27 dec 2019
After a fifteen-year legal battle in the corridors of the Israeli courts of various degrees, the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee has obtained a decision to evacuate a number of Israeli settlers from Al-Bakri building, in the Tel Rumeida area, in the Old City District of Hebron.
The case was considered by the Court of Magistrates, the Central Court, Supreme Court and Military Appeals Committee. HRC adopted the case through its legal unit and started proceedings to evict the Israeli settlers from the building in 2005.
Emad Hamdan, General Director of the HRC, confirmed that the diligent follow-up, by the legal unit of the case, and its continuing challenge to the Israeli policy of taking over Palestinian property, led to the success achieved.
Tawfeeq Jahshin, HRC’s Advocate, stated that a special investigator was commissioned to identify the settlers squatting the building. They said that they took over the building and had left it for a long time. They also claimed that an Israeli Real Estate Firm purchased the building and used it after they had left.
Since then, the parties to the case changed and the lawfare was therefore submitted in 2006, whereby another case was filed against the Israeli firm (Tal). It alleged that it had purchased the building, and so the Court of Magistrate demanded that the case be filed with a competent Central Court, the proceedings of which lasted for years.
After a long struggle, it was proved that all the deeds presented by the Israeli settlers were fake. In light of this, the Central Court confirmed that the Al-Bakri building belongs to the Al-Bakri Family, but Israeli settlers appealed the ruling before the Supreme Court, which endorsed the decision of the Central Court in 2014.
Before this, Israeli settlers filed a lawsuit with the Court of Magistrates, demanding that they be allowed to buy the building, and so the decision of the Supreme Court was put on hold. The proceedings of the Court of Magistrates were also lengthy, lasting for years. Prior to completion of the litigation proceedings, the settlers filed another lawsuit with the Central Court in which they alleged that part of the land on which the building is erected is Jewish endowment.
This case was dropped since it was not duly filed. The Court of Magistrates proceedings continued and it was decided to evict and fine them in 45 days, while the Supreme Court proceedings were still at their beginning. The settlers appealed the decision, and Israeli courts kept procrastinating the litigation proceedings, to lengthen the settlers’ control of the building and force the HRC to retreat.
After all of this legal processing, which lasted for a total of fifteen years, the Central Court turned over the settlers’ appeal and decided on eviction, in addition to fining them against their stay in the building.
PNN further notes that the decision to evict the Israeli settlers offers a ray of hope amidst the bleak conditions facing the Old City of Hebron, because of Israel’s colonial policies and decisions by the Israeli government to build a settlement outpost in different sites of the Old City, including Al-Hisba and the Old Garage lands.
The Legal Unit of HRC challenges all the decisions taken by the Israeli government against Hebron and continues to do so in light of the complicated political situation. Director General of HRC, Emad Hamdan, and Advocate Samer Shihada thanked the Legal Unit for its diligence in following up on this case and others of equal relevance.
The case was considered by the Court of Magistrates, the Central Court, Supreme Court and Military Appeals Committee. HRC adopted the case through its legal unit and started proceedings to evict the Israeli settlers from the building in 2005.
Emad Hamdan, General Director of the HRC, confirmed that the diligent follow-up, by the legal unit of the case, and its continuing challenge to the Israeli policy of taking over Palestinian property, led to the success achieved.
Tawfeeq Jahshin, HRC’s Advocate, stated that a special investigator was commissioned to identify the settlers squatting the building. They said that they took over the building and had left it for a long time. They also claimed that an Israeli Real Estate Firm purchased the building and used it after they had left.
Since then, the parties to the case changed and the lawfare was therefore submitted in 2006, whereby another case was filed against the Israeli firm (Tal). It alleged that it had purchased the building, and so the Court of Magistrate demanded that the case be filed with a competent Central Court, the proceedings of which lasted for years.
After a long struggle, it was proved that all the deeds presented by the Israeli settlers were fake. In light of this, the Central Court confirmed that the Al-Bakri building belongs to the Al-Bakri Family, but Israeli settlers appealed the ruling before the Supreme Court, which endorsed the decision of the Central Court in 2014.
