6 nov 2019
The Israeli high court of justice on Tuesday approved the government’s decision to deport the local director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) for allegedly supporting a boycott movement known as BDS.
Omar Shaker, a US citizen, was given 20 days to leave Israel and the Palestinian territories or he would face deportation, his lawyer said.
Shaker wrote on Twitter that if he was banished, Israel would join the ranks of Iran, North Korea and Egypt in blocking access to Human Rights Watch staff. “We won’t stop. And we won’t be the last,” he said.
HRW called the Israeli government’s attempts to deport Shaker, which have been going on for more than a year, a sign that Israel was seeking to suppress criticism.
“The supreme court has effectively declared that free expression in Israel does not include completely mainstream advocacy for Palestinian rights,” said Kenneth Roth, the group’s executive director.
Shaker will be removed under a contentious 2017 law that allows the government to block entry to people who support a boycott of Israel or Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The measure was designed to criminalize the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Rights groups say it tramples on free speech as the law has been deployed against critics and activists.
In its most high-profile use, Israel blocked in August two US congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, from a planned trip to Palestine and Jerusalem.
Omar Shaker, a US citizen, was given 20 days to leave Israel and the Palestinian territories or he would face deportation, his lawyer said.
Shaker wrote on Twitter that if he was banished, Israel would join the ranks of Iran, North Korea and Egypt in blocking access to Human Rights Watch staff. “We won’t stop. And we won’t be the last,” he said.
HRW called the Israeli government’s attempts to deport Shaker, which have been going on for more than a year, a sign that Israel was seeking to suppress criticism.
“The supreme court has effectively declared that free expression in Israel does not include completely mainstream advocacy for Palestinian rights,” said Kenneth Roth, the group’s executive director.
Shaker will be removed under a contentious 2017 law that allows the government to block entry to people who support a boycott of Israel or Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The measure was designed to criminalize the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Rights groups say it tramples on free speech as the law has been deployed against critics and activists.
In its most high-profile use, Israel blocked in August two US congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, from a planned trip to Palestine and Jerusalem.
Human Rights Watch/ Jerusalem/
The Israeli Supreme Court on November 5, 2019 upheld the Israeli government’s authority to deport Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch. The decision now shifts back to the Israeli government; if it proceeds with deportation, Shakir will have to leave Israel by November 25.
Human Rights Watch has been calling on businesses to stop operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of their duty to avoid complicity in human rights abuses. However, even though Human Rights Watch calls on businesses to comply with this duty in many other countries as well, the court found that applying this principle to ensure respect for Palestinians’ rights constitutes a call for boycott, based on a broad reading of a 2017 law that bars entry to people who advocate a boycott of Israel or its West Bank settlements.
“The Supreme Court has effectively declared that free expression in Israel does not include completely mainstream advocacy for Palestinian rights,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “If the government now deports Human Rights Watch’s researcher for asking businesses to respect rights as we do across the world, there’s no telling whom it will throw out next.”
The ruling [pdf] exhausts the ordinary legal appeals available to Human Rights Watch. However, given the ruling’s far-ranging implications for freedom of expression and for the ability of other advocacy organizations to work in Israel, Human Rights Watch may seek a hearing before an expanded panel of Supreme Court judges. Regardless of the court’s ruling, the decision whether to actually force Shakir to leave the country rests with the Israeli government.
The court based its ruling on a determination that Shakir had advocated a boycott of Israel not only in the distant past but also after he joined Human Rights Watch, which the organization vigorously contested. While employed by Human Rights Watch, Shakir never deviated from the policies and positions of the organization, which does not advocate a boycott of Israel but urges businesses to fulfill their human rights responsibilities by ending ties with illegal West Bank settlements.
According to the court, the Israeli government may, under the law, ban entry to those who call for boycotting West Bank settlements because such a call entails opposition to a general policy of the government of Israel regarding an area under its control and thus, the court held, “expresses negation of the legitimacy of the state” – even if settlements are widely viewed as illegal under international law.
The court also held that a call on businesses to refrain from activities in settlements constitutes a call for boycott under the law even if it is motivated by respect for international human rights and humanitarian law.
The court distinguished Human Rights Watch from Shakir by noting that the organization devoted only a small percentage of its time to Israel, while Shakir devoted all of his time to Israel and Palestine. By that logic, any foreign national whose professional role was to urge businesses to avoid complicity in human rights violations by ending ties with settlements would run afoul of the court’s ruling.
