Leah Tsemel

Leah Tsemel, or Lea Tsemel (; born 19 June 1945) is an Israeli lawyer known for her work in support of Palestinian rights. She defines her career as one involving “everything [that occurs] between the Palestinians and the authorities".

Biography

Tsemel was born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine in 1945. She studied law at Hebrew University in the late 1960s. She is married to anti-Zionist activist Michel Warschawski, and they have two children, Nissan and Talila and seven grandchildren.

Legal work

In 1971, Tsemel became an apprentice to human rights lawyer Felicia Langer. An Israeli settler claimed Nawi hindered the settler from filming Nawi's assistance of Palestinians, and Nawi was convicted and fined. She advised Hamouri to plead guilty to the latter in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Activism

Tsemel criticized Camp 1391, an Israel Defense Forces prison camp for high-risk prisoners in northern Israel, stating, "anyone entering the prison can be made to disappear, potentially forever, it's no different from the jails run by tinpot South American dictators." Tsemel was a participant in the Russell Tribunal on Palestine.

She was a candidate for the Joint List in the 2015 general election.

Tsemel’s career as an Israeli human-rights lawyer defending Palestinians is the subject of the 2019 documentary, Advocate, directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaïche.

Awards

Tsemel, together with Palestinian lawyer Raji Sourani, received the 1996 "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" award, the highest human rights award granted by the government of France. Tsemel, together with Palestinian advocate Mohammad Na'amneh, received the 2004 Hans Litten prize from the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights.