Issa Amro (left) is a Palestinian human rights activist from Hebron in the West Bank. Jeff Halper (right) a Jewish Israeli who lives in Jerusalem. “My nomination of Amro and Halper is a call to action for the international community,” said Norwegian MP Ingrid Fiskaa who sponsored the nomination. Read more.

In a bold move for global justice, Norwegian Member of Parliament Ingrid Fiskaa has nominated two longstanding Palestinian and Israeli human rights activists, Issa Amro from Hebron and Jeff Halper from Jerusalem, for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. This joint nomination comes at a time when violence, displacement, and human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian West Bank are reaching unprecedented levels.

Each year the Norwegian Nobel Committee receives several hundred nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nomination cutoff was January 25th, 2025. The Norwegian Nobel Institute registered a total of 338 candidates for the 2025 peace prize, of which 244 are individuals and 94 are organisations.

The Nobel Peace Prize is to be awarded to the person “who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

Who are Amro and Halper?

Issa Amro is the co-founder of the Hebron-based Youth Against Settlements that challenges the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements through non-violent popular struggle and civil resistance. He has been described as the “Palestinian Gandhi,” by the New York Times,

Amro has been repeatedly and arbitrarily detained, persecuted and tortured by Israeli forces. He underwent a lengthy trial in Israeli military court, widely condemned by the international community. Amnesty International has repeatedly called for an end to his persecution by Israeli military and court system.

Jeff Halper is an American-born Israeli anthropologist who has lived in Israel for more than 40 years. He is Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). As part of ICAHD’s resistance to Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes, Halper has repeatedly places himself in the path of army bulldozers, for which he has been arrested many times. In 2008, he sailed into Gaza with the Free Gaza Movement to break the Israeli siege. He is the author of numerous books presenting the political vision of a shared future in a one democratic state in which Jews, Christians and Muslims can live together equally.

“My decision to nominate Amro and Halper’s is not just a recognition of their individual efforts to advocate for human rights and a common future, it is a stark call to action for the international community,” said Norwegian Parliamentarian Fiskaa. “The situation in Palestine has reached a breaking point, and we can no longer afford to ignore the ongoing violations of international law.”

“Our nomination represents the collective resistance of the entire Palestinian people supported by Israeli Jews of conscience willing to stand up for Palestinian rights in opposition to their own government and society,” said Amro and Halper in a joint statement.

Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
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