PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.147

Your weekly survey of the most important publications and activities related to Palestine and law, from local and international sources

23 – 29 Oct 2022

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

This weekly report reviews the legal dynamics of the Palestine question, and everything related to international law and Palestine. The report includes an account of the most important publications, activities and conferences related to Palestine at the local, regional, international levels. The report further covers decisions, decrees, and judicial orders affecting the Palestinian cause, whether made at the official, academic or public levels. The report aims to be a reference for monitoring, documenting and archiving the latest human rights developments related to Palestine, and to present them to individuals, researchers, study centers, and official, academic and legal institutions concerned.

To view this Volume of Palestine’s Legal Scene, please click here (3 minutes read)

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Palestinian bodies

• The Palestinian Ministry of Economy announces that it is in the process of sending a legal letter to the parent company of “Zara” to clarify its position on the statements of its Israeli agent and its support for the extremist MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, who incites the killing of Palestinians. (October 22, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemns the criminal execution of child Tamer al-Kilani in Nablus and adds that this constitutes a “war crime” and “crime against humanity”, in addition to the field executions committed by the occupation forces against the Palestinian people. (October 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs denounces the Israeli forces’ storming of Ibrahimi Mosque. Because these forces included “military officers,” he also called on UNESCO to put its decisions into effect following the severe attacks taking place in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa and Ibrahimi Mosques.(October 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemns the Israeli occupation court’s refusal to grant detainee Nasser Abu Hamid, who suffers from cancer, an early release. (October 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemned the “heinous massacre” committed by the occupation forces in the city of Nablus, which led to the death of five young men and the injury of dozens with live bullets. It further condemned the criminal execution of young man Qusai al-Tamimi in the town of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah. (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian presidency condemns the Israeli occupation’s killing of two Palestinians near an Israeli military checkpoint in the village of Huwwara in the northern West Bank and calls on the international community to immediately intervene to exert pressure on the occupation government to stop its dangerous escalation against the Palestinian people. (October 28, 2022). For further details, click here

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Israeli bodies

• Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba condemns the student Watan Madi for her participation in the commemoration of the Nakba in the corridors of the University last May by giving speeches by the poet Mahmoud Darwish, which the university called “support for terrorism.” (October 24, 2022). For further details, click here

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by Arab, European, and international bodies

• The Saudi Embassy in Jordan handed over a check for $27 million to the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East “UNRWA” to support their programs. (October 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Jordanian foreign minister stresses that security in the region begins with resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and ending the Israeli occupation. (October 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Arab League welcomes a report by the UN that notes that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories are crimes under international criminal law. (October 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Jordanian MFA condemns the continuous Israeli incursions into Palestinian cities and strongly denounces the “Israeli military escalation campaign, which threatens to erupt into a new cycle of violence.” (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemns the Israeli attacks in which six Palestinians were martyred and scores injured. This crime and previous repeated Israeli aggression and blockade of Nablus are all part of open Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people. (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, in coordination with other UN experts, sent a communication to the Government of Israel on 10 August 2022 regarding prisoner Salah Hammouri. The communication, which remained confidential for 60 days, stated that the detention of Salah Hammouri is arbitrary. However, they received no reply from the Israeli government.(October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• Foreign Ministries of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain expressed –in a joint statement– their concerns about the ongoing tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories. They urged all parties to refrain from any provocations and unilateral actions in order to actively reduce tension and restore calm. (October 26, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Independent International Commission of Inquiry of the United Nations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories denies the accusations by the Israeli delegate of anti-Semitism by its members and affirms that its report focuses on the policies and actions of the Israeli government that amount to international crimes. (October 27, 2022). For further details, click here
• Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said that Israel’s occupation is illegal and indistinguishable from a “settler-colonial” situation, which must end as a pre-condition for Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination. (October 27, 2022). For further details, click here
• A survey conducted by the US Foreign Ministry shows that more than half of U.S students exposed to the BDS movement support the boycott, which has raised the concern of Israeli officials about the movement’s “wide impact” on American students. (October 28, 2022). For further details, click here
• In his most recent report to the UN, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing acknowledges that Israel is committing apartheid against Palestinians (paragraph 45). (October 28, 2022). For further details, click here
• Five former European foreign ministers have accused Israel of being an “apartheid state.” (October 28, 2022). For further details, click here
• An OHCHR spokeswoman said that the escalation in the West Bank heralds the return of Israel’s illegal targeted killings.(October 28, 2022). For further details, click here
• According to the UN, this year will be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank and, as such, both Israel and Palestine must take steps to “restore calm” in the occupied West Bank.(October 28, 2022). For further details, click here

Publications of human rights NGOs

• Al-Haq issues a report on the increase in settlers’ attacks against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory between 3-14 October. (October 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• Contrary to the organization’s usual position, a member of UK Lawyers for Israel provided “expert witness” testimony in support of a pro-Israel teacher accused of posting antisemitic material, asserting that the IHRA’s definition of anti-Semitism is not to be interpreted strictly, but rather on a case-by-case basis. He also said that it should not be used to sanction people or restrict their freedom of speech. (October 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• Churches for Middle East Peace calls on the U.S Government to respond to the abuses committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian children and the escalating tension in the West Bank. (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• Amnesty International calls for an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe into possible war crimes committed in the August assault on the Gaza Strip. (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemns the Israeli murders, including extrajudicial executions, and calls the international community to take immediate action to end the Israeli occupation’s crimes and double standards when it comes to international law. PCHR urges the ICC Prosecutor to act seriously concerning the situation in Palestine. (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces the denial of entry to their international coordinator, Charlotte Kates, and one of the founders of the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, Khaled Barakat, to the Netherlands and their deportation from Amsterdam airport to Canada by the Dutch military police when they were on their way to participate in the Week of Action for Return and Liberation of Palestine. (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Union of Palestinian Communities and Organizations in Europe condemns the expulsion of Khaled Barakat and Charlotte Kates from the Netherlands and expresses sympathy with them. (October 26, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Moroccan and Palestinian campaigns for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel condemn the participation of Moroccan and Algerian artists in the Normalization Atlantic Andalusian Festival, due to the festival receiving support from official Israeli bodies. (October 26, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights denounce the arrest of five fishermen in the Gaza sea and call on the international community to intervene to protect Palestinian civilians. (October 27, 2022). For further details, click here

Human rights conferences and events

• The Qatar Youth Opposed to Normalization urge the relevant authorities to prohibit carrying Israeli flags at the 2022 Qatar World Cup as a provocative and security-threatening act. (October 25, 2022). For further details, click here