PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.125

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

22- 28 may 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 Foreign Affairs says that allowing Jewish Israelis to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque constitutes a declaration of religious war and a crossing of red lines. (May 22, 2022).For further details, click here
• The Human Rights Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization calls the trial of the six Gilboa Prison prisoners illegal and void. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of an escalation in child kidnappings by settlers in the wake of assaults on Palestinian children in the Nablus District village of Qusra. (May 23, 2022).For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Minister of Religious and Endowment Affairs condemns the Israeli occupation authorities’ completion of construction of the Ibrahimi Mosque’s electric elevator. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Minister of Jerusalem Affairs warns of an increase in displacement and ethnic cleansing in the occupied city of Jerusalem saying that the Israeli government has threatened to destroy over 20,000 apartments. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information handed the Minister of Justice a media file that sheds light on the occupation’s theft of organs of the martyred prisoners’ bodies and that documents the suffering of the martyrs’ families. This file is part of a legal media campaign aimed at raising awareness on the issue and supporting efforts to recover their bodies. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities called on the international community, the United Nation Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, and relevant international organizations to urgently intervene to protect Al Ibrahimi Mosque from the policies of the Israeli occupation and settlers’ violations.(May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian National Council condemns the occupation forces denying the head of European parliamentary delegation entry to the OPT. (May 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Public Prosecution publishes an investigation into the assassination of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, confirming that the Israeli occupation forces shot her directly and had a clear, direct view of the journalists’ location, including that of Abu Akleh. (May 26, 2022). For further details, click here

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

• An Israeli Magistrate’s Court judge overturns an order to exclude Jewish teenagers from the Al-Aqsa Mosque after they perform Talmudic prayers. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• In an Education Committee debate on freedom of expression, incitement, and violence on campuses, Committee Chair MK Haskel calls raising the Palestinian flag a violation of the Counter-Terrorism Law.(May 23, 2022).For further details, click here
• The Israeli Supreme Court approves the Prison Authority’s decision to prevent prisoner Israa Jaabis from receiving necessary medical operation. (May 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• According to the Israeli army there is no immediate suspicion of criminal activity in the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.(May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• MK Bezalel Smotrich announced that the Religious Zionism party will present a bill to the Knesset prohibiting returning the bodies of Palestinian “terrorists”. (May 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• Israeli President Herzog says the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh is a “very sad event” and claims that the CNN report suggesting she was killed by deliberate Israeli fire contains “fake facts”. (May 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• An Israeli appeals court overturns a ruling by a Jerusalem magistrate court questioning the legality of barring Jews from praying in Al-Aqsa Mosque. The appeals court says that freedom of worship is not absolute and should be superseded by other interests such as safeguarding public order. (May 26, 2022). For further details, click here

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

• The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States appeals to Brazil to keep supporting the Palestinian cause in all international venues. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounces the Israeli court’s decision to allow rebels to perform rituals in the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• European Parliament President Metsola to Knesset Plenum says that Europe will always defend Israel’s right to exist and calls anti-Semitism anti-European.(May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• The European Parliament’s President says they deplore Israel’s decision to ban the Parliament delegation from entering Palestine. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• Jordanian FM says there is no alternative to the two-state solution, which is the sole way to achieve a fair and comprehensive peace. (May 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Turkish FM affirms his country’s support for the Palestinian cause and the sovereignty of the State of Palestine. (May 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• The European Union expresses its grief over the killing of the young Ghaith Yamin and demands that an investigation is opened and full accountability is ensured. (May 25, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Iraqi Council of Representatives unanimously decides to criminalize normalization with the Israeli occupation. (May 26, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process says that Israelis and Palestinians must push beyond the paradigm of managing the conflict and move towards resolving it, expressing concern that the dynamics in the occupied West Bank could spiral out of control “at any time.” (May 26, 2022). For further details, click here
• A Joint European statement calls Israeli settlements a clear violation of international law. (May 26, 2022). For further details, click here
• Demands have been raised in the UN Security Council to hold those responsible for the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh accountable. (May 26, 2022) For further details, click here
• The Arab Parliament condemns extremist settlers groups’ announcement of their intent to storm the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, practice Talmudic rituals, and raise flags on the so-called Reunification Day of Jerusalem. (May 27, 2022). For further details, click here
• 83 US Congressmen call for Blinken to exert pressure on Israel to prevent any displacement of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta. (May 27, 2022). For further details, click here

Publications of human rights NGOs

• The Christian Islamic Committee for the Support of Jerusalem calls the decision to let Israeli Jews to pray at Al-Aqsa illegal and dangerous. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• Palestinian human rights organizations submit a file to the ICC urging the court to open a case on the attack on Palestinians in Gaza in May 2021. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here
• American network CNN publishes an investigation into the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, which indicates she may have been killed by Israeli forces in a targeted attack. (May 24, 2022). For further details, click here
• Al-Jazeera network announces that it formed an international coalition, including a legal working group, to refer the file on the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh and the bombing of the Al-Jazeera office in Gaza in 2021 to the International Criminal Court. (May 26, 2022). For further details, click here

Human rights conferences and events

• In an interview with Al-Jazeera network regarding the murder of the Palestinian journalist Abu Akleh’s, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine: If Israel continues to deny European parliamentarians and UN officials entry to the Palestinian territories, punitive measures must be taken against it. (May 23, 2022). For further details, click here