PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.154

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

11- 17 Dec 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:

• On the occasion of International Human Rights Day (IHRD): The Palestinian MOFAE renewed its call on states and international institutions to fulfill their responsibilities to provide international protection for the Palestinian people, and to hold the occupation army and settlers accountable for their systematic and widespread crimes. (December 11, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MFA condemned the execution of the 16-year-old girl, Jana Majdi Issam Zakarneh, after she was shot in the head during the occupation forces stormed the eastern neighborhood of Jenin, noting that the daily series of killings against the Palestinian people is carried out with the cover and approval of the political echelon in Israel. (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MFA condemned the crimes of demolishing residential homes, facilities, buildings, water lines, confiscating agricultural equipment, and distributing more demolition notices carried out by the occupation forces to erase the Palestinian presence throughout the West Bank, especially in areas classified as “C” and occupied Jerusalem. (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs handed over to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN for Children and Armed Conflict a detailed report on the Israeli crimes committed deliberately against Palestinian children. (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Foreign Minister welcomed the international consensus on voting for 4 Palestine-related resolutions to be adopted in the General Assembly (December 13, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MFA condemned settlers’ incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, guarded and protected by the occupation police and soldiers, and the occupation authorities’ hanging banners at the entrance to the Mughrabi Gate “encouraging settlers to carry out these incursions”. The ministry also called on countries to link the level of their relationship with the next Israeli government to the extent of their commitment to the terms of the international Quartet, peace references and international law. (December 13, 2022). For further details, click here 
• The Palestinian MFA held the “Palestinian-European Political Dialogue Meeting”. The Deputy Director of the Middle East in the European Union’s External Action Service affirmed the European Union’s firm position on the two-state solution as the only solution for both parties. (December 13, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestine Foreign Ministry stated that it considers the results of the new Israeli Law “Homesh” extremely serious since it is a clearer and wider Israeli call to escalate the conflict. It asserts that the international community should take the actions necessary for the two-state solution (December 14, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestine MFA stated that such coordinated attacks and character assassination targeting the UN Special Rapporteur, Ms. Francesca Albanese, provide further proof that the defenders of Israeli occupation and its crimes and those complicit in such crimes have no logical or fact-based response to Ms. Albanese’s sound legal assessment of the situation in Palestine. The State of Palestine also calls on all States, relevant UN officials, legal scholars, and the global human rights community to unequivocally reject this campaign that aims at silencing and defaming pro-justice voices (December 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the heinous crime of “Jewish terrorism elements” attacking Orif Secondary School. (December 15, 2022). For further details, click here

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

• MK Zvika Fogel stated that Israel is “extremely merciful” in dealing with the Palestinians and that this approach must change, expressing his desire to end the concept of proportionality when dealing with the Palestinians. He added, “If an Israeli mother weeps, or a thousand Palestinian mothers cry, then a thousand Palestinian mothers will cry”. (December 11, 2022). For further details, click here
• In its preliminary reading, the Israeli Knesset approved a law known as the “Homesh” law, relating to the powers of Knesset members Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Yoel Smotrich. According to this law, the first will be granted unprecedented security powers in the Israeli Ministry of National Security, while the other will be given the position of minister in the Israeli Ministry of Security, in which he will be responsible for the “civil administration” and the coordinator of the Israeli government’s activities in the occupied West Bank. (December 13, 2022). For further details, click here / here
• The Israeli Knesset legal adviser warned of “Homesh Law” and stated that defense minister should be the only minister in charge of the IDF. Also, he recommended to amend this law to avoid being repealed by the Supreme Court of Justice since it violates one of the main Israeli laws (December 14, 2022). For further details, click here / here 

