Michael Sfard
Encyclopedia
Michael Sfard, is a lawyer specializing in international human rights
law and the laws of war. He has served as counsel in numerous important cases on these topics in Israel
. Sfard is identified with the left and has represented many left wing and Palestinian organizations at the Israeli Supreme Court.
Zygmunt Bauman
and writer Janina Bauman on his mother's side and of poet David Sfard and Cinema Studies Professor Regina Dreyer on his father's side. His father Leon is a mathematician and his mother Anna Sfard is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Education at the University of Haifa
. His parents immigrated to Israel from Poland at the end of the 1960s, after they were involved in the University of Warsaw student rebellions against the Communist Government in 1968. His father spent time in Polish jail as a result of his involvement in the student struggle.
Sfard grew up in Jerusalem, where he studied at the Rene Cassin high school, and was a member of the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace (Ratz) youth group. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Noar Halutzi Lohem (Nahal
) Brigade (lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) as a military paramedic. Sfard was a conscientious objector and spent three weeks in military prison because of his refusal to serve in Hebron. He completed his legal studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, after which he apprenticed with Attorney Avigdor Feldman
and worked in Feldman's office for five years. During this period, he spent one year studying in London, where he completed a master's degree in International Human Rights Law. In early 2004, Sfard opened his own office in Tel Aviv
.
Sfard was a local reporter for the Jerusalem Newspaper Kol Hair, where he wrote about legal issues. Over the years, he has written many opinion pieces and has been published in professional legal journals, primarily in English. Sfard is married to Nirit Ben-Horin, a fashion designer.
and the Gaza Strip
. Sfard represents human rights organizations, Israelis and Palestinians, communities (local councils and villages), committees and individuals. His specialty is Supreme Court petitions and Sfard has filed over 100 over the course of his career.
Sfard is the legal adviser of the human rights organization Yesh Din
which deals with law enforcement on Israeli citizens and the IDF in the West Bank. Sfard is also the legal counsel of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project. Both as counsel for Yesh Din and for Peace Now Sfard led and is still leading legal campaigns for the evacuation of illegal settlements and outposts built in the occupied West Bank. Sfard has handled numerous petitions concerning the Separation Barrier. Of these, to this date, he was victorious in three, the most famous of which was the Bil'in village case. Sfard has represented many Palestinian prisoners in front of parole boards and occasionally makes appearances in military courts.
The cases which Sfard has handled include:
In this case, Sfard, together with Avigdor Feldman, petitioned against the IDF policy of Targeted Killings, in which the IDF has, without trial, initiated liquidations of citizens in the territories who are suspected of being terrorists. The Supreme Court rejected the petition and ruled that the IDF is allowed to kill terrorists, with certain qualifications.
Sfard has represented Tali – the royalties Company of the Israeli Film and Television directors and screenplay writers
, and has represented directors, script writers, and authors in copyright issues.
Sfard has represented the families of three foreign citizens who died as a result of IDF activities in the territories: the family of British photojournalist James Miller, who died in Rafah (Gaza), and the families of two activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who died during the course of their activities in separate incidents. These two cases involved Tom Hurndall, who died in Rafah, and the American Rachel Corrie, who was run over in Rafah by an IDF Caterpillar D-9.
A similar case involved the International Solidarity Movement
's (ISM) Brian Avery, who was wounded during the course of his activities in Jenin. Avery was injured by IDF soldiers in the head, and suffered from clinical facial mutilation and numerous related medical problems. Sfard represented him in his efforts to obtain a criminal investigation of the incident. In the framework of this effort a petition was presented to the Supreme Court that instructed the Military Advocate General to open an investigation, which is currently being conducted (2007).
Sfard has represented foreign workers in their efforts to obtain Israeli citizenship.
Sfard represented a number of adoptive parents in the Ethics Tribunal of the Israel Press Association in a petition against Yediot Achronot regarding an article that determined that children adopted from abroad become criminals and prostitutes at high rates as adults. Yediot Achronot was forced to publish an apology as well as the tribunal's ruling in the newspaper. The tribunal ruled that if the petition had been filed not only against the newspaper, but also against the reporters, the ruling would have barred those reporters from practicing journalism.
Sfard represented the Israeli NGO "Let Animals Live" in a petition filed against the Weizmann Institute, which sought a cessation of experiments with monkeys at the institute's neurobiology department.
, which was published in 2007 by Maariv. The book was written by Sfard and Klingberg together. The book exposed for the first time that Klinberg recruited agents for the KGB
. The recruited spies included Klinberg's wife and a scientist whose identity was not exposed in the book but according to Klingberg, was a member of a committee with a high security classification that advised the Ministry of Defense.
