Joe Stork (1942 or 1943 – October 23, 2024) was an American political activist who wrote on the Middle East. He became Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa at

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

Life and career

Stork gained an M.A. in International Affairs/Middle East Studies from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Joe Stork
/ref> He co-founded the Middle East Research & Information Project (MERIP) in 1971 and was chief editor of its flagship publication, the '' Middle East Report'', until 1995. Stork served as a

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

volunteer in Turkey. "He presently serves as chair of the Middle East Studies Association's Committee on Academic Freedom and sits on the advisory committees of the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...

, Foreign Policy in Focus and the Iraq Revenue Watch project of the

Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

."''

Gulf Daily News The ''Gulf Daily News'' is an English-language local newspaper published in the Kingdom of Bahrain by Dar Akhbar Al Khaleej. The paper, which is one of six daily newspapers in Bahrain, calls itself "The Voice of Bahrain". History The ''Gulf ...

'', 1 March 2004
Turkey RPCV Joe Stork is top American human rights expert
/ref> Stork joined Human Rights Watch in 1996. His involvement with MERIP and anti-Israel activism before joining HRW have made him the object of criticism. ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

'' reported that Stork was a "radical leftist" in the 1970s. According to ''Maarivs report, Stork wrote an article praising the Munich massacre and attended an anti-Zionist conference hosted by

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

in 1976. Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW, defended Stork by saying that these events took place thirty years earlier, and he later became a staunch critic of Hussein. Stork died on October 23, 2024, at the age of 81.'Immeasurable loss': HRW's Joe Stork, pioneer of Middle East rights activism, dies
/ref>

Books and other publications

*
Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians
', Human Rights Watch, 2002. * (with Joel Beinin, eds.) ''Political Islam: A Reader'', I.B. Tauris, 1996. * (with Joel Beinin, eds.) ''Political Islam: Essays from "Middle East Report"'',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 1996. * ''Middle East Oil and the Energy Crisis'',

Monthly Review Press The ''Monthly Review'' is an independent Socialism, socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. Established in 1949, the publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment ...

, 1975

References

1940s births Year of birth uncertain 2024 deaths American human rights activists Human Rights Watch people School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni American anti-Zionists {{US-activist-stub