PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.128

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

12 – 18 June 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 FM has urged the US administration and the international community to put real pressure on the occupying authority to end its illegal unilateral actions. (June 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Prime Minister calls on Switzerland to recognize the State of Palestine during his meeting with the Swiss Assistant Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. (June 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian FM strongly opposes Israel’s new expansionist colonial proposal, which would divide the northern and center West Bank from its southern half and prevent a two-state solution. (June 13, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Commission of Detainees Affairs calls on the international community to end “the judicial farce” experienced by the detainee Mohammed Al-Halabi who hasn’t been charged and whose trial is considered the longest in the register of the national captive movement. (June 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• In the EastMid Gas Conference, the Palestinian Presidential adviser for economic affairs called on Israel to respect Palestine’s right to developing its resources after failing to do so despite discovering the gas 20 years ago. (June 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian President strongly condemns the crime committed by Israeli occupying forces in Jenin against the three martyrs Bara Lahlouh, Yousef Salah, and Laith Abu Surur. (June 17, 2022). For further details, click here
• According to the Prisoners and Liberators Affairs Authority’s lawyer, the Israeli Military Prosecution Service filed fake accusations against prisoners Yahya Mari and Yousef Assi, claiming they carried out a military action near Ariel settlement a month and a half ago. (June 17, 2022). For further details, click here

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

• The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejects Norway’s proposal to label Israeli settlement products, claiming that it will diminish Norway’s role in strengthening relations between Israel and the Palestinians. (June 11, 2022).For further details, click here
• The West Bank Settlement Blocks Union has proposed a new settlement plan that includes the creation of a national park on hundreds of thousands of acers of occupied Palestinian land stretching from Jerusalem’s eastern suburbs and Bethlehem to the Dead Sea. (June 13, 2022). For further details, click here
• Israel and Egypt signed a cooperative memorandum of understanding allowing the export and transport of Israeli natural gas to the EU via Egypt. (June 15, 2022).For further details, click here
• Beersheva District Court charges Mohammed Al-Halabi with serious security accusations including “joining a terrorist organization and providing information to the enemy”.(June 15, 2022). For further details, click here

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

• The Norwegian government has decided to label the products of Israeli settlements erected on occupied Syrian and Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. (June 11, 2022). For further details, click here
• The UN publishes its May 2022 monthly bulletin titled “Action by UN System and Intergovernmental Organizations Relevant to the Question of Palestine”. (June 11, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Arab States hosting Palestine refugees refuse to hand over the mission of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to any other organization. (June 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet , said: “ I call on the Israeli authorities to open a criminal investigation into the killing of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to promptly make conclusions and findings public, and to hold perpetrators accountable”. (June 14, 2022). For further details, click here
• The French Foreign Ministry mobilizes its powers related to the situation of the prisoner Salah Hammouri, and asks Israeli officials of the MFA to respect his rights at all times. (June 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• The EU says the verdict issued against Mohammed Al-Halabi is inconsistent with international fair trial standards. (June 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Parliament of Catalonia announces in a resolution that Israel’s system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is illegal under international law and is equivalent to apartheid. (June 16, 2022). For further details, click here
• The League of Arab States (LAS) Assistant Secretary-General explained that the Arab Information Strategy is composed of five primary areas with sustained media support for the legitimate Palestinian cause and the struggle against terrorism and extremism at the top of the list. (June 16, 2022). For further details, click here
• South African Foreign Minister, Dr. Naledi Pandor said “The events & images the world has witnessed in the past months emerging from the Occupied Palestinian Territory evoke unpleasant memories of life under apartheid rule in South Africa.” (June 16, 2022). For further details, click here
• UN human rights experts denounced Israel for abusing counter-terrorism laws to target and silence human rights defenders after an Israeli court found Gaza aid worker Mohammed el-Halabi guilty of financing terrorism. (June 16, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Arab Lawyers Union condemns the assassination of three Palestinian children in the city of Jenin by the Israeli occupation. (June 18, 2022). For further details, click here

Academic Research and Studies

• Researchers Douaoudi and Khadraoui publish an article titled “The Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees and the Deal of the Century”. (June 1, 2022). For further details, click here
• Researchers Elian and Reesh published a study titled “Israeli Violations that Fall Within the Jurisdiction of the ICC – Palestine”. (March 1, 2022). For further details, click here

Publications of Human Rights NGOs

• According to American publication “The Washington Post”, an Israeli soldier shot and killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh. (June 12, 2022).For further details, click here
• The World Vision expresses its concerns about the decision of the Beersheva District Court to convict Mohammed Al-Halabi and notes the irregularities in the trial process and lack of substantive, publicly available evidence. (June 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights both warn of a health and humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s collective punishment strategy in the Gaza Strip, which includes a 15-year siege. (June 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its concern over the life of prisoner Manasra and holds the Israeli Occupation fully accountable for his life and other detainees’ lives. (June 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns IOF’s assassination of three Palestinian youth in Jenin and calls on the international community to intervene immediately to end Israeli extra-judicial executions, which are considered a form of extrajudicial killing, and to bring the perpetrators to trial. (June 17, 2022). For further details, click here
• Amnesty International calls on the Israeli authorities to overturn the conviction of Mohammad al-Halabi, and says that al-Halabi, a Palestinian aid worker from Gaza, was convicted in a blatantly flawed trial on the accusation of having funneled millions of dollars to the de facto administration of Hamas. (June 17, 2022). For further details, click here

Human rights Conferences and Events

• The left-wing American “Mapping Project” organization launched an interactive map of the Boston, Massachusetts area in the United States, including the names of organizations, bodies, and individuals complicit in supporting the Israeli apartheid regime, amid growing accusations of anti-Semitism. (June 14, 2022). For further details, click here

Upcoming Opportunities and Events

• The Independent Jewish Voices Organization announces a webinar on the Weaponization of anti-Semitism definition. For further details, click here
• The BDS movement has announced a webinar titled “Israeli Apartheid in Law and Discourse: Domestic and External Implications”. (June 16, 2022). For further details, click here