THE RULE OF LAW ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Ramzi Kassem
Associate Professor, CUNY School of Law

An interview with Ramzi Kassem conducted by Gerry Albarelli on June 1, 2011, by Gabriel Daniel Solis on December 9, 2011 and July 6, 2012, and by David P. Briand on September 13, 2013 for the Columbia Center for Oral History, Rule of Law Oral History Project.

Ramzi Kassem is the director of the Immigrant and Non-Citizens Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law, through which he and his students represent individuals detained during the "war on terror," including prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Bagram, and black sites around the world such as Shaker Aamer, Ahmed Zuhair, and Amin al-Bakri. Highlights of this oral history interview include discussions of Professor Kassem's experiences growing up in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan; discrimination against Muslim, Arab, and South Asian citizens in the aftermath of 9/11; Professor Kassem's defense of his clients at military commissions and in federal courts; and the history of hunger strikes at Guantánamo. 

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