14 june 2019
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem released a statement on Wednesday, saying the Israeli court’s decisions allowing seizure of church property, by Israeli settler groups, are unfair.
The property is located in the Jaffa Gate area of the Old City of Jerusalem, in the Southern West Bank.
The Israeli Supreme Court, on June 10, rejected the petition to stop the sale of the church property to Ateret Cohanim, a right-wing settler organization.
The Patriarchate declared that the court’s decision will be further challenged, stating: “Our legal teams, in cooperation with experts in international law, are studying all the possibilities available to annul the deal to seize the properties at Jaffa Gate.”
The statement continued, asserting that the Patriarchate will continue to meet with international heads of state and religious leaders, to stress that the seizure “will have negative effects on the Christian presence in the Holy City.”
The statement concluded: “The existence of a vibrant Christian community in Jerusalem is essential to maintaining a historically diverse society and to achieve peace in this city,” and that it will continue to support the current tenants, who are considered as protected by law, to serve as a safeguarding from a takeover by illegal Israeli settlers.
The property is located in the Jaffa Gate area of the Old City of Jerusalem, in the Southern West Bank.
The Israeli Supreme Court, on June 10, rejected the petition to stop the sale of the church property to Ateret Cohanim, a right-wing settler organization.
The Patriarchate declared that the court’s decision will be further challenged, stating: “Our legal teams, in cooperation with experts in international law, are studying all the possibilities available to annul the deal to seize the properties at Jaffa Gate.”
The statement continued, asserting that the Patriarchate will continue to meet with international heads of state and religious leaders, to stress that the seizure “will have negative effects on the Christian presence in the Holy City.”
The statement concluded: “The existence of a vibrant Christian community in Jerusalem is essential to maintaining a historically diverse society and to achieve peace in this city,” and that it will continue to support the current tenants, who are considered as protected by law, to serve as a safeguarding from a takeover by illegal Israeli settlers.
11 june 2019
The Israeli high court of justice has rejected the appeal filed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and sanctioned the sale of three real estate assets in the Old City of Occupied Jerusalem to the pro-settler Ateret Cohanim group.
The rejection of the appeal on Monday ended a 14-year-long legal battle surrounding the sale of the assets, which has agitated the Greek Church in Jerusalem.
Ateret Cohanim is a right-wing organization that strives to acquire Palestinian property in the Old City for Jewish settlement. With Monday’s decision, the group can dramatically strengthen its hold on the Old City’s Christian Quarter.
The story began in 2005 when Maariv newspaper published a report about the sale of the three buildings, including the Petra and Imperial hotels overlooking the Jaffa Gate plaza at the entrance to the Old City.
The Maariv story rattled the Greek Church and prompted it to oust Patriarch Irenaeus, who considers the ousting illegal and insists to this day that he is the patriarch.
The new patriarch, Theophilus III, rejected the transaction and claimed that it involved corruption and bribery, and lacked church authorization. The patriarchate said that Irenaeus did not receive the approval of the Synod Council to carry out the transaction. It also affirmed that their finance director, Nikolas Papadimos, had received money from Ateret Cohanim to advance the deal and had committed acts of theft and corruption involving patriarchate funds.
The patriarchate also argued that the price paid for the buildings by Ateret Cohanim is significantly lower than their market value.
A year ago, the Israeli district court rejected these claims and approved the transaction, but criticized Ateret Cohanim for failing to bring the organization’s chairman, Matityahu Dan, to testify.
After the defeat in the district court, the patriarchate appealed to the high court. Last week the patriarchate’s lawyers reiterated the claims of bribery, corruption and lack of authorization, but the court on Monday rejected the appeal and approved the transfer of the buildings to Ateret Cohanim.
However, the court confirmed the patriarchate’s claims that Papadimos had received $35,000 from Ateret Cohanim, and criticized Dan’s failure to testify.
The rejection of the appeal on Monday ended a 14-year-long legal battle surrounding the sale of the assets, which has agitated the Greek Church in Jerusalem.
Ateret Cohanim is a right-wing organization that strives to acquire Palestinian property in the Old City for Jewish settlement. With Monday’s decision, the group can dramatically strengthen its hold on the Old City’s Christian Quarter.
The story began in 2005 when Maariv newspaper published a report about the sale of the three buildings, including the Petra and Imperial hotels overlooking the Jaffa Gate plaza at the entrance to the Old City.
The Maariv story rattled the Greek Church and prompted it to oust Patriarch Irenaeus, who considers the ousting illegal and insists to this day that he is the patriarch.
