State of Palestine Welcomes Award of 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay
JERUSALEM: The State of Palestine on Friday welcomed the award of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navi Pillay. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the honour recognises her efforts to defend international law and document Israeli crimes.The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the prize for the 85-year-old jurist “in…
JERUSALEM: The State of Palestine on Friday welcomed the award of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navi Pillay. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the honour recognises her efforts to defend international law and document Israeli crimes.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the prize for the 85-year-old jurist “in recognition of her efforts to promote peace and international law.” The committee said her work in international courts and as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had significantly expanded the scope and impact of international law.
The ministry said the achievement represents the elevation of “the voice of truth and the voice of the oppressed,” and praised Pillay’s lifelong commitment to upholding law and justice for oppressed peoples worldwide, including South Africans and Palestinians. It specifically highlighted her leadership of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, which she chaired from 2021 to 2025. The commission’s 2025 report concluded that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, findings Israel has rejected. The ministry said the commission also documented sexual violence and attacks on children.
The ministry added that the prize serves as recognition for defenders of international law and encouragement for efforts to hold perpetrators of genocide and war crimes accountable. “There can be no lasting peace without justice and equality for all,” it said.
Pillay was born in Durban, South Africa, to an Indian Tamil family during apartheid and began her legal career challenging racial discrimination and defending opponents of the apartheid system. She later served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a judge of the International Criminal Court, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice.
She will receive the prize in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