Before this, Israeli settlers filed a lawsuit with the Court of Magistrates, demanding that they be allowed to buy the building, and so the decision of the Supreme Court was put on hold. The proceedings of the Court of Magistrates were also lengthy, lasting for years. Prior to completion of the litigation proceedings, the settlers filed another lawsuit with the Central Court in which they alleged that part of the land on which the building is erected is Jewish endowment.
This case was dropped since it was not duly filed. The Court of Magistrates proceedings continued and it was decided to evict and fine them in 45 days, while the Supreme Court proceedings were still at their beginning. The settlers appealed the decision, and Israeli courts kept procrastinating the litigation proceedings, to lengthen the settlers’ control of the building and force the HRC to retreat.
After all of this legal processing, which lasted for a total of fifteen years, the Central Court turned over the settlers’ appeal and decided on eviction, in addition to fining them against their stay in the building.
PNN further notes that the decision to evict the Israeli settlers offers a ray of hope amidst the bleak conditions facing the Old City of Hebron, because of Israel’s colonial policies and decisions by the Israeli government to build a settlement outpost in different sites of the Old City, including Al-Hisba and the Old Garage lands.
The Legal Unit of HRC challenges all the decisions taken by the Israeli government against Hebron and continues to do so in light of the complicated political situation. Director General of HRC, Emad Hamdan, and Advocate Samer Shihada thanked the Legal Unit for its diligence in following up on this case and others of equal relevance.
24 dec 2019
The indictment against Shalom Hazan says he groomed two boys and two girls at his synagogue, groped and kissed them on multiple occasions; the community rabbi maintains he treated the children 'like a loving grandfather'
A Jerusalem rabbi was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing at least four children at his synagogue.
The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday sentenced Shalom Hazan, a community rabbi in the capital, for committing indecent acts with children under 16.
Hazan was convicted for abusing two boys and two girls, aged 6-12, whom he met at his synagogue where they assisted him with chores and studied Torah. He was ordered to compensate the victims with a sum of NIS 40,000.
The indictment against Hazan was filed nearly a year ago and detailed the manner in which the rabbi groomed the victims and sexually exploited them.
According to the indictment, he sat the children down on his knees, groped them and kissed them on multiple occasions. He then bribed the children money and gifts in order to keep them from speaking up about the ordeal.
During the trial, Hazan maintained that he did not harm the children and treated them “like a loving grandfather.”
"A community rabbi who is supposed to support and comfort to the general public, including parents and children, has turned into an abuser,” said Attorney Shimrit Wolf of the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office following the sentencing.
“He bought the children gifts, he developed this method and used it to hurt child after child,” she said. “The defendant took advantage of his power and status, the admiration the children felt for him, thereby violating their rights."
A Jerusalem rabbi was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing at least four children at his synagogue.
The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday sentenced Shalom Hazan, a community rabbi in the capital, for committing indecent acts with children under 16.
Hazan was convicted for abusing two boys and two girls, aged 6-12, whom he met at his synagogue where they assisted him with chores and studied Torah. He was ordered to compensate the victims with a sum of NIS 40,000.
The indictment against Hazan was filed nearly a year ago and detailed the manner in which the rabbi groomed the victims and sexually exploited them.
According to the indictment, he sat the children down on his knees, groped them and kissed them on multiple occasions. He then bribed the children money and gifts in order to keep them from speaking up about the ordeal.
During the trial, Hazan maintained that he did not harm the children and treated them “like a loving grandfather.”
"A community rabbi who is supposed to support and comfort to the general public, including parents and children, has turned into an abuser,” said Attorney Shimrit Wolf of the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office following the sentencing.
“He bought the children gifts, he developed this method and used it to hurt child after child,” she said. “The defendant took advantage of his power and status, the admiration the children felt for him, thereby violating their rights."
Israeli bulldozers on Tuesday embarked on leveling lands in southern Nablus to expand the illegal settlements of Shilo and Shvut Rachel.
Local official Ghassan Daghlas said that settlers started to carry out large-scale bulldozing activities on Palestinian lands in Jalud village to build more housing units as part of a plan to expand the settlements of Shilo and Shvut Rachel.