The court did not address Human Rights Watch’s challenge to the constitutionality of the 2017 amendment.
The court also rejected a request to pause proceedings until a new Israeli government has been formed following the September 17,2019 elections and could consider whether to proceed with seeking deportation.
Former senior Israeli diplomats had joined Human Rights Watch’s appeal, as did Amnesty International, which raised concern about the “wider chilling effect” on other human rights groups and the “increasing risk to their ability to continue operating in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Many others have criticized the deportation order, including 27 European states in a joint statement, 17 members of the United States Congress, the United Nations secretary general, 3 UN human rights special rapporteurs, and numerous independent groups and academic associations.
Neither Human Rights Watch nor Shakir as its representative has ever called for a boycott of Israel. As part of its global campaign to ensure that businesses uphold their human rights responsibilities to avoid contributing to abuses, Human Rights Watch has urged companies to stop working in or with settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international humanitarian law. The organization has never called for a consumer boycott of those companies.
Recently, Israeli authorities have denied entry to a number of other international rights advocates, maligned Israeli rights advocates, imposed burdensome financial reporting requirements on them, and raided the offices of, and arrested, Palestinian rights defenders. In October, Israeli authorities prevented an Amnesty International staff member from traveling out of the Occupied West Bank for undisclosed “security reasons.”
The Supreme Court ruling upholds an April Jerusalem District Court decision that found legally valid the May 7, 2018 explusion order by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri against Shakir. This is the first time the government has used the 2017 law to try to deport someone who is lawfully inside the country and the first time Israel has ordered a Human Rights Watch staff member to leave Israel since the organization began monitoring events on the ground three decades ago.
Deri said in his May 2018 order that the decision “does not constitute a principled or sweeping refusal for the organization to employ a foreign expert,” and noted that “no information has surfaced” regarding Shakir promoting boycotts during his time at Human Rights Watch. Yet in court, the government stated that it considers the work of Human Rights Watch itself to constitute boycott activity.
Human Rights Watch is an independent, international, nongovernmental organization that promotes respect for international human rights and humanitarian law. It monitors rights violations in 100 counties across the world, including all 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Headquartered in New York City, Human Rights Watch has registered offices in 24 countries around the world, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia in the region. Human Rights Watch shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
To accomplish its mission, Human Rights Watch relies on professional researchers on the ground. They regularly engage with government officials as well as with others with first-hand information. Human Rights Watch maintains direct access to the vast majority of countries it reports on. Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Sudan, and Venezuela are among the handful of countries that have blocked access for Human Rights Watch staff members.
As part of its mandate, Human Rights Watch conducts research and advocacy that exposes and challenges violations by all actors in the region, including the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas authorities in Gaza. In 2019, in addition to documenting abuses by Israeli forces, Human Rights Watch published research on systematic arbitrary arrests and torture of critics and opponents by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, and on unlawful rocket attacks by armed Palestinian groups.
The Israeli court’s decision marks the culmination of a multi-year effort to muzzle Human Rights Watch. In February 2017, the Interior Ministry denied Human Rights Watch a permit to hire a foreign employee, before reversing course and issuing the permit two months later. Shakir obtained his work visa under this permit in April 2017, but the government revoked it in May 2018 and ordered Shakir deported. Human Rights Watch filed suit that month to challenge that order.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision puts the imprimatur of Israeli law on the Netanyahu government’s efforts to censor mainstream, legitimate human rights advocacy,” Roth said. “Despite the Israeli government’s effort to silence the messenger rather than change its illegal conduct, Human Rights Watch will continue to document human rights abuses by all parties in Israel and Palestine.”
The Israeli Supreme Court on November 5, 2019 upheld the Israeli government’s authority to deport Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch. The decision now shifts back to the Israeli government; if it proceeds with deportation, Shakir will have to leave Israel by November 25.
Human Rights Watch has been calling on businesses to stop operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of their duty to avoid complicity in human rights abuses. However, even though Human Rights Watch calls on businesses to comply with this duty in many other countries as well, the court found that applying this principle to ensure respect for Palestinians’ rights constitutes a call for boycott, based on a broad reading of a 2017 law that bars entry to people who advocate a boycott of Israel or its West Bank settlements.
