For this thematic edition on occupation, the International Review of the Red Cross considered it crucial to complement the academic and military perspectives reflected in this issue with a viewpoint of someone who has lived and practised law in an occupied territory. The Review chose to interview Raja Shehadeh, a Palestinian lawyer, writer, and human rights activist who lives in Ramallah. In 1979 he co-founded Al-Haq, an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organization based in Ramallah, which is an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva. He worked with Al-Haq as co-director until 1991, when he left the organization to pursue a literary career.

Raja Shehadeh is the author of several books on international law, humanitarian law, and the Middle East, such as The West Bank and the Rule of Law (1980), Occupier's Law: Israel and the West Bank (1985 and 1988), and From Occupation to Interim Accords: Israel and the Palestinian Territories (1997). He was awarded the Orwell Prize in 2008 for his book Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape. His most recent book is Occupation Diaries.

In this interview, Raja Shehadeh gives his views on the relevance of occupation law today, as well as his personal reflections on Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the work of international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).