The new patriarch, Theophilus III, rejected the transaction and claimed that it involved corruption and bribery, and lacked church authorization. The patriarchate said that Irenaeus did not receive the approval of the Synod Council to carry out the transaction. It also affirmed that their finance director, Nikolas Papadimos, had received money from Ateret Cohanim to advance the deal and had committed acts of theft and corruption involving patriarchate funds.
The patriarchate also argued that the price paid for the buildings by Ateret Cohanim is significantly lower than their market value.
A year ago, the Israeli district court rejected these claims and approved the transaction, but criticized Ateret Cohanim for failing to bring the organization’s chairman, Matityahu Dan, to testify.
After the defeat in the district court, the patriarchate appealed to the high court. Last week the patriarchate’s lawyers reiterated the claims of bribery, corruption and lack of authorization, but the court on Monday rejected the appeal and approved the transfer of the buildings to Ateret Cohanim.
However, the court confirmed the patriarchate’s claims that Papadimos had received $35,000 from Ateret Cohanim, and criticized Dan’s failure to testify.
29 may 2019
Israel's Salem military court on Tuesday sentenced the Palestinian child Abdul-Jaber Yasin, 15, to four months in jail and ordered him to pay a 3,000 NIS fine.
Yasin's family said that the Israeli court accused their child of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers during a raid on Asira al-Qibliya village, south of Nablus.
The Israeli occupation forces arrested Yasin on 3 May after violently beating him during clashes in Asira al-Qibliya.
Yasin's family said that the Israeli court accused their child of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers during a raid on Asira al-Qibliya village, south of Nablus.
The Israeli occupation forces arrested Yasin on 3 May after violently beating him during clashes in Asira al-Qibliya.
15 may 2019
Qaddoura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has stated, Tuesday, that the Israeli court that “acquitted the Israeli terrorist, who participated in the firebombing of Dawabsha family home in 2015, killing the father, mother and one of their children, and seriously wounding the only surviving child, is sending a green light to the colonists to commit more crimes against the Palestinian civilians.”
Fares said that, by acquitting the murderer, the Israeli so-called “Legal System,” topped by the “Justice Ministry,” is sending Israeli fanatics clear messages that they can commit horrific crimes against the Palestinian civilians and get away with it.
He added that Israeli courts, and the “Legal System” became the umbrella that shelters criminals from being held accountable for their crimes against the Palestinian people, their homes, lands and even their holy sites.
“The acquittal of this murderer proves, once again, that not only the Israeli police, but all of its departments and ministries, including by the head of the state, the Prime Minister, and its so-called legal system are involved in these ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people,” he said, “There have been hundreds of incidents were soldiers and paramilitary colonialist settlers, have executed Palestinians, burnt their homes and lands, and got away with these crimes unscathed with no accountability for their horrific crimes.”
The official also said that whenever the Israeli courts are looking into cases against Palestinian detainees, who are reportedly involved, or believed to be involved, in attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers, and without legal proof, the detainees are largely sentenced to multiple life terms, their homes are always demolished and several members of their families are imprisoned.
Fares called on various international legal and human rights groups to intervene, and put an end to the ongoing and escalating Israeli crimes, including the serious violations by Israel’s own “legal system,” and its politicians.
|Israeli Court Rules to Dismiss Confession of Israeli Charged with Burning Palestinian Family to Death|
On July 31st, 2015, extremist Israeli settlers infiltrated the village of Douma, south of Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank, under cover of darkness, to firebomb the Dawabsha’ home, where the family of four were asleep in their beds.
The father Saad, 32, mother Reham, 27, and 18-month-old Ali were burned to death, while 4-year-old Ahmad suffered from 3rd degree burns over most of his body.
Fares said that, by acquitting the murderer, the Israeli so-called “Legal System,” topped by the “Justice Ministry,” is sending Israeli fanatics clear messages that they can commit horrific crimes against the Palestinian civilians and get away with it.
He added that Israeli courts, and the “Legal System” became the umbrella that shelters criminals from being held accountable for their crimes against the Palestinian people, their homes, lands and even their holy sites.
“The acquittal of this murderer proves, once again, that not only the Israeli police, but all of its departments and ministries, including by the head of the state, the Prime Minister, and its so-called legal system are involved in these ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people,” he said, “There have been hundreds of incidents were soldiers and paramilitary colonialist settlers, have executed Palestinians, burnt their homes and lands, and got away with these crimes unscathed with no accountability for their horrific crimes.”
