Noura Erakat | |
|---|---|
 Erakat in 2014 | |
| Born | Noura Saleh Erakat (1980-01-16)January 16, 1980 (age 45) |
| Occupation | Activist, attorney |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA,JD) Georgetown University (LLM) |
| Relatives | Yousef Erakat (brother) Saeb Erakat (uncle) Ahmad Erekat (cousin) |
| Website | |
| www | |
Noura Saleh Erakat (/ˈnʊərəˈsæləˈɛrəkæt/NOOR-əSAL-əERR-ə-kat;Arabic:نورة صالح عريقات,romanized: Nūra Ṣāliḥ ʿUrayqāt,Palestinian Arabic:ʿRēqāt; born(1980-01-16)January 16, 1980)[1] is aPalestinian-American activist, university professor, legal scholar, and human rights attorney.[2][3] She is currently a professor atRutgers University, specializing in international studies.[4] She is the co-founder of the online publicationJadaliyya. Her primary focus is on international law, human rights, and theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict. She is a vocalcritic of Israel[5][6][7][8] and a prominent public commentator on Palestinian legal and political issues. Erakat has authored academic articles and the book,Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine.
Noura Saleh Erakat was born on January 16, 1980, inAlameda County, California. She attended theUniversity of California, Berkeley and graduated with aBachelor of Arts degree in 2002. She was a member ofPhi Beta Kappa, and was named a UC-Berkeley Human Rights Center Summer Fellow in 2003.[9] In 2005, she received herJuris Doctor from theUC Berkeley School of Law and was awarded the Francine Diaz Memorial Scholarship Award.[10] She earned herLL.M. in National Security atGeorgetown University Law Center in 2012,[11] and her LL.M. in Legal Education upon completing the Abraham L. Freedman Teaching Fellowship atTemple University, Beasley School of Law.[12]
After law school Erakat received a New Voices Fellowship to serve as the national grassroots organizer and legal advocate with the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (now the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights).[13] From 2007 to 2009 she was Legal Counsel for the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of theU.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.[13][14] She later worked as Legal Advocacy Coordinator for the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights between 2010-2013, drafting submissions to United Nations human rights treaty bodies and lobbying U.S. and UN officials on refugee and residency issues.[13][15]
Erakat has held teaching positions at several U.S. universities, including International Studies atGeorge Mason University’s New Century College (at present theSchool of Integrative Studies) and International Human Rights Law and the Middle East atGeorgetown University.[16][15] She is Professor of Africana Studies and the Program in Criminal Justice atRutgers University–New Brunswick, where her teaching and research span humanitarian law, human rights law, national security law, and Palestinian Studies.[17][18][13] She has also held visiting and fellowship roles, including a non‑resident fellowship with the Religious Literacy Project atHarvard Divinity School and the Mahmoud Darwish Visiting Professorship in Palestinian Studies atBrown University.[15][17]
In 2010, she co-foundedJadaliyya, anonline magazine published in English, Arabic, and French, which is affiliated with the non-profit Arab Studies Institute, operating inWashington, D.C. andBeirut. She currently serves on the board of theInstitute for Policy Studies and serves as an associate professor atRutgers University,[19] is a member of the Board of Directors for the Trans-Arab Research Institute,[20] and is a policy advisor withAl-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.[21]
Erakat was said to be among three potential Palestinian American running mates for DrJill Stein, the left-wingGreen Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 2024 election.[22]
Erakat is a frequent media commentator; institutional biographies note appearances on CBS News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, BBC, NPR, and other outlets, and she has written opinion pieces for major publications includingThe Washington Post,The New York Times,The Nation and others.[13][16][23] She has provided legal and political commentary during major developments in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including Israeli annexation proposals, changes in Israeli leadership, and proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC).[23][24][25] She addressed the United Nations at the 77th Commemoration of theNakba at UN Headquarters on 15 May 2025.[26][27]
Erakat is a vocal advocate forPalestinian rights and has frequently criticized Israeli government policy, especially in the context of theGaza war. Her public statements and social media activity have drawn both support and controversy.
In May 2023, the CanadianMPPSarah Jama, a 28-year old, black, disability rights activist, came under criticism for retweeting a tweet that Noura Erakat wrote. The tweet, which the lobby groupB'nai Brith Canada described as "unacceptable", praisedKhader Adnan, a Palestinian activist and prisoner inWest Bank who died after an 87-day hunger strike in protest against Israel's use ofadministrative detention toimprison Palestinians without charge or trial and "to expose the basic injustice in Israel's military justice system and its casual denial of basic freedoms.".[28][29][30]
FollowingOctober 7 and the Gaza war, Erakat increased her criticism of Israel in a series of articles, interviews and social media posts.
Erakat has been criticized for her consistent refusal to explicitly condemn Hamas—while emphasizing Israeli responsibility. In aU.S. Committee on Education and the Workforce investigation into Rutgers University's response to antisemitism and its failure to protect Jewish students, Erakat was mentioned by Committee ChairVirginia Foxx as having a "well-documented history ofanti-Israel,antisemitic, and pro-terrorism conduct and engaging with terrorists". The committee accused Erakat of justifyingkidnapping of civilians as a "military tactic" and accusingPresident Biden of supporting "Israel's genocidal warfare."[37]
Erakat has been recognized with numerous awards for her activity and her writing.
Her bookJustice for Some received widespread critical acclaim and was a finalist for the Palestine Book Awards in 2019.[39]
In 2021, she received the Law for the People Award from theNational Lawyers Guild for her work in advancing international human rights and justice in the Palestinian context.[40]
In 2022, Erakat was named a Freedom Scholar by theMarguerite Casey Foundation and the Group Health Foundation, an honor recognizing scholars who advance social, economic, and educational justice.[41]
In March 2025 Erakat received the Amnesty International Chair Award from the University of Ghent, Belgium.[42]
She is the sister of Yousef Erakat, better known by hisYouTube moniker,FouseyTube.[43][44] She is the cousin of Ahmed Erakat, a Palestinian man who wasshot and killed by Israeli police after his vehicle rammed into one of the barriers at a military checkpoint nearAbu Dis, a village in theIsraeli-occupied West Bank, on 23 June 2020. Noura has disputed the intentionality of this act.[45]
Erakat has published two books (one as an author and the other as a co-editor), and has appeared in publications such as the Columbia Human Rights Review, the UCLA Law Review, and the Journal of Palestine Studies, as well is in numerous media publications.
The fact that he reached 86 days without food or medicine – his longest hunger strike – indicates not only his determination, but also Israeli authorities' conscious decision to avoid compromising with him even if it leads to his death… Since 1967, there've been several mass hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners in protest of harsh prison conditions. At the end of 2011, Adnan was the first to go on a personal hunger strike against his administrative detention. His strike received a tremendous amount of attention, and he was eventually released – only to be arrested again three years later, and then again in 2018 and 2021… Adnan's mission to expose the basic injustice in Israel's military justice system and its casual denial of basic freedoms… His individual strikes have been successful to some extent: His 2011-2012 individual hunger strike led to a general hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners demanding an end to administrative detentions and an improvement to deteriorating prison conditions.
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