Palestinian activist Issa Amro wins prize for peaceful resistance against Israeli occupation

Palestinian activist Issa Amro accepted on Thursday the Right Livelihood prize — considered by some an alternative Nobel — for his “nonviolent resistance to Israel’s illegal occupation” in the West Bank, the jury said.

Amro was born in the city of Hebron, a flashpoint West Bank city where roughly 1,000 Jewish settlers live under heavy Israeli military protection amid some 200,000 Palestinians.

He has dedicated his life to fighting against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

The 44-year-old founded the Youth Against Settlements group, which campaigns against the proliferation of Jewish settlements in the territory — communities widely regarded as illegal under international law.

The rights campaigner has been repeatedly detained and tortured by both the Palestinian Authority and by Israel, the foundation said.

“It’s a miracle that I still exist,” said Amro.

When Palestine Polytechnic University, where he was studying, closed in 2003 during the Second Intifada, Amro successfully led a six-month civil disobedience campaign.

“I managed to reopen the university with other students,” Amro said in a statement. “I graduated as an engineer and as an activist — it became part of my character,” he added.

Non-violent methods

The Sweden-based Right Livelihood Foundation also honoured Joan Carling, a Filipina champion of indigenous rights and Anabela Lemos, a climate activist from Mozambique.

It also gave the nod to research agency Forensic Architecture for its work in uncovering human rights violations around the world.

The foundation said the four prize winners had “each made a profound impact on their communities and the global stage”.

“Their unwavering commitment to speaking out against forces of oppression and exploitation, while strictly adhering to non-violent methods, resonates far beyond their communities,” Right Livelihood said in a statement.

Carling from the Philippines was recognised for having defended the rights of indigenous communities for three decades, particularly in their fight against mining projects.

The foundation celebrated Lemos, who heads the NGO Justica Ambiental (JA!), for her role in opposing liquefied natural gas extraction projects in northern Mozambique.

Forensic Architecture, a London-based research laboratory known for 3D modelling conflict zones, won the distinction for “pioneering digital forensic methods” to ensure accountability of human rights violations around the world.

By teaming up with Ukraine’s Center for Spatial Technologies to reconstruct Mariupol’s Drama Theatre before it was destroyed in 2022, the firm highlighted Russia’s “strategies of terror” and “attempts to obscure evidence of their own crimes”, the foundation said.

Swedish-German philatelist Jakob von Uexkull sold part of his stamp collection to found the Right Livelihood award in 1980, after the foundation behind the Nobel Prizes refused to create new distinctions honouring efforts in the fields of environment and international development.