Pillay learned she\u2019d won while attending an international law gathering in Nuremberg, Germany. Her response to the applause? \u201cIf you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.\u201d Apparently a lifetime of human rights work also leaves plenty of time to perfect your comedic timing.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s response was considerably less gracious. According to Forbes<\/a>, the president reposted a Truth Social message declaring that the Nobel Committee had \u201cshamed itself beyond repair,\u201d calling Pillay an \u201cunabashed hater of America and Israel.\u201d The message also attacked the legitimacy of her commission\u2019s Gaza investigation and promoted Trump\u2019s diplomatic record, including the Abraham Accords and his efforts concerning Russia, Ukraine, and Iran. Nothing says commitment to peace quite like amplifying an attack on the person who won your coveted award.<\/p>\n The Nobel Committee, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of international law at a time when legal institutions face mounting attacks. Honoring a former ICC judge makes that message particularly pointed. Here\u2019s more from NBC News:<\/p>\n \u201cNavi Pillay is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time,\u201d said J\u00f8rgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.<\/p>\n Using the award to make a wider point about geopolitics, Frydnes contrasted Pillay\u2019s work with the wider international \u201cshift towards power politics,\u201d<\/a> in which \u201cinternational law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack.\u201d<\/p>\n Her \u201cdistinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law,\u201d he said. \u201cNavi Pillay\u2019s commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Pillay\u2019s own reaction included a distinctly lawyerly instinct: She wanted to verify that she\u2019d actually won. \u201cBeing a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this information,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Navi Pillay wanted to check the facts. Donald Trump shared a post attacking the committee. Congratulations to the lawyer who understood the assignment.<\/p>\n Navi Pillay, who led U.N. panel that found Israel committed genocide in Gaza, wins Nobel Peace Prize<\/a> [NBC News]<\/p>\n Nobel Committee \u2018Shamed Itself Beyond Repair\u2019 By Snubbing Trump, He Says In Truth Social Repost<\/a> [Forbes]<\/p>\n Staci Zaretsky<\/a> is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky<\/a>, X\/Twitter<\/a>, and Threads<\/a>, or connect with her on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \n The post Human Rights Lawyer Wins Nobel Peace Prize, Offers Trump A Consolation Roast<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Donald Trump wanted a Nobel Peace Prize. Instead, the honor went to a lawyer who has spent decades defending international law. Naturally, he\u2019s taking the loss as well as could be expected.<\/p>\n As reported by NBC News<\/a>, South African jurist Navanethem \u201cNavi\u201d Pillay won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The 85-year-old\u2019s career includes defending Nelson Mandela, serving as an International Criminal Court judge, and leading the United Nations commission that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n Pillay learned she\u2019d won while attending an international law gathering in Nuremberg, Germany. Her response to the applause? \u201cIf you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.\u201d Apparently a lifetime of human rights work also leaves plenty of time to perfect your comedic timing.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s response was considerably less gracious. According to Forbes<\/a>, the president reposted a Truth Social message declaring that the Nobel Committee had \u201cshamed itself beyond repair,\u201d calling Pillay an \u201cunabashed hater of America and Israel.\u201d The message also attacked the legitimacy of her commission\u2019s Gaza investigation and promoted Trump\u2019s diplomatic record, including the Abraham Accords and his efforts concerning Russia, Ukraine, and Iran. Nothing says commitment to peace quite like amplifying an attack on the person who won your coveted award.<\/p>\n The Nobel Committee, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of international law at a time when legal institutions face mounting attacks. Honoring a former ICC judge makes that message particularly pointed. Here\u2019s more from NBC News:<\/p>\n \u201cNavi Pillay is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time,\u201d said J\u00f8rgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.<\/p>\n Using the award to make a wider point about geopolitics, Frydnes contrasted Pillay\u2019s work with the wider international \u201cshift towards power politics,\u201d<\/a> in which \u201cinternational law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack.\u201d<\/p>\n Her \u201cdistinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law,\u201d he said. \u201cNavi Pillay\u2019s commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Pillay\u2019s own reaction included a distinctly lawyerly instinct: She wanted to verify that she\u2019d actually won. \u201cBeing a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this information,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Navi Pillay wanted to check the facts. Donald Trump shared a post attacking the committee. Congratulations to the lawyer who understood the assignment.<\/p>\n Navi Pillay, who led U.N. panel that found Israel committed genocide in Gaza, wins Nobel Peace Prize<\/a> [NBC News]<\/p>\n Nobel Committee \u2018Shamed Itself Beyond Repair\u2019 By Snubbing Trump, He Says In Truth Social Repost<\/a> [Forbes]<\/p>\n Staci Zaretsky<\/a> is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky<\/a>, X\/Twitter<\/a>, and Threads<\/a>, or connect with her on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \n The post Human Rights Lawyer Wins Nobel Peace Prize, Offers Trump A Consolation Roast<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Donald Trump wanted a Nobel Peace Prize. Instead, the honor went to a lawyer who has spent decades defending international law. Naturally, he\u2019s taking the loss as well as could be expected. As reported by NBC News, South African jurist Navanethem \u201cNavi\u201d Pillay won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The 85-year-old\u2019s career includes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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