PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.192

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

3 – 9 Sep. 2023

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

Prepared by: Razwan Issa, Nour Kharouf, Joman Al Khateeb

Translation: Asma Louzun and Ahmad Staitia
Editing: Nardeen Khalid

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 Issue of Palestine’s Legal Scene, please click here (5 minutes read)

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

• Officials for The Times of Israel: The Palestinian Authority (PA) is seeking to take irreversible measures to enhance its efforts to establish a Palestinian state through negotiations and achieve a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. These steps include support from the U.S for recognition of the Palestinian state at the United Nations and the reopening of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem to serve Palestinians. (Sep3,2023). For further details, click here
• The head of the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) revealed 851 violations carried out by Israeli authorities and settlers in the month of August. These violations ranged from direct attacks on citizens to land destruction, confiscation, and the intrusion into villages. (Sep3,2023). For further details, click here
• The Commission of Detainees Affairs has revealed that Israeli military courts issued a total of 2,322 administrative detention orders in 2023. It has called for international intervention to halt these practices and put an end to the oppressive policies of the occupation. Additionally, the head of the commission has urged the United Nations and the international community to confront the extremism of Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, in his treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, emphasizing the need for more than just condemnations.
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the racist measures taken by the occupation against Palestinian educational institutions and the Palestinian curriculum in Jerusalem. It has called for the protection of education and demanded that the occupation forces be compelled to cease their arbitrary actions against educational institutions and students in occupied Jerusalem.(Sep4,2023). For further details, click here
• Following the Israeli army’s attack on the Nur Shams refugee camp east of Tulkarm, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the International Criminal Court to fulfill its responsibilities by prosecuting Israeli war criminals.(Sep5, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Prime Minister has stated that the Israeli authorities’ deduction of additional amounts from the clearance revenues as well as directing the PA to pay the debts of the Jerusalem District Electricity Company is considered a systematic act of piracy and robbery of Palestinian funds.(Sep5, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Economic Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization has condemned the plans announced by the Israeli state to develop solar energy projects in the occupied Palestinian territories. These plans are seen as a continued violation of international law and an attempt by the Israeli occupation to implement a “greenwashing” policy for its settlement activities. (Sep6, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the opening of Papua New Guinea’s embassy in occupied Jerusalem, considering it a blatant violation of international law and clear UN resolutions regarding the legal and political status of the holy city and a violation of the just and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. (Sep 6, 2023). For further details, click here

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

• The Israeli Finance Ministry decides to deduct between 20-30 million Shekels monthly from PA funds to offset the PA’s electricity debt.(Sep 5, 2023). For further details, click here
• The commander of the Israeli Defense force’s Central Command signed off on orders designating for the first time three West Bank outposts municipal boundaries. The move means legitimizing settlement outposts into settlements recognized by Israel.(Sep 7, 2023). For further details, click here

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

• The Arab Parliament condemns the decisions of the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, to reduce family visits of Palestinian detainees to once every two months instead of once every month. The Parliament further calls on the international community, the Security Council and the International Red Cross to intervene immediately in order to urgently stop and reverse these decisions, and to work to protect the prisoners. (Sep 5, 2023).For further details, click here
• The Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-Japan Political Dialogue, in its third session, stresses the necessity of achieving a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East region, ending the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian and Arab territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan. (Sep 5, 2023). For further details, click here and here
• UN experts urge Israeli authorities to reverse the conviction of an imprisoned Palestinian aid worker Mohammed El-Halabi for alleged terrorism-related charges and ensure his immediate release. (Sep 6, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Arab Ministerial Committee charged with taking action to confront illegal Israeli policies and measures in the occupied city of Jerusalem stresses the rejection and opposition to any division of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Israeli efforts to change the identity of Jerusalem. They further decided to organize visits to countries to shed light on Israeli violations and move at the legal level to hold Israel accountable for its violations. (Sep 6, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemns the crime of the Israeli attack on Palestinian women in the city of Hebron, and stresses the need to pressure Israel to stop its violations. It also condemns the Israeli occupation forces storming the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and destroying and stealing its contents. It also condemns Papua New Guinea’s decision to open an embassy in the occupied city of Jerusalem. (Sep 6, 2023). For further details, click here
• The European Union (EU) says that the speech delivered by President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas to Fatah’s 11th Revolutionary Council in late August contains false and grossly misleading remarks about Jews and anti-Semitism. The EU remains committed to combating antisemitism and racism in all its forms and will continue to strongly oppose any attempt to condone, justify or trivialize the Holocaust. (Sep 7, 2023). For further details, click here
• The UN calls for an investigation into the report revealing that female Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian women to undress in front of their children.(Sep 7, 2023). For further details, click here / here
• The Council of the League of Arab States affirms its support for the State of Palestine’s intention to obtain full membership in the United Nations and calls on the member states of the Security Council to accept this membership. It also calls on countries that have not yet recognized Palestine to recognize it. (Sep 7, 2023). For further details, click here
• The United States slams legalization of 3 West Bank outposts ‘previously illegal under Israeli law’. (Sep 8, 2023). For further details, click here