“The Supreme Court has effectively declared that free expression in Israel does not include completely mainstream advocacy for Palestinian rights,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “If the government now deports Human Rights Watch’s researcher for asking businesses to respect rights as we do across the world, there’s no telling whom it will throw out next.”
The ruling [pdf] exhausts the ordinary legal appeals available to Human Rights Watch. However, given the ruling’s far-ranging implications for freedom of expression and for the ability of other advocacy organizations to work in Israel, Human Rights Watch may seek a hearing before an expanded panel of Supreme Court judges. Regardless of the court’s ruling, the decision whether to actually force Shakir to leave the country rests with the Israeli government.
The court based its ruling on a determination that Shakir had advocated a boycott of Israel not only in the distant past but also after he joined Human Rights Watch, which the organization vigorously contested. While employed by Human Rights Watch, Shakir never deviated from the policies and positions of the organization, which does not advocate a boycott of Israel but urges businesses to fulfill their human rights responsibilities by ending ties with illegal West Bank settlements.
According to the court, the Israeli government may, under the law, ban entry to those who call for boycotting West Bank settlements because such a call entails opposition to a general policy of the government of Israel regarding an area under its control and thus, the court held, “expresses negation of the legitimacy of the state” – even if settlements are widely viewed as illegal under international law.
The court also held that a call on businesses to refrain from activities in settlements constitutes a call for boycott under the law even if it is motivated by respect for international human rights and humanitarian law.
The court distinguished Human Rights Watch from Shakir by noting that the organization devoted only a small percentage of its time to Israel, while Shakir devoted all of his time to Israel and Palestine. By that logic, any foreign national whose professional role was to urge businesses to avoid complicity in human rights violations by ending ties with settlements would run afoul of the court’s ruling.
The court did not address Human Rights Watch’s challenge to the constitutionality of the 2017 amendment.
The court also rejected a request to pause proceedings until a new Israeli government has been formed following the September 17,2019 elections and could consider whether to proceed with seeking deportation.
Former senior Israeli diplomats had joined Human Rights Watch’s appeal, as did Amnesty International, which raised concern about the “wider chilling effect” on other human rights groups and the “increasing risk to their ability to continue operating in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Many others have criticized the deportation order, including 27 European states in a joint statement, 17 members of the United States Congress, the United Nations secretary general, 3 UN human rights special rapporteurs, and numerous independent groups and academic associations.
Neither Human Rights Watch nor Shakir as its representative has ever called for a boycott of Israel. As part of its global campaign to ensure that businesses uphold their human rights responsibilities to avoid contributing to abuses, Human Rights Watch has urged companies to stop working in or with settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international humanitarian law. The organization has never called for a consumer boycott of those companies.
Recently, Israeli authorities have denied entry to a number of other international rights advocates, maligned Israeli rights advocates, imposed burdensome financial reporting requirements on them, and raided the offices of, and arrested, Palestinian rights defenders. In October, Israeli authorities prevented an Amnesty International staff member from traveling out of the Occupied West Bank for undisclosed “security reasons.”
The Supreme Court ruling upholds an April Jerusalem District Court decision that found legally valid the May 7, 2018 explusion order by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri against Shakir. This is the first time the government has used the 2017 law to try to deport someone who is lawfully inside the country and the first time Israel has ordered a Human Rights Watch staff member to leave Israel since the organization began monitoring events on the ground three decades ago.
Deri said in his May 2018 order that the decision “does not constitute a principled or sweeping refusal for the organization to employ a foreign expert,” and noted that “no information has surfaced” regarding Shakir promoting boycotts during his time at Human Rights Watch. Yet in court, the government stated that it considers the work of Human Rights Watch itself to constitute boycott activity.
Human Rights Watch is an independent, international, nongovernmental organization that promotes respect for international human rights and humanitarian law. It monitors rights violations in 100 counties across the world, including all 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Headquartered in New York City, Human Rights Watch has registered offices in 24 countries around the world, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia in the region. Human Rights Watch shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
To accomplish its mission, Human Rights Watch relies on professional researchers on the ground. They regularly engage with government officials as well as with others with first-hand information. Human Rights Watch maintains direct access to the vast majority of countries it reports on. Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Sudan, and Venezuela are among the handful of countries that have blocked access for Human Rights Watch staff members.
