Sarah Leah Whitson

Sarah Leah Whitson    ( lawyer,  activist)
Alma mater	Harvard Law School
Member of	Council on Foreign Relations/Members 3
"Whitson is a big fan of Norman Finkelstein"

Sarah Leah Whitson is an American lawyer and the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). She was previously director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.

Whitson was a classmate of Barack Obama at Harvard Law School, and served on the board of the Armenian Bar Association. According to her bio on HRW's website, "before joining Human Rights Watch, Whitson worked as an attorney in New York for Goldman Sachs and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton."

Views on Palestine

In 2005 Whitson denounced the Palestinian government after Hamas attacked civilians using "Qassam" rockets and mortar attacks. Whitson stated that "Hamas has repeatedly failed to respect a fundamental rule of international humanitarian law" and emphasised that these are unlawful attacks. Human Rights Watch also criticised the Palestinian government in 2007 when Fatah and Hamas, the two rival political factions, were accused of mistreating civilians and executing them. Human Rights Watch stated that these executions are "an extremely grave offence—in fact, a war crime" and urged both Fatah and Hamas to be responsible for civilians in their custody.

At the end of 2012, Palestinian militants were accused of launching hundreds of rockets to urban centres in Israel. Whitson condemned these attacks as "unlawful" and stated that there is "no legal justification for launching rockets at populated areas."

Also in 2012, human rights advocates Mahmud Abu Rahma and Yazan Sawafta were brutally beaten. Whitson criticised the Gaza government's inaction: "Hamas and the Palestinian Authority should not sit idly by while human rights defenders are being stabbed and beaten."

In 2013, seven Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel were executed. The public executions sparked an outcry and Whitson criticised the government of Gaza for failing to investigate the executions, stating that "Hamas's inability or unwillingness to investigate the brazen murders of seven men makes a mockery of its claims that it's upholding the rule of law in Gaza."

Whitson has persistently urged President Obama to "tackle" prevalent human rights violations by leaders in both the Palestinian Territories and Israel, emphasising that these problems "should not await a comprehensive settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

New DAWN

Having moved to DAWN as Executive Director in 2020, Whitson became more critical of Israel and its backers in the West. In 2022, she reported:

"DAWN completed its second year of operation in 2022, marked by its progress as the leading advocate for reforming US policies that support the worst governments in the Middle East and North Africa and holding accountable not just serial human rights abusers but also the US lobbyists who aid and abet them. In seeking both enforcement and reform of US laws that permit foreign influence in our government, we are working to preserve America’s democracy as well.

"DAWN also expanded its policy work this year, producing a series of analysis and recommendations to the US government, some of which we were pleased to see adopted, including an FBI investigation into the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces, and a Congressional inquiry into payments by Saudi Arabia to former Trump administration officials Jared Kushner and Steven Mnuchin.

"DAWN continued its efforts to demand justice for our slain founder, Jamal Khashoggi. While the Biden administration intervened in our lawsuit to provide immunity for Khashoggi’s murderer, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, we secured a permanent memorial for Khashoggi, successfully renaming the street in front of the Saudi Embassy in Washington 'Jamal Khashoggi Way'."

Ceasefire and Accountability

In December 2023, Whitson said "We’re fighting for a ceasefire and accountability for Israeli and US officials responsible for war crimes in Gaza."

In February 2025, DAWN posted on X:

DAWN has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute former US President Joe Biden, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin for aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Watch as DAWN's Executive Director @sarahleah1 explains why.

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References

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