want to add something or do you want to say something for the award?
I don't consider it something for Raji Sourani. This is for the human rights community in Palestine, for those who represent the victims, who are defending them. And it is a strong note for the world community that this shouldn't continue. It is saying genocide is going on. And these people have the right of dignity and justice. That's the importance of this award at this time. When everybody feels they are sick and tired of it. So, with the moral authority Hrant Dink has, this is deep reflection and solidarity and support beyond words.