As part of its mandate, Human Rights Watch conducts research and advocacy that exposes and challenges violations by all actors in the region, including the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas authorities in Gaza. In 2019, in addition to documenting abuses by Israeli forces, Human Rights Watch published research on systematic arbitrary arrests and torture of critics and opponents by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, and on unlawful rocket attacks by armed Palestinian groups.
The Israeli court’s decision marks the culmination of a multi-year effort to muzzle Human Rights Watch. In February 2017, the Interior Ministry denied Human Rights Watch a permit to hire a foreign employee, before reversing course and issuing the permit two months later. Shakir obtained his work visa under this permit in April 2017, but the government revoked it in May 2018 and ordered Shakir deported. Human Rights Watch filed suit that month to challenge that order.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision puts the imprimatur of Israeli law on the Netanyahu government’s efforts to censor mainstream, legitimate human rights advocacy,” Roth said. “Despite the Israeli government’s effort to silence the messenger rather than change its illegal conduct, Human Rights Watch will continue to document human rights abuses by all parties in Israel and Palestine.”
By: Madeeha Araj/ NBPRS/
The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said in its latest weekly report , that the Israeli right-wing Government and the extremist settlers continue their policies to undermine the two-state solution, and confiscate more lands to build new settlement housing units in the occupied West Bank, where the so-called “Supreme Planning Council” affiliated to the Israeli Civil Administration approved on Oct. 10th the construction of 2342 new housing units, bringing the number of settlement units planned by the Netanyahu government to 8,337 units, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the year 2018.
Among the settlements that the Occupation Authorities intend to expand is the “Bracha settlement” that is adjacent to the city of Nablus from the south, where 207 settlement units will be built there, the “Dolev settlement” built on the lands of the Jniya village, where 382 settlement units, and “Mofot settlement,” where 182 housing units will be built, too.
Under the pretext of the construction of the wall that Israel has begun to build in June 2002 in the Jenin Governorate in the West Bank, the Israeli army has also announced new confiscation orders for hundreds of dunums in Jenin and Tulkarem Governorates for the construction of the annexation and separation wall, where the Israeli Occupation Authorities have handed over orders of confiscating of 409 dunums of the lands of the towns of Ya’bad, Barta’a, Tora, Waifeen, Al-Arqah, Zebda, Nazlet Zaid and Sahr-Abed in Jenin, and they also informed of the seizure of 3,000 dunams of land east of Yatta south of Hebron, extending from Khirbet Menzel, to the Arabs of the Jahalin on the outskirts of the Dead Sea.
On the other hand, the Israeli Minister of Transportation, Smutrich began implementing his plan to build new streets and activate trains and public transport regularly with the aim of contributing to the imposition of sovereignty on these areas. A total of NIS one billion has been allocated for the tunnel plan between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. And soon a bypass road around the Al-Aroub Camp north of Hebron will be opened at a cost of NIS 800,000,000.
Moreover, the Israeli Government has opened with the presence of the mayor of Jerusalem and the chief rabbis of Israel, the first underground cemetery in the occupied Jerusalem, it is the first of such in the world. The project includes the construction of about 24,000 graves at a depth of 50 meters underground, in the first phase, about 8,000 burial graves expected to be available for burial at the end of 2019.
The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said in its latest weekly report , that the Israeli right-wing Government and the extremist settlers continue their policies to undermine the two-state solution, and confiscate more lands to build new settlement housing units in the occupied West Bank, where the so-called “Supreme Planning Council” affiliated to the Israeli Civil Administration approved on Oct. 10th the construction of 2342 new housing units, bringing the number of settlement units planned by the Netanyahu government to 8,337 units, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the year 2018.
Among the settlements that the Occupation Authorities intend to expand is the “Bracha settlement” that is adjacent to the city of Nablus from the south, where 207 settlement units will be built there, the “Dolev settlement” built on the lands of the Jniya village, where 382 settlement units, and “Mofot settlement,” where 182 housing units will be built, too.
Under the pretext of the construction of the wall that Israel has begun to build in June 2002 in the Jenin Governorate in the West Bank, the Israeli army has also announced new confiscation orders for hundreds of dunums in Jenin and Tulkarem Governorates for the construction of the annexation and separation wall, where the Israeli Occupation Authorities have handed over orders of confiscating of 409 dunums of the lands of the towns of Ya’bad, Barta’a, Tora, Waifeen, Al-Arqah, Zebda, Nazlet Zaid and Sahr-Abed in Jenin, and they also informed of the seizure of 3,000 dunams of land east of Yatta south of Hebron, extending from Khirbet Menzel, to the Arabs of the Jahalin on the outskirts of the Dead Sea.
