Sari Bashi Human Rights Watch
ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW
She started with Human Rights watch in 2005. Intense and daily travel restrictions, imposed by Israel since its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, have stunted the ability of 3.4 million Palestinians to achieve education, training, and economic development, particularly in Gaza. Each year, millions of dollars invested in Palestinian development projects are wasted because of travel restrictions that prevent people from accessing them. Gisha promotes the long-term development of Palestinian society by changing Israeli policies to facilitate the free movement of people and goods necessary to invest in human and economic resources. Gisha, which in Hebrew means “access,” brings the claims and narratives of Palestinian institutions and individuals before Israeli courts (through litigation) and before Israeli public opinion (through public information), to demonstrate the common Israeli-Palestinian interest in allowing young people to develop the skills they need to build a peaceful, prosperous society.
PERSONAL BIO
Sari Bashi received a BA (summa cum laude) from Yale University and a JD from Yale Law School (J.D. 2003), where she was awarded a year-long Robert L. Bernstein Human Rights Fellowship. She is a licensed attorney in Israel and New York, and has clerked on the Israeli Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levi. Prior to studying law, Sari worked as a correspondent for the Associated Press in Jerusalem and conducted research on ethnic identity among Ethiopian immigrants to Israel as part of a Fulbright Scholarship.