Saeed al-Dahshan (Sa‘īd al-Dahshān) (سعيد طلال الدهشان) was an expert in international law who placed his faith in the international legal system as key to the achievement of Palestinian rights and liberation. He was a public intellectual who taught at the Islamic University, authored a number of books and articles addressing strategies for attaining Palestinian human rights and self-determination through the international legal system, and maintained an active presence at academic conferences and workshops.

Dr. al-Dahshan was born on 17 March 1972 in Gaza City. He completed his primary and secondary education in schools there and obtained his high school diploma in 1990. He graduated with an MA degree in human rights from Janan University in Lebanon in 2012, and a PhD in human rights from the same university in 2016. He earned a second doctorate in international law from the University of Islamic Sciences (USIM) in Malaysia in 2019. Dr. al-Dahshan worked as a librarian at the Holst Cultural Center in Gaza City from 1998 to 2002, as a lecturer at the Community College of Professional Sciences at the Islamic University of Gaza from 2002 to 2007, and as Director General at the Office of the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009.

He was a prolific writer, author of many books and articles in his field, including a book entitled How to Sue Israel: International Suits Against Israel and Its Leaders Over Their Crimes Against Palestinians (Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, 2018). In the course of 335 pages, this work in Arabic provided a judicial roadmap for Palestinian, Arab, Islamic, and international parties to prosecute Israel and its leaders for their crimes against Palestinians and included practical examples of prosecutions and case studies drawn from elsewhere. His other studies and articles covered topics such as the legal implications of recognizing Palestine as a state, legal obstacles to the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the impact that Palestine’s membership in the ICC had on Israeli attacks on Gaza. He also contributed to local and international newspapers and magazines, and participated in televised interventions, seminars, and dialogues related to international law and the Palestinian issue.

(Book by al-Dahshan: How to Sue Israel)

On the morning of Monday, 11 October 2023, Israeli planes bombed the al-Dahshan family house located in the al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. Dr. al-Dahshan, age 51, his wife Maha Ahmad Saleh, age 41, his son Talal Saeed, age 22, and his mother Hooriyah Ibrahim Muhammad al-Dahshan, age 73, were killed in the airstrike along with some ten other close family members. Dr. al-Dahshan’s friend, Mohammed Makram Balawi, mourning him, was moved to remark that the system of international law in which Dr. al-Dahshan had put so much hope and trust had ultimately failed him and his family. 

Photo credits: IPS; eng.alzaytouna