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights condemn the decision of the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, to reduce family visits of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons to once every two months. They call for exerting pressure on the occupying power to cancel all measures that would restrict their rights guaranteed under the provisions of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.(3/4 Sep 2023).
• A joint report by B’Tselem with Haaretz says that during an Israeli raid, five female family members were forced to undress while threatened by a dog from the canine unit and the soldiers’ rifles, in the West Bank city of Hebron in July. (Sep 5, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Independent Commission for Human Rights issues its twenty-eighth annual report for the year 2022 on the situation of human rights in Palestine and says that the Israeli occupation is the main violator of Palestinian rights. (Sep 6, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Center for Human Rights denounces the closure of the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing by the Israeli occupation forces for the third consecutive day to Gaza exports of all types. Both the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights warn of the catastrophic repercussions on the Palestinian economy and the lives of citizens in Gaza. The legal Center for Freedom of Movement (Gisha) also sends a letter to the Israeli Minister of Defense and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, in which it demands the cancellation of the illegal decision that stipulates a complete ban on the removal of goods from Gaza.
• The International Center for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has written a letter to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, criticising the UK Government’s efforts to block an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice on Israel’s occupation of Palestine. (Sep 7, 2023). For further details, click here
• DAWN sends a letter to members of Congress and officials in the Biden administration outlining the Israeli government’s abuse of Palestinian-American human rights defender Ubai Al-Aboudi, Director of the Palestinian civil society organization Bisan Center for Research and Development.(Sep 7, 2023). For further details, click here
• In a report by the Peace Now Foundation, the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee arranged to discuss two plans in East Jerusalem. The first is one to expand the GivatHamatos neighborhood and the second to build a new settlement in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood, and this plan threatens to cut off the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The Planning and Construction Committee also plans to establish a new settlement called “Kidmat Zion” on entirely Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem. (Sep 8, 2023). For further details, click here

Opinion Pieces and features:

• A new article by Stefan Talmon on the GPIL website – German Practice in International Law on “Acceptance of a Palestinian Nationality Within the Area of Private International Law”. (Sep 5, 2023). For further details, click here
• Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs publishes an article by Yoni Ben Menachem entitled: “The Survival of the PA despite the Failure of the Oslo Accords” (Sep 5, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Israeli newspaper YediothAhronoth publishes an article about the “Israeli officials concerned of legal exposure in international court,” and directing serious accusations against Israeli leaders of practicing a policy of apartheid in the West Bank (Sep ember 7, 2023). For further details, click here

Human rights conferences and events

• In a podcast recorded on September 3, 2023, titled: “Human Rights Work under Apartheid: “To show reality, to shed light…to create hope in the struggle” the Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) spoke with the Executive Director of B’Tselem about the challenges and opportunities in protecting human rights under an apartheid system (Sep 3, 2023). For further details on the podcast, click here
• JURIST Legal News and Research Services website publishes an interview with UN Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on the Imperative of Ending Israel’s Occupation of Palestinian Territories. Albanese discusses the challenges she has faced as a UN Special Rapporteur,and her perspective on what is necessary to end Israel’s occupation. (Sep 6, 2023). For further details, click here
• B’nai B’rith held a webinar on the UN’s request for an advisory opinion on Israel by the International Court of Justice, and considered the UN move “unjustified and deeply unhelpful to peacemaking”. The organization submitted a brief to the ICJ that argued why the court should reject the U.N.’s request for an advisory opinion. (Sep 7, 2023). For further details, click here

Upcoming human rights opportunities and events:

• Friends of Sabeel North America has announced a lecture to be given by Dr. NaderaShalhoub-Kevorkian at the University of California Berkeley, entitled: “The Developers and Land/Life – Grabbers in Palestine: Between Silwan and the Armenian Quarter”. (Sep 5, 2023). For further details, click here
• Alliance for Middle East Peace announces its participation in organizing an event entitled: “30 years after the Oslo Accords: Reflections, Realities, and a Resilient Future,” which will be held in Berlin and will bring together experts on the Oslo Accords and leaders from civil society working to create the conditions for peace (September 2023). For further details, click here
• Harvard Law School announces its intention to organize a course on “Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine.” It will hold an information session about the course on September 18, 2023, via Zoom. (September 2023). For further details, click here