In 2008 Sfard published The Wall of Folly, which he wrote with Reserves Brigadier General Shaul Arieli.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
law and the laws of war. He has served as counsel in numerous important cases on these topics in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Sfard is identified with the left and has represented many left wing and Palestinian organizations at the Israeli Supreme Court.
Life and work
Michael Sfard was born in Jerusalem. He is the grandson of sociologistSociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Zygmunt Bauman
Zygmunt Bauman
Zygmunt Bauman is a Polish sociologist who, since 1971, has resided in England after being driven out of Poland by an anti-Semitic campaign, engineered by the Communist government which he had previously supported...
and writer Janina Bauman on his mother's side and of poet David Sfard and Cinema Studies Professor Regina Dreyer on his father's side. His father Leon is a mathematician and his mother Anna Sfard is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Education at the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
. His parents immigrated to Israel from Poland at the end of the 1960s, after they were involved in the University of Warsaw student rebellions against the Communist Government in 1968. His father spent time in Polish jail as a result of his involvement in the student struggle.
Sfard grew up in Jerusalem, where he studied at the Rene Cassin high school, and was a member of the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace (Ratz) youth group. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Noar Halutzi Lohem (Nahal
Nahal
Nahal is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Historically, it refers to a program that combines military service and establishment of new agricultural settlements, often in outlying areas...
) Brigade (lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) as a military paramedic. Sfard was a conscientious objector and spent three weeks in military prison because of his refusal to serve in Hebron. He completed his legal studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, after which he apprenticed with Attorney Avigdor Feldman
Avigdor Feldman
Avigdor Feldman , is an influential civil and human rights lawyer in Israel.Feldman is respected by both Palestinians and Israelis for his work as leading advocate for justice. He has appeared before the bench in many of the significant petitions presented to the Israeli High Court of Justice ...
and worked in Feldman's office for five years. During this period, he spent one year studying in London, where he completed a master's degree in International Human Rights Law. In early 2004, Sfard opened his own office in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
.
Sfard was a local reporter for the Jerusalem Newspaper Kol Hair, where he wrote about legal issues. Over the years, he has written many opinion pieces and has been published in professional legal journals, primarily in English. Sfard is married to Nirit Ben-Horin, a fashion designer.
Legal activities
Michael Sfard's legal practice focuses on human rights and military law, which are centrally relevant to the issue of Israeli rule in the West BankWest Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. Sfard represents human rights organizations, Israelis and Palestinians, communities (local councils and villages), committees and individuals. His specialty is Supreme Court petitions and Sfard has filed over 100 over the course of his career.
Sfard is the legal adviser of the human rights organization Yesh Din
Yesh Din
Yesh Din is an Israeli human rights group providing legal assistance to citizens of the Palestinian territories. Its name comes from a Hebrew phrase meaning “there is law”...
which deals with law enforcement on Israeli citizens and the IDF in the West Bank. Sfard is also the legal counsel of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project. Both as counsel for Yesh Din and for Peace Now Sfard led and is still leading legal campaigns for the evacuation of illegal settlements and outposts built in the occupied West Bank. Sfard has handled numerous petitions concerning the Separation Barrier. Of these, to this date, he was victorious in three, the most famous of which was the Bil'in village case. Sfard has represented many Palestinian prisoners in front of parole boards and occasionally makes appearances in military courts.
The cases which Sfard has handled include:
- Courage to Refuse (Ometz LeSarev) – an organization of conscientious objector reservists, Yesh Gvul (lit. There is a Limit) – the oldest conscientious objector organization, the members of the Pilot's Letter and the members of the Special Squad's Letter. Sfard has litigated petitions against IDF practices in the Occupied territoriesIsraeli-occupied territoriesThe Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...
, among them the case filed on behalf of the Public Committee Against torture in Israel against the Israeli policy of targeted killingTargeted killingTargeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
s (which he litigated together with Avigdor Feldman). - Sfard filed a petition on behalf of a group of Israeli Human Rights organizations against the IDF decision to reduce the size of the humanitarian "safety zone" during bombardments of Gaza.
- Sfard is litigating a long pending case on behalf of the Israeli human rights organization "Hamoked for the protection of the individual", against the "permit system" which governs the area between the separation fence and the green line, and which bars Palestinians from entering the zone without a permit, while enabling Israelis to move to and from the zone freely. Sfard argued that this policy has Apartheid characteristics.
- Sfard petitioned the state, on behalf of Yesh-Gvul and a group of Israeli writers and poets, for the annulment of the appointment of Dan Halutz to the position of Deputy Chief of General Staff, together with Avigdor Feldman.
