The Long Roots of Israel's Democracy Crisis: A Conversation with Michael Sfard

Then & Now

As we transition to our fourth season of "Then & Now", this episode features renowned Israeli human rights lawyer, Michael Sfard. He offers an analysis of Israel's current crisis of democracy, including the attacks on the judicial system and Supreme Court, and a wide contextual frame that extends back to 1948 and to the founding document of the state of Israel, its Declaration of Independence. The conversation then moves to Sfard's detailed argument that Israel's control of the West Bank amounts to a legal regime of apartheid. We also discuss how Sfard understands and contends with criticism of the project of human rights as an instrument of Western colonialism. Finally, the episode concludes with a discussion of Sfard's grandfather, the Polish-born sociologist Zygumt Bauman, and the ways in which he left an imprint on his grandson.

MIchael Sfard is one of Israel's leading human rights lawyers who has frequently represented Palestinian clients at the Israeli Supreme Court. He is the author of the 2018 book The Wall and the Gate: Israel, Palestine, and the Legal Battle for Human Rights. He also wrote a legal opinion addressing Israel's control of the West Bank for the NGO Yesh Din, "The Occupation of the West Bank and the Crime of Apartheid."