Ziyad Motala

Professor of law at Howard University School of Law

About the author

Ziyad Motala is a Professor of law at Howard University School of Law and the former Director of the Comparative and International Law Program conducted at the University of Western Cape since 1995. He served as an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Western Cape School Of Law in South Africa. Prior to his teaching at Howard, he also taught at Northwestern Law School as an Adjunct Law Professor and a visiting Professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Motala is a native of Durban, South Africa, and was active in the struggle for liberation in South Africa.

Latest Posts

For many of us, Gaza was on our mind when we watched and celebrated Spain’s triumph at the World Cup.

Spain's Alvaro Morata lifts the trophy as they celebrate after victory in Euro 2024

The US attack on Venezuela and the abduction of its leader have no basis in law.

By electing Zohran Mamdani, New York voters endorsed public duty over donor loyalty and truth over silence on Gaza.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gestures as he attends a "New York is Not For Sale" rally at Forest Hills Stadium, in the Queens borough of New York City, U.S., October 26, 2025. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

US pundit’s ‘dead Gaza baby’ joke exposes the moral vacancy that defines US media on Palestine.

A woman cradles her son, eight-month-old Muhammad Bilal Abu Salah, as residents collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli air raids

The belief that the US Constitution can protect against despotism has always been an illusion.

Guards stand next to the U.S. Constitution in the newly renovated Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2003, during a media tour. Remounted in a newly refurbished rotunda at the National Archives, America's most important historical documents will soon be on display again in the nation's capital. And for the first time, all four pages of the Constitution will be on view, instead of just the first and last pages. The Archives opens to the public starting Thursday. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Framing him as a ‘defender of democracy’ simply because he endorsed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump is a moral failure.

Ziyad Motala

About the author

Latest Posts

Last night, I was Spanish, and so were millions around the world

We just witnessed power kidnapping the law

In Mamdani’s win, New York has reclaimed democracy from those who sold it

Van Jones and the moral vacancy of American commentary on Gaza

The US Constitution was not made to protect against Trump

Cheney’s policies as VP caused immense human suffering on a global scale

Ziyad Motala

About the author

Latest Posts

Content Feed

Last night, I was Spanish, and so were millions around the world

We just witnessed power kidnapping the law

In Mamdani’s win, New York has reclaimed democracy from those who sold it

Van Jones and the moral vacancy of American commentary on Gaza

The US Constitution was not made to protect against Trump

Cheney’s policies as VP caused immense human suffering on a global scale