Such development has taken place despite an Israeli court decision issued last year ordering a halt to all construction and expansion activities in the area, Daghlas affirmed.
He added that the Israeli higher court of justice are still studying an objection to the plan filed by the municipal councils of Jalud and Qaryut villages, where vast tracts of lands were annexed by Israel to expand the settlements.
Local official Ghassan Daghlas said that settlers started to carry out large-scale bulldozing activities on Palestinian lands in Jalud village to build more housing units as part of a plan to expand the settlements of Shilo and Shvut Rachel.
Such development has taken place despite an Israeli court decision issued last year ordering a halt to all construction and expansion activities in the area, Daghlas affirmed.
He added that the Israeli higher court of justice are still studying an objection to the plan filed by the municipal councils of Jalud and Qaryut villages, where vast tracts of lands were annexed by Israel to expand the settlements.
26 nov 2019
Human Rights Watch will keep documenting abuses despite the Israeli government’s expulsion of the Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch on November 25, 2019.
The deportation reflects the authorities’ intensifying assault on human rights. The director, Omar Shakir, will depart tonight after Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the government’s deportation order on November 5 and gave him until November 25 to leave.
Human Rights Watch’s work on human rights abuses committed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas will continue under Shakir’s direction. He will be based in another Human Rights Watch office in the region, PNN reports.
“Israel today joins the likes of Venezuela, Iran, and Egypt in barring Human Rights Watch researchers, but it, too, will not succeed in hiding its human rights abuses,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, who will accompany Shakir as he leaves Israel.
“This decision shows why the international community must reboot its approach to Israel’s deteriorating human rights record. A government that expels a leading human rights investigator is not likely to stop its systematic oppression of Palestinians under occupation without much greater international pressure.”
Israel revoked the work visa of Shakir, a United States citizen, in May 2018 on the asserted grounds that his advocacy violated a 2017 law that bars entry to people who advocate a boycott of Israel or its settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Neither Human Rights Watch nor Shakir as its representative has ever called for a boycott of Israel.
Human Rights Watch has urged businesses to stop operating in illegal settlements as part of their global duty to avoid complicity in human rights abuses – just as it calls on businesses to comply with this duty in many other countries.
A district court in April, and then the Israeli Supreme Court, found that this position constitutes grounds for deportation under an expansive reading of the 2017 law.
The Supreme Court did not address Human Rights Watch’s challenge to the constitutionality of that law, including the implications that it will chill the speech of those who disagree with government policies.
Recently, Israeli authorities have sought to undermine the work of human rights activists, including denying entry to a number of other international rights defenders, maligning Israeli rights advocates, imposing burdensome financial reporting requirements on them, and raiding the offices of and arresting Palestinian rights defenders.
In October, Israeli authorities prevented an Amnesty International staff member from traveling out of the occupied West Bank for undisclosed “security reasons.”
This is the first time the government has used the 2017 law to try to deport someone who is lawfully inside Israel and the first time it has ordered a Human Rights Watch staff member to leave in the organization’s 30 years of working in the country.
“Today, Israel deports Shakir because Human Rights Watch urges businesses to shun illegal settlements,” said Roth. “Who’s next – someone who calls for the International Criminal Court to examine possible crimes in Israel and Palestine or correctly calls the West Bank ‘occupied’ rather than ‘disputed’?”
The deportation reflects the authorities’ intensifying assault on human rights. The director, Omar Shakir, will depart tonight after Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the government’s deportation order on November 5 and gave him until November 25 to leave.
Human Rights Watch’s work on human rights abuses committed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas will continue under Shakir’s direction. He will be based in another Human Rights Watch office in the region, PNN reports.
“Israel today joins the likes of Venezuela, Iran, and Egypt in barring Human Rights Watch researchers, but it, too, will not succeed in hiding its human rights abuses,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, who will accompany Shakir as he leaves Israel.
“This decision shows why the international community must reboot its approach to Israel’s deteriorating human rights record. A government that expels a leading human rights investigator is not likely to stop its systematic oppression of Palestinians under occupation without much greater international pressure.”