On the other hand, the Israeli Minister of Transportation, Smutrich began implementing his plan to build new streets and activate trains and public transport regularly with the aim of contributing to the imposition of sovereignty on these areas. A total of NIS one billion has been allocated for the tunnel plan between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. And soon a bypass road around the Al-Aroub Camp north of Hebron will be opened at a cost of NIS 800,000,000.
Moreover, the Israeli Government has opened with the presence of the mayor of Jerusalem and the chief rabbis of Israel, the first underground cemetery in the occupied Jerusalem, it is the first of such in the world. The project includes the construction of about 24,000 graves at a depth of 50 meters underground, in the first phase, about 8,000 burial graves expected to be available for burial at the end of 2019.
5 nov 2019
The European Union (EU), on Tuesday, denounced Israeli plans to build thousands of new housing units as well as opening settlement roads in the occupied West Bank and stressed that all settlement activities are illegal under international law.
“In October 2019, Israeli authorities approved the advancement of well over 2,000 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank,” said an EU spokesperson in a statement.
“The European Union’s position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear and remains unchanged: all settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace, as reaffirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2334.”
The spokesperson also stressed that construction of separate roads for settlers and Palestinians entrenches fragmentation of the West Bank.
“Israeli authorities also approved a building permit for the construction of a new tunnel road, which bypasses Bethlehem to the west. The progressive construction of a separate road network, connecting settlements and outposts to each other and to the road network in Israel while circumventing Palestinian towns and communities, is entrenching the fragmentation of the West Bank.”
The EU called on Israel “to end all settlement activity, in line with its obligations as an occupying power.”
It said that it “will continue to support a resumption of a meaningful process towards a negotiated two-state solution, the only realistic and viable way to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of both parties.”
“In October 2019, Israeli authorities approved the advancement of well over 2,000 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank,” said an EU spokesperson in a statement.
“The European Union’s position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear and remains unchanged: all settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace, as reaffirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2334.”
The spokesperson also stressed that construction of separate roads for settlers and Palestinians entrenches fragmentation of the West Bank.
“Israeli authorities also approved a building permit for the construction of a new tunnel road, which bypasses Bethlehem to the west. The progressive construction of a separate road network, connecting settlements and outposts to each other and to the road network in Israel while circumventing Palestinian towns and communities, is entrenching the fragmentation of the West Bank.”
The EU called on Israel “to end all settlement activity, in line with its obligations as an occupying power.”
It said that it “will continue to support a resumption of a meaningful process towards a negotiated two-state solution, the only realistic and viable way to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of both parties.”
The Israeli Supreme Court, Tuesday, upheld deportation orders against Human Rights Watch (HRW) director Omar Shakir for the occupied Palestinian territory for his alleged support of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.
“Breaking: Israeli Supreme Court upholds my deportation over my rights advocacy,” said Shakir in a tweet. “Decision now shifts back to Israeli government; if it proceeds, I have 20 days to leave and it’ll join ranks of Iran, North Korea and Egypt in blocking access for HRW official. We won’t stop. And we won’t be the last.”
The Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, said in a tweet that it stands in solidarity with the HRW director.
“Efforts to hide the occupation and silence criticism against it are bound to fail,” said B’Tselem executive director, Hagai ElAd in a tweet.
“The decision reflects perfectly the state of affairs at the highest judicial institution in Israel — not rule of law, but legal propaganda at the service of the occupation.”
“In essence, the Supreme Court’s ruling grants a legal seal of approval to the further shrinking of the already limited space in Israel to oppose the occupation.
For decades, this space has been non-existent for Palestinians; now, it will be diminished further for international stakeholders; and soon, also for Israelis.”
“Breaking: Israeli Supreme Court upholds my deportation over my rights advocacy,” said Shakir in a tweet. “Decision now shifts back to Israeli government; if it proceeds, I have 20 days to leave and it’ll join ranks of Iran, North Korea and Egypt in blocking access for HRW official. We won’t stop. And we won’t be the last.”
The Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, said in a tweet that it stands in solidarity with the HRW director.
“Efforts to hide the occupation and silence criticism against it are bound to fail,” said B’Tselem executive director, Hagai ElAd in a tweet.
