Felicia Langer (1930 - ) is an Israeli human rights attorney known for her defense of Palestinians charged with political violations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. She has also authored numerous books alleging human rights violations on the part of Israeli occupation authorities. Her books detail widespread torture of detainees, as well as routine violation of international law prohibiting deporatation and collective punishment. In 1990 she received The Right Livelihood Award (known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) "...For the exemplary courage of her struggle for the basic rights of the Palestinian people." In 1991 Langer was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Prize for Outstanding Achievements in the Area of Human Rights. An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... The Palestinian flag, adopted in 1948, is a widely recognized modern symbol of the Palestinian people. ... When a government violates national or international law related to the protection of human rights, this is termed a human rights violation. ... Torture is any act by which severe discomfort, whether physical pain or psychological pressure, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a means of intimidation, a deterrent, revenge, a punishment, or as a method for the extraction of information or confessions (i. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...

Life

Felicia Langer was born in Poland of Jewish parents. In 1950 she emigrated to Israel with her husband, Mieciu Langer, a survivor of Nazi concentration camps. In 1965 she obtained a law degree from Hebrew University. She briefly worked for a Tel Aviv law firm, until after the Six-Day War in 1967. She was shocked by the conduct of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and so established a private practice in Jerusalem defending Palestinian political detainees. "I'm part of the other Israel," Langer has said. "I'm for justice and against all those for whom the conclusion of the holocaust is hatred, cruelty and insensitivity." She realized that with very few Palestinian attorneys familiar with the Israeli legal system, detained Palestinians were seldom able to mount a legal defense. Although she only infrequently won a case in her 23-year career, she counts as the high point her successful defense of Nablus mayor Bassam Shaka, in 1979. Shaka had been a PLO supporter and outspoken critic of of the Camp David peace accords, and was subsequently accused of inciting terrorism by his public statements and placed under an expulsion order. Shortly after this expulsion order was overturned in the Israeli Supreme Court, an Israeli terrorist group planted a bomb in his car, leaving him a double amputee. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Prior to and during World War II Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager or KZ) throughout the territory it controlled. ... The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים) is one of Israels biggest and most important institutes of higher learning and research. ... Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... Combatants Israel Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq Commanders Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan, Uzi Narkiss, Israel Tal, Ariel Sharon Abdel Hakim Amer, Abdul Munim Riad, Sharif Zaid Ibn Shaker, Hafez al-Assad Strength 50,000 troops (264,000 including mobilized reservists); 197 combat aircraft Egypt 150,000 troops; Syria 75,000; Jordan... Jerusalem (Hebrew: Yerushalayim; Arabic: al-Quds; Greek Ιεροσόλυμα; Latin Aelia Capitolina) is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ... Nāblus (sometimes Nābulus; Arabic: (help· info); IPA , Hebrew: (help· info); IPA ); ) is a major city under Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and, with a population of over 100,000, is one of the largest Palestinian population centers in the Middle East. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic Munazzamat al-Tahrir Filastiniyyah منظمة تحرير فلسطينية ) is a political and paramilitary organization of Palestinian Arabs dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state to consist of the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, with an intent to destroy Israel. ... Celebrating the signing of the Camp David Accords in the White House Rose Garden: Menachem Begin (right), Jimmy Carter (center), Anwar Sadat (left) The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations...

In 1990, Langer ended her law practice and left Israel, accepting a teaching position in a German university. In an interview with The Washington Post, Langer said "I decided that I could not be a fig leaf for this system anymore. I want my quitting to be a sort of demonstration and expression of my despair and disgust with the system... because for the Palestinians unfortunately we cannot obtain justice." In Germany she continues to author books and be an outspoken advocate of the Palestinian cause. The Washington Post is the largest and oldest newspaper in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. ...

Some books by Felicia Langer

With My Own Eyes (1975)
These Are My Brothers (1979)
An Age of Stone (1987)
Appearance and Truth in Palestine (1999)
Miecius Report. Youth between the Ghetto and Theresienstadt (1999)
Quo vadis Israel? The new Intifada of the Palestinians (2001)
Intifada (also Intefadah or Intifadah; from shaking off) is an Arabic term for uprising. It came into common usage in English as the popularised name for two recent Palestinian campaigns directed at ending the Israeli military occupation. ...

External websites

The Right Livelihood award

Al-Ahram article

The Daily Star article

Report of Langer's testimony before the World Peace Council International Inquiry Commission