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Omar Barghouti (born 1964) is a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and of the Palestinian civil society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. He was born in Qatar, grew up in Egypt, attained his bachelor's and master's degrees at Columbia University in New York, where he worked as a research scientist for several years, and later moved to Palestine.
Education
Barghouti holds a Masters degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University. His academic publications include essays in "Controversies and Subjectivity" (John Benjamins, 2005) and "The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid" (Verso Books, 2001).
Barghouti has completed a masters degree in philosophy at Tel Aviv University.
Career
Omar Barghouti is an independent Palestinian political and cultural analyst whose opinion columns have appeared in several publications. He is also a human rights activist involved in civil struggle to end oppression and colonial conflict in Palestine.
Barghouti has consistently spoken of Israel as an apartheid state, stating: "From now on, it will be acceptable to compare Israel's apartheid system to its South African predecessor. As a consequence, proposing practical measures to punish Israeli institutions for their role in the racist and colonial policies of their state will no longer be considered beyond the pale." Also: "Characterising Israel's legalised system of discrimination as apartheid – as was done by Tutu, Jimmy Carter and even a former Israeli attorney general – does not equate Israel with South Africa. No two oppressive regimes are identical. Rather, it asserts that Israel's bestowal of rights and privileges according to ethnic and religious criteria fits the UN-adopted definition of apartheid." Barghouti advocates what he holds to be an ethical vision for a unitary, secular democratic state in historic Palestine, that is present-day Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
Criticisms
Barghouti accuses Palestinians who have engaged with Israelis in intellectual debates and artistic partnerships of being "guilty of moral blindness and political shortsightedness" and "clinically delusional or dangerously deceptive."
Publications
- Boycott, Désinvestissement, Sanctions, La Fabrique, 2010.
References
- Omar Barghouti (12 August 2010). "Besieging Israel's siege". The Guardian. London.
- http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-debate_97/against_2934.jsp
External links
- PACBI
- Boycott of Haifa University and Bar-Ilan Universities
- The PIWP database has a profile and a listing of most of Barghouti's articles.
- A Debate on Divestment with Omar Barghouti and Rabbi Arthur Waskow - video by Democracy Now!