“The decision reflects perfectly the state of affairs at the highest judicial institution in Israel — not rule of law, but legal propaganda at the service of the occupation.”
“In essence, the Supreme Court’s ruling grants a legal seal of approval to the further shrinking of the already limited space in Israel to oppose the occupation.
For decades, this space has been non-existent for Palestinians; now, it will be diminished further for international stakeholders; and soon, also for Israelis.”
The Israeli authorities’ decision to prevent an Amnesty International staff member from travelling abroad for “security reasons”, apparently as a punitive measure against the organization’s human rights work, is another chilling indication of Israel’s growing intolerance of critical voices, Amnesty International said, Thursday.
“The Israeli authorities claim that they have security reasons for banning Laith Abu Zeyad from travelling is totally absurd. Their failure to provide any details to justify the ban reveals its true intent. This is a sinister move imposed as punishment for his work defending human rights of Palestinians,” said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“As well as violating Laith’s rights to freedom of movement and association, this travel ban further illustrates the Israeli authorities’ chilling resolve to silence human rights organizations and activists who are critical of the government. It also highlights the cruel and inhuman nature of their policies.”
Laith Abu Zeyad, Amnesty International’s Campaigner on Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), was stopped at the Allenby/King Hussein crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 26 October, while on his way to attend a relative’s funeral. He was kept waiting for four hours before being informed he has been banned from travelling by Israeli intelligence for undisclosed “security reasons.”
According to Al Ray, Laith Abu Zeyad was previously denied a humanitarian permit to enter Israel from the occupied West Bank, in September, to accompany his mother for chemotherapy treatment in Jerusalem.
As well as cruelly infringing on his family life, these arbitrary travel restrictions are interfering with his human rights work, as they will prevent him from entering East Jerusalem and Israel or travelling abroad for essential activities, including advocacy at the UN and other international organizations, as well as participation in conferences and other events.
Naidoo added that Israeli authorities must immediately lift arbitrary travel bans on Laith Abu Zeyad and all other Palestinian human rights defenders who are being punished for daring to speak out about Israel’s systematic discrimination and human rights violations against Palestinians.
According to international human rights standards, restrictions on the right to freedom of movement may only be imposed exceptionally, and must be necessary for a legitimate purpose, proportionate and based on clear legal grounds. The reasons must be made clear, and the restrictions should be open to legal challenge.
The refusal of the Israeli authorities to make public any evidence to substantiate the reasons for this travel ban means Laith Abu Zeyad has also been denied a meaningful opportunity to challenge the ban in court.
“The Israeli authorities claim that they have security reasons for banning Laith Abu Zeyad from travelling is totally absurd. Their failure to provide any details to justify the ban reveals its true intent. This is a sinister move imposed as punishment for his work defending human rights of Palestinians,” said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“As well as violating Laith’s rights to freedom of movement and association, this travel ban further illustrates the Israeli authorities’ chilling resolve to silence human rights organizations and activists who are critical of the government. It also highlights the cruel and inhuman nature of their policies.”
Laith Abu Zeyad, Amnesty International’s Campaigner on Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), was stopped at the Allenby/King Hussein crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 26 October, while on his way to attend a relative’s funeral. He was kept waiting for four hours before being informed he has been banned from travelling by Israeli intelligence for undisclosed “security reasons.”
According to Al Ray, Laith Abu Zeyad was previously denied a humanitarian permit to enter Israel from the occupied West Bank, in September, to accompany his mother for chemotherapy treatment in Jerusalem.
As well as cruelly infringing on his family life, these arbitrary travel restrictions are interfering with his human rights work, as they will prevent him from entering East Jerusalem and Israel or travelling abroad for essential activities, including advocacy at the UN and other international organizations, as well as participation in conferences and other events.
Naidoo added that Israeli authorities must immediately lift arbitrary travel bans on Laith Abu Zeyad and all other Palestinian human rights defenders who are being punished for daring to speak out about Israel’s systematic discrimination and human rights violations against Palestinians.
According to international human rights standards, restrictions on the right to freedom of movement may only be imposed exceptionally, and must be necessary for a legitimate purpose, proportionate and based on clear legal grounds. The reasons must be made clear, and the restrictions should be open to legal challenge.
The refusal of the Israeli authorities to make public any evidence to substantiate the reasons for this travel ban means Laith Abu Zeyad has also been denied a meaningful opportunity to challenge the ban in court.
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