The official also said that whenever the Israeli courts are looking into cases against Palestinian detainees, who are reportedly involved, or believed to be involved, in attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers, and without legal proof, the detainees are largely sentenced to multiple life terms, their homes are always demolished and several members of their families are imprisoned.
Fares called on various international legal and human rights groups to intervene, and put an end to the ongoing and escalating Israeli crimes, including the serious violations by Israel’s own “legal system,” and its politicians.
|Israeli Court Rules to Dismiss Confession of Israeli Charged with Burning Palestinian Family to Death|
On July 31st, 2015, extremist Israeli settlers infiltrated the village of Douma, south of Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank, under cover of darkness, to firebomb the Dawabsha’ home, where the family of four were asleep in their beds.
The father Saad, 32, mother Reham, 27, and 18-month-old Ali were burned to death, while 4-year-old Ahmad suffered from 3rd degree burns over most of his body.
14 may 2019
Amiram Ben-Uliel, charged for the three murders
Several Palestinian organizations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, denounced Israeli court’s exoneration of a member of an extremist Jewish settler suspected of committing the murder of three members of the Palestinian Dawabsha family, in 2015.
The July 31, 2015 firebomb attack of the Dawabsha home in the occupied West Bank village of Douma, killed an 18-month-old Palestinian child and his parents in the fire, who were all burnt to death, while the older son survived the attack, suffering from severe burns.
The father Saad, 32, mother Reham, 27, and 18-month-old Ali were killed in the attack.
Wafa News Agency reported that in a plea bargain, the murder charges were dropped against the murder suspect, when he claimed that he was a minor at the time of the attack.
The Ministry asserted that the court was complicit in the cover up for the murderers, calling it a crime in itself, and proclaimed that this “encourages other colonists to carry on murdering innocent Palestinians.”
Calling on the International Criminal Court, the Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate investigation into Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians, claiming the Israeli judicial system has failed to provide justice for Palestinians under occupation, and is only used against them.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Prisoners Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, all strongly denounced the exoneration.
Several Palestinian organizations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, denounced Israeli court’s exoneration of a member of an extremist Jewish settler suspected of committing the murder of three members of the Palestinian Dawabsha family, in 2015.
The July 31, 2015 firebomb attack of the Dawabsha home in the occupied West Bank village of Douma, killed an 18-month-old Palestinian child and his parents in the fire, who were all burnt to death, while the older son survived the attack, suffering from severe burns.
The father Saad, 32, mother Reham, 27, and 18-month-old Ali were killed in the attack.
Wafa News Agency reported that in a plea bargain, the murder charges were dropped against the murder suspect, when he claimed that he was a minor at the time of the attack.
The Ministry asserted that the court was complicit in the cover up for the murderers, calling it a crime in itself, and proclaimed that this “encourages other colonists to carry on murdering innocent Palestinians.”
Calling on the International Criminal Court, the Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate investigation into Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians, claiming the Israeli judicial system has failed to provide justice for Palestinians under occupation, and is only used against them.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Prisoners Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, all strongly denounced the exoneration.
12 may 2019
Amiram Ben-Uliel, charged for the three murders
The unnamed young man, a minor during the 2015 arson attack that killed the Dawabsheh family, confessed to conspiring to commit a crime motivated by racism; prior confession to Shin Bet agents was disqualified as ruled extracted under duress
A deal signed Sunday between the State Prosecutor and an unnamed minor indicted for conspiring to the 2015 murder off Palestinian family clears the defendant of the murder conspiracy charge.
Riham and Saad Dawabsha were killed along with their 18-month-old son Ali in an arson attack on their West Bank home in July 2015. Their other son, Ahmed, who was then 5, was severely burned in the attack.
The plea bargain convicts the young man of conspiring to commit a crime motivated by racism. However, the indictment was amended to define the crime as arson, not murder, as stated in the original indictment.
The defendant confessed to the crime, and the state requested a prison sentence of five and a half years.
The defendant's' attorney, Adi Keidar of Honenu, a legal aid organization that helps Israelis accused of crimes against Palestinians, said that "the plea bargain and the indictment set a precedent for an Israeli court. It disqualifies the defendant's prior confession and determines it was collected from him using severe violence."
"The court criticized the Shin Bet security service and the State Prosecutor's Office (for their behavior)," said Keidar. "The new indictment is entirely different and has no trace of harming so much as a hair on a person's head. It is entirely unrelated to the murder in the village of Duma (of the Dawabsha family).
"It's time that the defendant tries to recover… We hope that one day, he'll be able to share the horrors he has been through during the Shin Bet investigations," said Keidar.
