Omar M. Dajani

Omar M. Dajani is the Carol Olson Professor of International Law at McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. The descendant of Palestinian refugees from Jaffa, Omar served as a legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team in peace talks with Israel from 1999 to 2001, participating in the summits at Camp David and Taba.

Subsequently, he was a political officer in the office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and consulted on a variety of legal infrastructure development and conflict resolution processes in the Middle East and elsewhere—for institutions including the United States Department of State, the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, and the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Currently, Omar serves on the joint board of A Land for All, a movement advocating a confederal two-state solution for Israel-Palestine. He has published widely regarding law, conflict and peace building in the Middle East in academic journals (including at Yale and the University of California) and in media outlets (including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs.)

His recent book, Federalism and Decentralization in the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa (co-edited with Aslı Bâli) (Cambridge University Press, 2023) explores institutional design solutions for addressing identity conflict and governance challenges in the MENA region. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Yale Law School.