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

• The Arab Human Rights Committee (Charter Committee) called on the international community to address the grave violations against the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation authorities. (December 10, 2022). For further details, click here
• Parliamentary Committee of Palestine in the Jordanian Parliament slammed the Israeli intrusions and violations committed in Jerusalem and Palestinian cities. It also reaffirmed its support for the Hashemite custodianship over the Islamic and Christian sanctities in the Holy Jerusalem (December 11, 2022). For further details, click here
• In a UN General Assembly voting, the States adopted 4 Palestine-related resolutions including “Israeli Settlements”, “Assistance to Palestine refugees”, “Renewal of UNRWA Mandate”, and “Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues” (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The US State Department called on Israel to be held liable for the death of the child Jana Zakarneh, and emphasized the importance of all parties taking actions to calm the situation, thus avoiding more life losses (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• With an overwhelming majority, the UN General Assembly adopts the resolution of Palestinian permanent sovereignty over their natural resources (December 14, 2022). For further details, click here
• In a new resolution: The European Parliament affirms its firm position on the two-state solution, and regrets that the EU countries have not done much in this regard, and calls for a coordinated strategy to recognize the Palestinian state. It further condemns the continuous expansion of Israeli settlements and the increase in settler violence, the policy of administrative detention, the closure of the Gaza Strip and the prevention of members of the European Parliament from visiting it for more than a decade, calling for financial compensation for Israel’s destruction of buildings funded by the European Union, and supporting the work of the ICC in investigating violations in Palestine, preventing European Union-based companies from dealing with settlements, working to stop the sale, transfer and use of spyware technology, and called on Israel to retract the classification of Palestinian civil society organizations as “terrorist organizations”. It finally condemned “terrorist and missile attacks targeting the Israeli population”. (December 13, 2022). For further details, click here
• UN experts condemned the rampant Israeli settler violence and excessive use of force by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this year that have made 2022 the deadliest in this area of the occupied Palestinian territory since the United Nations started systematically documenting fatalities in 2005. (December 15, 2022). For further detail, click here
• The United Nations is considering financing a legal advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation, entitled: “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,” which was submitted by the Palestinian Authority. (December 16, 2022). For further details, click here

Research and academic studies (in Arabic and English):

• Researcher Rami Isaac published a new article titled, “Occupation, Colonization and Apartheid tourism in Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestine.” To find out more, click
• Researcher at Yale University Omar Shehabi publishes an article titled, “No Alternative to Despair? Sahrawis, Palestinians & The International Law of Nationalism.” To find out more about this article, click here
• Researcher Dimitris Liakopoulos publishes a research article titled, “The Palestinian Question and the Role of the ICC.” To read this article, click here
• Researcher Susan Pedersen publishes a new study titled, “Writing the Balfour Declaration into the Mandate for Palestine.” To read more about this article, click

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) delivered a report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child ahead of the committee’s 94th session that addresses Israeli violations, unlawful attacks, and unjustified use of lethal force against Palestinian children, including crimes of apartheid and persecution. (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemned the killing of the Palestinian girl (Jana Zakarneh) by the Israeli occupation forces during their storming of Jenin, and called on the international community to intervene immediately to protect civilians. (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• On the occasion of International Human Rights Day: Al-Haq Organization releases a report and a film entitled: “Corporate Liability: The Right to Water and the War Crime of Pillage”.The report exposes the water apartheid that Israel applies to the Palestinians and the companies that keep this approach alive. The report details how Israel exploits these companies in order to allocate Palestinian water resources and resell this stolen water to the Palestinians at ever-increasing prices. (December 12, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Israel calls on all Palestinian rights advocates around the world to boycott and divest from the Carrefour group until it ends its support for continued Israeli violations. (December 14, 2022). For further details, click here
• President of Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), Lara Friedman, mentioned that a vile campaign of defamation & character assassination is being waged against Fransesca Albanese – the UN Special Rapporteur. She also stated that this campaign is a direct reflection of the fact that Israel and its defenders view Francesca’s deep expertise & factually unassailable work as a threat to their preferred status quo (December 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• Al-Haq Organization mentioned that the unprecedented slanderous an malicious attack on Francesca Albanese aims at silencing her and the criticism of Israel’s apartheid regime and its international crimes committed against the Palestinian people (December 15, 2022). For further details, click here
• The BDS movement published a fact sheet about Puma and its complicity in supporting the settlement economy, and the movement called on Palestinian athletes to boycott the company until it ends its sponsorship of teams in Israeli settlements. (December 16, 2022). For further details, click here