The State Prosecutor's Office said that the young man "wasn't charged of being involved in the murder scene to begin with, but rather with the planning of the attack," and added that "the defendant's distance from the scene makes it hard to prove an intention to kill, necessary to convict him of conspiring to murder."
The State added that the new indictment determines that the young man was a member of a terror organization.
On January 2016, the State Prosecutor's Office indicted the defendant, a resident of a West Bank settlement who was 17 at the time, for involvement in the murders of the Dawabshe family.
The unnamed defendant was originally indicted of conspiring to murder and for taking part in planning the crime. He was also indicted for six other crimes not related to the Duma murders.
Amiram Ben-Uliel, then 21, from Jerusalem, was directly charged with the murders of the Dawabshe family, and confessed to the crimes.
Ben-Uliel is currently held for 3 counts of murder for hurling a Molotov cocktail into the bedroom of the sleeping Dawabsheh family.
Ben-Uliel also faces two counts of attempted murder, arson and conspiring to commit a hate crime.
Both defendants denied the charges against them during trial, despite their confessions during the investigation, and Ben-Uliel's reenactment of the murder. Both claimed that confessions were extracted using violence.
On June 2018, the court determined that the confessions of the two men, made on a specific day during the investigation process, were extracted by force and would be disqualified. However, other parts of their testimony, collected on all other days of the investigation, remained eligible to be used in trial.
The unnamed young man, a minor during the 2015 arson attack that killed the Dawabsheh family, confessed to conspiring to commit a crime motivated by racism; prior confession to Shin Bet agents was disqualified as ruled extracted under duress
A deal signed Sunday between the State Prosecutor and an unnamed minor indicted for conspiring to the 2015 murder off Palestinian family clears the defendant of the murder conspiracy charge.
Riham and Saad Dawabsha were killed along with their 18-month-old son Ali in an arson attack on their West Bank home in July 2015. Their other son, Ahmed, who was then 5, was severely burned in the attack.
The plea bargain convicts the young man of conspiring to commit a crime motivated by racism. However, the indictment was amended to define the crime as arson, not murder, as stated in the original indictment.
The defendant confessed to the crime, and the state requested a prison sentence of five and a half years.
The defendant's' attorney, Adi Keidar of Honenu, a legal aid organization that helps Israelis accused of crimes against Palestinians, said that "the plea bargain and the indictment set a precedent for an Israeli court. It disqualifies the defendant's prior confession and determines it was collected from him using severe violence."
"The court criticized the Shin Bet security service and the State Prosecutor's Office (for their behavior)," said Keidar. "The new indictment is entirely different and has no trace of harming so much as a hair on a person's head. It is entirely unrelated to the murder in the village of Duma (of the Dawabsha family).
"It's time that the defendant tries to recover… We hope that one day, he'll be able to share the horrors he has been through during the Shin Bet investigations," said Keidar.
The State Prosecutor's Office said that the young man "wasn't charged of being involved in the murder scene to begin with, but rather with the planning of the attack," and added that "the defendant's distance from the scene makes it hard to prove an intention to kill, necessary to convict him of conspiring to murder."
The State added that the new indictment determines that the young man was a member of a terror organization.
On January 2016, the State Prosecutor's Office indicted the defendant, a resident of a West Bank settlement who was 17 at the time, for involvement in the murders of the Dawabshe family.
The unnamed defendant was originally indicted of conspiring to murder and for taking part in planning the crime. He was also indicted for six other crimes not related to the Duma murders.
Amiram Ben-Uliel, then 21, from Jerusalem, was directly charged with the murders of the Dawabshe family, and confessed to the crimes.
Ben-Uliel is currently held for 3 counts of murder for hurling a Molotov cocktail into the bedroom of the sleeping Dawabsheh family.
Ben-Uliel also faces two counts of attempted murder, arson and conspiring to commit a hate crime.
Both defendants denied the charges against them during trial, despite their confessions during the investigation, and Ben-Uliel's reenactment of the murder. Both claimed that confessions were extracted using violence.
On June 2018, the court determined that the confessions of the two men, made on a specific day during the investigation process, were extracted by force and would be disqualified. However, other parts of their testimony, collected on all other days of the investigation, remained eligible to be used in trial.
8 may 2019
An Israeli court released a settler involved in the killing of 48-year-old Palestinian mother of eight Aisha Mohammad al-Rabi, from the town of Bidya, in the north of the West Bank, and placed him under house arrest.
