- 18 February 2026
- 12 July 2023
Media
A Better Development Funding Model for Lebanon: Prospects, Challenges and Applicable Lessons: Middle East Institute
- 18 March 2024
Palestine
The War on Palestine and the Decline of Democracy and the Rule of Law
October 2023- December 2025
The report draws on legal proceedings in the UK, US, Germany and international courts to show how Western governments’ disregard for international law over Gaza has boomeranged inward. It has escalated the domestic suppression of civil rights, magnified the misuse of surveillance technology and the dangers of corporate capture of policy, and eroded media and academic standards. The report shows how these harms to democracy and the rule of law can still be reversed.
Published February 2026
GAZA HAS ACCELERATED A POST-LAW ECOSYSTEM INCOMPATIBLE WITH DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
We are living in a post-law ecosystem that is incompatible with democracy and human rights. That is the central finding of The War on Palestine and the Decline of Democracy and the Rule of Law. Its mapping of legal cases and credible investigations shows that the very governments and institutions whose duty is to uphold the rule of law and protect civil and human rights are instead eroding them, endangering both democracy and the international order that depend on them.
The RITE report adopts a distinctive methodology that links legal cases that are often considered in silos to map an ecosystem of governance failures. Its legal evidential basis highlights the impact and necessity of the work of litigators who have led the way in revealing the facts and seeking accountability; and amplifies civil society and media reports that document rights abuses across Europe and the US, provide evidence of Western corporate and state complicity, and evidence genocide, apartheid and occupation by Israel in Palestine.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice issued two landmark opinions: one triggered a duty to prevent genocide in Gaza, and the other reaffirmed the obligation on all nations to end Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian Territories. Instead of fulfilling their legal duties, Israel’s allies responded by intensifying or maintaining arms sales, trade and diplomatic cover. They repeated the same disregard for the law domestically. Courts in the US, UK and Germany have upheld freedom of speech, protest and boycott, rejected discrimination, and distinguished between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism. Governments have not changed policy thereby reducing these rulings into isolated wins and have misused immigration and antiterrorism laws to aid their repression.
The report shows how the Gaza playbook has set a precedent to crush legitimate dissent, as seen in the US against potentially anyone the state designates as “anti-American”. It analyses how this has been made more dangerous by under-regulated tech surveillance. Its development is based on non-consensual data gathering and flawed predictive algorithms. They have been used by Israel to accelerate hits in Palestine and consolidate occupation, and in contested law enforcement and administration in the US and Europe
Democratic erosion is compounded by a multilayered corporate capture of politics across the traditional parties. This is through weak party funding and conflict of interest rules, as well as by the economic dominance of a small number of corporate actors that are also embedded in the provision of public services. This makes it harder for voters to influence policy through voting and even for independent politicians to regulate and hold corporations accountable.
Recent election outcomes show that Gaza has become a test for the credibility and coherence of candidates that is swaying results. This trend is likely to continue given that impunity over Gaza has led to a “peace” that tramples on Palestinian rights, and new wars that are started and conducted with disregard for legality. While this is a sufficient red line for many voters, the consequences are also hitting home for those primarily concerned with domestic issues: economic growth, increasing inflation, shifting priorities away from addressing inequalities, increasing immigration pressures, and decreasing national security.
Yet, the gap between national and international court rulings and government policies remains largely unaddressed. This reflects a systematic and scandalous disregard for rights and legal frameworks by those whose duty it is to uphold them. A situation that is still not getting sufficient media, legal and parliamentary attention despite being incompatible with democracy and the rule of law.
Lebanon
RITE seeks for international funding of public projects in Lebanon and elsewhere to reach the people that they intend to help while protecting their budgets and reputations. It does this by independently monitoring projects to determine if they are achieving their objectives and providing recommendations on how they can be improved.
In 2022, RITE exposed weak donor development funding processes that enable wastage and corruption, and that are hidden behind a lack of transparency. It did this by investigating failures in donor management of development projects, focusing on sixteen EU-supported environmental waste management facilities in Lebanon. RITE’s findings led to impactful recommendations for donor risk mitigation measures that were adopted by the EU Parliament and informed the work of World Bank and UN teams in Lebanon.