Israel revoked the work visa of Shakir, a United States citizen, in May 2018 on the asserted grounds that his advocacy violated a 2017 law that bars entry to people who advocate a boycott of Israel or its settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Neither Human Rights Watch nor Shakir as its representative has ever called for a boycott of Israel.
Human Rights Watch has urged businesses to stop operating in illegal settlements as part of their global duty to avoid complicity in human rights abuses – just as it calls on businesses to comply with this duty in many other countries.
A district court in April, and then the Israeli Supreme Court, found that this position constitutes grounds for deportation under an expansive reading of the 2017 law.
The Supreme Court did not address Human Rights Watch’s challenge to the constitutionality of that law, including the implications that it will chill the speech of those who disagree with government policies.
Recently, Israeli authorities have sought to undermine the work of human rights activists, including denying entry to a number of other international rights defenders, maligning Israeli rights advocates, imposing burdensome financial reporting requirements on them, and raiding the offices of and arresting Palestinian rights defenders.
In October, Israeli authorities prevented an Amnesty International staff member from traveling out of the occupied West Bank for undisclosed “security reasons.”
This is the first time the government has used the 2017 law to try to deport someone who is lawfully inside Israel and the first time it has ordered a Human Rights Watch staff member to leave in the organization’s 30 years of working in the country.
“Today, Israel deports Shakir because Human Rights Watch urges businesses to shun illegal settlements,” said Roth. “Who’s next – someone who calls for the International Criminal Court to examine possible crimes in Israel and Palestine or correctly calls the West Bank ‘occupied’ rather than ‘disputed’?”
25 nov 2019
The Hamas Movement has condemned the Israeli court approval of claims filed against Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, describing the decision as “unfair and politically motivated.”
In a press release on Sunday, Hamas said the court decision was a chain in the link of the Israeli targeting of the Aqsa Mosque and its defenders.
Hamas lauded Sheikh Salah as being at the vanguard of those defending the Aqsa Mosque and for being steadfast in the face of Israel’s persecution.
The Movement expressed its belief that the Israeli occupation’s efforts to detain and banish Aqsa Mosque defenders would not succeed in besieging and Judaizing the Islamic holy site, affirming that the Palestinian people would keep defending their holy sites regardless of the sacrifices.
It called for serious action by the international human rights groups and the Arab and Islamic countries to protect the Aqsa Mosque and those defending it.
In a press release on Sunday, Hamas said the court decision was a chain in the link of the Israeli targeting of the Aqsa Mosque and its defenders.
Hamas lauded Sheikh Salah as being at the vanguard of those defending the Aqsa Mosque and for being steadfast in the face of Israel’s persecution.
The Movement expressed its belief that the Israeli occupation’s efforts to detain and banish Aqsa Mosque defenders would not succeed in besieging and Judaizing the Islamic holy site, affirming that the Palestinian people would keep defending their holy sites regardless of the sacrifices.
It called for serious action by the international human rights groups and the Arab and Islamic countries to protect the Aqsa Mosque and those defending it.
The Israeli magistrate court in Haifa on Sunday convicted Sheikh Ra’ed Salah of incitement and supporting the banned northern branch of the Islamic Movement.
A court verdict is yet to be issued against Sheikh Salah following his conviction.
Sheikh Salah, an iconic Aqsa Mosque defender, was surrounded by supporters as he arrived at the court on Sunday, including by lawmakers from the Joint List of four mostly-Arab parties.
Following the ruling, Salah’s backers chanted “We’ll sacrifice our lives for Aqsa,” according to the Ynet news website. video
Salah was head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, which Israel banned in 2015 over alleged links to Palestinian resistance groups and other claims.
A court verdict is yet to be issued against Sheikh Salah following his conviction.
Sheikh Salah, an iconic Aqsa Mosque defender, was surrounded by supporters as he arrived at the court on Sunday, including by lawmakers from the Joint List of four mostly-Arab parties.
Following the ruling, Salah’s backers chanted “We’ll sacrifice our lives for Aqsa,” according to the Ynet news website. video
Salah was head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, which Israel banned in 2015 over alleged links to Palestinian resistance groups and other claims.
