Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Alaa Hussein Al-Sakafi was born in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City on October 2, 1972. He is married and has three sons and a daughter. He completed his primary and preparatory education at Hattin School (currently Al-Astal) and Al-Furat Schools. He graduated from Mu'in Bseiso High School in 1990 and earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Faculty of Law at Al-Azhar University in 2006. He was licensed to practice law by the Bar Association in 2009. He worked as a lawyer at Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights between 2009 and 2019, then as the coordinator of the legal unit at Al-Dameer Association in 2020. He has been the executive director of Al-Dameer Center for Human Rights since 2021.
Alaa was influenced by his father, who was a member of the Arab Nationalist Movement and was active in union work; he was a member of the board of directors of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (2020-2022), a member of the Coalition for the Right to Form Associations, a member of the Coordination of the Network of NGOs (2021-2023), and a member of the Palestinian Bar Association since 2008.
He published several scientific papers and participated in scientific conferences in the field of human rights issues, prisoners and the humanitarian role towards them. He also won second place in the competition for the best human rights article organized by Ma’an News Agency and Al-Haq in 2013. In addition, he was hosted on visual and audio media to talk about human rights issues and follow up on the issues of prisoners and detainees in prisons.
Alaa describes the Oslo Accords as a dagger in the path of the Palestinian struggle and its just cause. He believes that the settlement process has led to a decline in the cause on all levels. He also rejects the existence of a government or political system under occupation. However, in light of the current reality, he believes that there is no harm in having a national government that includes all segments of society and its factions, provided that this is under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate representative of the people, with the necessity of reforming and amending it and distributing powers and responsibilities to all its formations.
He believes that the Palestinian issue can only be resolved through the complete liberation of all of historical Palestine, and he rejects so-called interim solutions. He also believes that the return of refugees must be complete, with compensation for the years of displacement. He considers what happened in the Arab countries to have been a revolution and a spring, but one that was aborted by Israel and America, thus preventing Arab youth from enjoying their rights. He believes that the Palestinian political system, in a legal and rights-based sense, is not yet mature enough to be a fully functioning political system. He considers it one of the pillars of a sovereign state, while Palestine does not enjoy sovereignty because it is under occupation. He describes the conspiracies and settlement projects as unjust, concocted by regional powers, and asserts that the Palestinian people's participation in these illegitimate conspiracies and settlements will not subdue them. The Palestinian people's resolve, will, and awareness will thwart these projects, and they continue to sacrifice blood and lives to confront and defeat these conspiracies.
Alaa and his family were subjected to harassment by the occupation; their house was repeatedly raided during the First Intifada in 1987, and three of his brothers and his father were arrested. During his imprisonment, his father was tortured and hospitalized for four months.
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Achievements and Awards
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