PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.193

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

10 -16 Sep. 2023

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

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

Translation: Asma Louzun and Ferdous Abdul Hamid
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:

• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the resolutions of the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session held in Riyadh. All the resolutions pertaining to preserving the world cultural heritage, particularly those concerning the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, as well as Hebron and Battir, were unanimously approved without a vote. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Commission of Palestinian Detainees Affairs urges the international community to immediately intervene to protect the life of Ahmed Manasra, who has been held in solitary confinement at Ayalon prison for the past two years. He is facing critical mental and physical conditions, and his continuous detention poses a real threat to his life. ( Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The PLO Department of Refugee Affairs calls on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to withdraw the Code of Conduct that runs counter to the societal and ethical values of Palestinians. The department also condemns certain countries imposing conditions on the funding of UNRWA that contradict the rights of Palestinian refugees. (Sep 15, 2023). For further details, click here

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

• The Israeli National Security Advisor hinted at the possibility of a request for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to withdraw its pursuit against Israel at the International Criminal Court as part of the Saudi deal. “We are warning the Palestinians, we can no longer tolerate the PA campaign to bring IDF soldiers to [an international] court,”he said. (Sep 11, 2023). For further details, click here 
• Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians published new travel guidelines for United States citizens from the Gaza Strip who will henceforth be able to enter Israel for short-term stays, to visit the West Bank or to travel abroad (Sept 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Israeli State Archives have authorized, for the first time, the publication of the minutes of the historic government meeting that took place on August 30, 1993, in which the first part of the Oslo Accords was approved.(Sept 13, 2023). For further details, click here

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

• In response to a leaked document in 2022 outlining the European Union’s (EU) plans to support Palestinians in the classified C areas of Palestine, the European Commission affirms the EU’s commitment to promoting a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict. The Commission highlighted the importance of the “C” area as the main preserved land for the future Palestinian state, emphasizing that its development plays a crucial role in the viability of the future Palestinian state. (Sep 12, 2023). For further details, click here
• The West Bank Protection Consortium (WBPC), supported by the European Union (EU), publishes a paper entitled: “Protecting the Right to Education for Children in Area C of the West Bank”. (Sep 12, 2023). For further details, click here
• The United States and the European Union issued condemnations of an Israeli plan to build a Jewish enclave inside a Palestinian neighborhood (Abu Dis) straddling the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Sep 12, 2023). For further details, click here
• UK Member of Parliament, Kim Leadbeater, has voiced regret that no Palestinians were called to give oral evidence to a parliamentary committee examining a controversial anti-Israel boycott bill. (Sep 14, 2023). For further details, click here
• The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, reiterated his country’s support for the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on their land, and stressed the importance of applying international law without double standards. (Sep 14, 2023). For further details, click here

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• The Norwegian Refugee Council publishes a report entitled: “Area C is Everything: Planning for the future of Palestine”. (Sep 11, 2023). For further details, click here
• Peace Now organization publishes a report which highlights how the settlements proliferated following the Oslo Accords, while Palestinians in the West Bank face ongoing challenges. The number of settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has risen from around 250,000 in 1993 to nearly 700,000 in 2023. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• Amnesty International publishes a new report entitled: “Defending the rule of law, enforcing apartheid – the double life of Israel’s judiciary”. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• A new report by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) and the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) demonstrates that the use of the ‘IHRA definition of antisemitism’ is not fit for purpose and is infringing on academic freedom and freedom of speech, while also harming the mental health, reputation and career prospects of students and staff. The authors of the report recommend that UK higher education institutions should rescind the adoption of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• A new report by Save the Children Organization reveals that nearly 400 children in Gaza – or at least two children a day – were denied permits to go to the West Bank for critical healthcare in the first six months of 2023, leaving them without access to life-saving surgery or urgent medication. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Trade Union Congress (TUC) in England and Wales passed a motion supporting the Palestinian struggle for freedom, including the support for the right to boycott. The motion emphasizes the need to reject any attempt to delegitimize the Palestinian call for boycotting Israel. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights “BADIL” issued a statement on the 30th anniversary of signing Oslo Accords, affirming that the Oslo peace process helped to strengthen Israeli apartheid. It also pointed out that 93% of the Palestinian youth believe that the Oslo peace process has failed. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP): “It is totally unacceptable that the Public Bill Committee for the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, in the UK, has excluded Palestinian individuals and organisations from providing oral evidence to the committee. (Sep 14, 2023). For further details, click here
• Princeton University’s president issues a defense of academic freedom after Israeli government partisans attack a Princeton professor for assigning a book that is critical of the Israeli government’s human rights practices. (Sep 14, 2023). For further details, click here
• Al-Haq delivered an intervention at the 54th session of the Human Rights Council which highlighted Israel’s 16-year long closure of the Gaza Strip and its impact on the right to healthcare for Palestinians. (Sep 14, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Jewish Agency: The global Jewish population climbed to 15.7 million over the last year. Israel accounts for 46% of the world Jewry, while the United States has the second-largest Jewish population with around 6.3 million. (Sep 15, 2023). For further details, click here

Opinion Pieces and features:

• AL-SHABAKA publishes an article titled “Focus On: Visions for Political Futures,” in which Al-Shabaka’s policy analysts discuss visions for the Palestinian political future within the context of the Palestinians’ past and current reality.(Sep 12, 2023). For further details, click here
• Deutsche Welle (DW) publishes an article by Tania Krämer titled: “Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords leave a complicated legacy”.(Sep 12, 2023). For further details, click here
• Arab Center Washington DC publishes an article by Jonathan Kuttab titled: “The International Criminal Court’s Failure to Hold Israel Accountable”. (Sep 12, 2023). For further details, click here
• Jadaliyya publishes an article by Mouin Rabbani titled: “Thirty years of Oslo”. (Sep 12, 2023). For further details, click here
• Washington Post publishes an article by Ishaan Tharoor titled: “The gloomy failure of the Oslo accords”.(Sept 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• Mondoweiss publishes an article by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi titled: “Thirty years after the Oslo Accords: facing a reality of apartheid”. (Sep 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• Orient XXI publishes a new article written by Daniel Levy titled “Archetype of a Failure”. (Sept 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The New Arab published a new article by Yara Hawari titled: “For Generation Oslo, ‘peace’ is an empty promise.”(Sep 15, 2023). For further details, click here 
• An article by Sawsan Zaher has been published by Rosa Luxembourg- Regional Bureau in Palestine and Jordan on “Canceling Israel’s “Reasonableness” Clause and its Implications on Palestinians”. (Sep 15, 2023). For further details, click here.
• The International Crisis Group has published an article on “UNRWA’s Reckoning: Preserving the UN Agency Serving Palestinian Refugees”. (Sep 15, 2023). For further details, click here.

Upcoming human rights opportunities and events:

• BRISMES and European Legal Support Center (ELSC) announced their webinar on IHRA’s definition of antisemitism and its impact on academic freedom in British universities. The webinar will take place on September 28, 2023 at 16:00-17:30. (Sep 14, 2023). For further details click here.
• Balfour Project announced a webinar hosting Dr. Ralph Wilde on “How Britain broke international law to stop Palestinian independence” to be held on September 28, 2023. For further details, click here.