Risk mitigation measures need to be implemented because, despite substantial international funding, the most basic needs of Lebanese citizens and the refugee communities that they host are not being met. There is limited access to electricity, water, sanitation, education, and health provision. This situation makes the economic development of the country impossible to achieve. Furthermore, the international community has lost confidence due to their funds being mismanaged and misspent. As a result, much needed funding is being withheld, pending reforms that are long overdue. RITE seeks to help resolve this impasse by identifying ways in which funders can achieve real change through the projects that they support.
Our work contributes to setting Lebanon on the road to better governance and greater prosperity. This is existential to all Lebanese, whatever their political and religious affiliations and income brackets. The stability of the country is also a matter of global importance, considering its geo-strategic significance. There are many other reasons for international concern. They include environmental worries over air and sea pollution around the Mediterranean; the continued crisis around the plight of Syrian refugees that make up 30% of the population; the protection of institutional budgets; and the safeguarding against reputational risks.
What We Do
RITE provides fact-based reports and recommendations for governance reforms that protect international development aims abroad and democratic accountability mechanisms at home. Its reports inform policy decisions, public interest litigation, media reporting and civil society strategy.
Investigations and Reports
Advocacy and Events
Media Coverage
Who We Are
RITE is a UK-based, not for profit, and non-partisan organisation founded in 2021. It is committed to advancing good governance and human rights in the MENA region while reinforcing democratic safeguards in the West. Its approach reflects the interconnectedness of human rights, and the fact that governance in MENA countries is affected by both internal factors and the policies and actions of Western governments and corporations.
Mona Tayara Deeley
Managing Director
Mona brings to RITE a combination of legal and media experience, having worked as a lawyer for 14 years and TV producer for 7 years. She previously founded and ran a philanthropic organisation, Zenith Foundation, promoting Anglo-Arab intercultural dialogue over 10 years.
Bilal Khalifeh
Non-Executive Director
Bilal is a Lebanese entrepreneur focusing on international digital engagement and tech having built and run successful companies in the Middle East and U.K. He has championed the rule of law including establishing in a test case in the UK courts that the UK has jurisdiction in relation to the freezing of assets of depositors by Lebanese banks. This decision was hailed as a victory for other Lebanese depositors that are in a similar situation. He holds a BA from the Lebanese American University, an MBA from the University of Liverpool, and has undertaken further studies in venture finance and management at Oxford University and Harvard Business School.
Antoun Issa
Non-Executive Director
Antoun is a journalist with expertise in Middle Eastern affairs. He is off-platform editor for Guardian Australia and is a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute. Prior to that, he worked as senior editorial manager for The Atlantic's consulting arm, Atlantic 57, in Washington DC, and spent three years in Beirut as news editor for Al-Monitor.
Youmna Fawaz
Lead Researcher in Lebanon, 2022 Reviews
Youmna is a journalist that covered key events and issues in the Middle East over a decade and championed women’s and civil rights. The documentaries and reports that she has produced and directed include Children of Marijuana (2017, Al Jazeera TV), the warring factions in Iraq since 2014, The Syrian revolution since 2012, Women In Conflict/Iraqi women (for Global Women Institute), investigations and news coverage of events in Lebanon since 2007, the Yemeni revolution (2012-2014) for Al-Jazeera TV, and presidential elections in Egypt and the United States. She has been involved in the planning and launch of media campaigns on civil rights and reforms, and in advising governmental institutions. In 2021, she joined Lebanese channel MTV as the Head of their Investigation Department. She also runs her own production company U Production & Consulting.
Julie Ramambason
Researcher, Lebanon 2022
Julie has worked in UK public sector research, evaluating projects and policies that span policing, charities, education, gender, disability, and immigration. She worked in different roles and organisations over two years, gaining experience in qualitative and quantitative research and evaluations, as well as in information governance and fundraising. She combines her work at RITE with pursuing a masters at London School of Economics in International Social and Public Policy (Development). She is a Cambridge graduate in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and has a higher education certificate from Goldsmiths University in Computer Science. She is multilingual in English, French, Arabic, Persian, German and Spanish.
Funding
RITE launched in August 2021 with funding from the Open Society Foundations and the support of other key partners such as International Media Support’s Media Bridge Programme (Denmark), The Good Lobby (Brussels), and a host of Lebanese and Diaspora civil society organisations. RITE has been operating on a voluntary basis since 2022.
UK Registered Company Number 13532257
