Abraham (Avi) Bell is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and at Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law. Bell received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Chicago, and his S.J.D. from Harvard.[1]
Bell is a widely-cited expert on property law, especially government takings of property, international law, especially the laws of war, and economic analysis of law.
In 2006, Bell criticized Human Rights Watch for its reports on the Second Lebanon War, claiming that the organization's claims "misread readers and betray ... bias," [2] and that "HRW investigation [in Srifa, Lebanon] was either professionally incompetent or a complete fabrication" and "nothing more than window dressing for predetermined anti-Israel conclusions." [3] Human Rights Watch responded by claiming that Bell "displays a curious ignorance about even the basic requirements of international humanitarian law" [4] and that Bell's claims on Srifa were "groundless[]" and "deceptive."[5] In 2010, the New Republic reported that when Human Rights Watch "issued its more comprehensive report on Lebanese fatalities a year later, the organization admitted that the first report had indeed gotten key facts wrong," vindicating Bell's criticism.[6]
Bell was formerly a visiting professor at Fordham University School of Law and the University of Connecticut School of Law.
He currently teaches property and copyright at University of San Diego School of Law.