- Sfard handled the case of conscientious objector David Zonshein, who refused to serve in the territories, together with Feldman.
- Sfard represented Peace Now in a petition against settlement outposts. Most notably Sfard litigated the case for the demolition of nine villages built illegally on Palestinian private land, in the outpost known as "Amona". He also litigates the case in which Peace Now demands to evacuate the flagship outpost "Migron".
- Targeted Killings Supreme Court Case
In this case, Sfard, together with Avigdor Feldman, petitioned against the IDF policy of Targeted Killings, in which the IDF has, without trial, initiated liquidations of citizens in the territories who are suspected of being terrorists. The Supreme Court rejected the petition and ruled that the IDF is allowed to kill terrorists, with certain qualifications.
Additional Cases
Sfard has represented a biology student who requested that the university exempt her from participating in animal experimentation. The case ended with a settlement that approved her exemption from the experiments.Sfard has represented Tali – the royalties Company of the Israeli Film and Television directors and screenplay writers
Tali Rights
Tali Rights is The Collecting Society of Film and Television Creators in Israel Ltd. [Hevrat HaTamlugim shel Yotzrei HaKolnoa ViHaTelevizia BiYisrael], is the copyright collective for Israeli screenwriters and directors....
, and has represented directors, script writers, and authors in copyright issues.
Sfard has represented the families of three foreign citizens who died as a result of IDF activities in the territories: the family of British photojournalist James Miller, who died in Rafah (Gaza), and the families of two activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who died during the course of their activities in separate incidents. These two cases involved Tom Hurndall, who died in Rafah, and the American Rachel Corrie, who was run over in Rafah by an IDF Caterpillar D-9.
A similar case involved the International Solidarity Movement
International Solidarity Movement
The International Solidarity Movement is an organization focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests. It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a...
's (ISM) Brian Avery, who was wounded during the course of his activities in Jenin. Avery was injured by IDF soldiers in the head, and suffered from clinical facial mutilation and numerous related medical problems. Sfard represented him in his efforts to obtain a criminal investigation of the incident. In the framework of this effort a petition was presented to the Supreme Court that instructed the Military Advocate General to open an investigation, which is currently being conducted (2007).
Sfard has represented foreign workers in their efforts to obtain Israeli citizenship.
Sfard represented a number of adoptive parents in the Ethics Tribunal of the Israel Press Association in a petition against Yediot Achronot regarding an article that determined that children adopted from abroad become criminals and prostitutes at high rates as adults. Yediot Achronot was forced to publish an apology as well as the tribunal's ruling in the newspaper. The tribunal ruled that if the petition had been filed not only against the newspaper, but also against the reporters, the ruling would have barred those reporters from practicing journalism.
Sfard represented the Israeli NGO "Let Animals Live" in a petition filed against the Weizmann Institute, which sought a cessation of experiments with monkeys at the institute's neurobiology department.
Books
Michael Sfard wrote the biography of the Soviet spy Marcus KlingbergMarcus Klingberg
Abraham Marcus Klingberg is the highest ranking Soviet spy ever caught in Israel. The case of Klingberg is regarded one of the most destructive spy scandals in the history of the State of Israel.At the beginning of World War II, fearing the Nazis, Klingberg escaped from Poland to the USSR...
, which was published in 2007 by Maariv. The book was written by Sfard and Klingberg together. The book exposed for the first time that Klinberg recruited agents for the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. The recruited spies included Klinberg's wife and a scientist whose identity was not exposed in the book but according to Klingberg, was a member of a committee with a high security classification that advised the Ministry of Defense.
In 2008 Sfard published The Wall of Folly, which he wrote with Reserves Brigadier General Shaul Arieli.
Published work
- Dov Hanin, Michael Sfard, Sharon RotbardSharon RotbardSharon Rotbard , is an Israeli architect, publisher and author, senior lecturer at the Architecture department in the Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem....
, editors, The Refusenik Trials: The Military Prosecution of Hagai Matar, Matan Kaminer, Noam Bahat Shimri Tsameret, Adam Maor. The Military Prosecution of Yonatan Ben-Artzi, Babel, 2004. - Markus Klingberg, The Last Spy, written together with Michael Sfard, Tel Aviv, Maariv Hed Artzi, 2007. Sfard wrote the autobiography of Klingberg, a spy for the Soviet Union, who Sfard represented in numerous petitions.
- Shaul Arieli and Michael Sfard, Wall of Folly, Yediot Sfarim, Tel Aviv, 2008.