Rabi was killed in front of her husband and 9-year-old daughter when Israeli settlers threw rocks at the car she was in with her husband on a northern West Bank road on October 12, 2018. The husband was moderately injured.
The other four settlers were released in January of this year.
In July of 2015, legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset allowing sentencing, for up to 20 years, for someone convicted of throwing stones at vehicles, if intent to harm could be proven. However, the law allows the Israeli state to imprison someone for up to 10 years without proof of intent.
P.A Denounces The Release Of Israeli Who Killed Palestinian Woman
The Palestinian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement strongly denouncing the release of an illegal Israeli colonist who killed a Palestinian woman last year, and said the release resembles the biased Israel legal system and its lack of respect for Palestinian lives.
The Ministry said the release of the Israeli who killed ‘Aisha Mohammed al-Rabi, 47, October 12th of 2018, is yet another proof of the unfair Israeli legal system, and its discriminatory rulings.
It added that Israel continues to challenge International Law, and even its own laws, to justify and excuse deadly violence inflicted against the Palestinians, not only by its army, but also by the illegal colonists, living on occupied Palestinian lands.
It called on the International Criminal Court to act and open an official investigation into the ongoing Israeli crimes and violations against the Palestinian people, including the murder of al-‘Rabi.
The Ministry stated that while Israel inflicts the most severe punishment against the Palestinians, including collective punishment such as the demolition of homes and imposing very high prisoner terms, its same system pardons and releases Israeli murders who kill Palestinians, including women and children, and constantly attack their homes, property and even holy sites.
It added that such laws are racist, and are sending messages to Israeli colonists and soldiers to kill and hurt the Palestinians, and said that this was not the first time Israel released Israelis who murdered Palestinians without any cause or justification.
The Ministry also said that Israel is sending a clear message of hatred towards the Palestinians, and is encouraging racism and extremism.
It is worth mentioning that Aisha, a mother of eight children, was killed by a group of Israeli paramilitary settlers, who used large rocks to attack the car she was riding in with her husband.
Aisha was killed and her husband injured in the attack, which took place south of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank.
In July of 2015, legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset allowing sentencing, for up to 20 years, for someone convicted of throwing stones at vehicles, if intent to harm could be proven. However, the law allows the Israeli state to imprison someone for up to 10 years without proof of intent.
Rabi was killed in front of her husband and 9-year-old daughter when Israeli settlers threw rocks at the car she was in with her husband on a northern West Bank road on October 12, 2018. The husband was moderately injured.
The other four settlers were released in January of this year.
In July of 2015, legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset allowing sentencing, for up to 20 years, for someone convicted of throwing stones at vehicles, if intent to harm could be proven. However, the law allows the Israeli state to imprison someone for up to 10 years without proof of intent.
P.A Denounces The Release Of Israeli Who Killed Palestinian Woman
The Palestinian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement strongly denouncing the release of an illegal Israeli colonist who killed a Palestinian woman last year, and said the release resembles the biased Israel legal system and its lack of respect for Palestinian lives.
The Ministry said the release of the Israeli who killed ‘Aisha Mohammed al-Rabi, 47, October 12th of 2018, is yet another proof of the unfair Israeli legal system, and its discriminatory rulings.
It added that Israel continues to challenge International Law, and even its own laws, to justify and excuse deadly violence inflicted against the Palestinians, not only by its army, but also by the illegal colonists, living on occupied Palestinian lands.
It called on the International Criminal Court to act and open an official investigation into the ongoing Israeli crimes and violations against the Palestinian people, including the murder of al-‘Rabi.
The Ministry stated that while Israel inflicts the most severe punishment against the Palestinians, including collective punishment such as the demolition of homes and imposing very high prisoner terms, its same system pardons and releases Israeli murders who kill Palestinians, including women and children, and constantly attack their homes, property and even holy sites.
It added that such laws are racist, and are sending messages to Israeli colonists and soldiers to kill and hurt the Palestinians, and said that this was not the first time Israel released Israelis who murdered Palestinians without any cause or justification.
The Ministry also said that Israel is sending a clear message of hatred towards the Palestinians, and is encouraging racism and extremism.
It is worth mentioning that Aisha, a mother of eight children, was killed by a group of Israeli paramilitary settlers, who used large rocks to attack the car she was riding in with her husband.
Aisha was killed and her husband injured in the attack, which took place south of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank.
In July of 2015, legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset allowing sentencing, for up to 20 years, for someone convicted of throwing stones at vehicles, if intent to harm could be proven. However, the law allows the Israeli state to imprison someone for up to 10 years without proof of intent.
