Levy Committee Report Denies Occupation of West Bank
Validate Settlements, Israeli Panel Suggests – July 9, 2012 (New York Times)
Flouting international opinion, an Israeli government-appointed commission of jurists said Monday that Israel’s presence in the West Bank was not occupation and recommended that the state grant approval for scores of unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts there.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said that the report’s conclusions were “legally unfounded and their purpose is to authorize and deepen the injustice that Israeli governments are performing in the Occupied Territories in the past 45 years.”
Panel suggests legalising Israel settler outposts: media – July 9, 2012 (AFP)
“Since 1967, consecutive Israeli governments held a steadfast and unequivocal position that the occupied territories are being held in belligerent occupation… and they do not constitute a part of the State of Israel,” Tamar Feldman of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said in a statement.
“There is complete agreement on this matter between Israel and the rest of the world, and rejecting this position — through a committee appointed by the prime minister — is outrageous.”
Netanyahu: Levy report findings ‘merit serious examination’
July 10, 2012 (Israel Hayom)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said the report’s conclusions “are legally unfounded and authorize a regime of institutionalized discrimination that has been in place for 45 years.”
Attorney Tamar Feldman, director of ACRI’s human rights in the territories department, said, “The settlement enterprise created a wrongful situation of absolute preference, in all areas of life, to the interests of settlers over those of Palestinians, while appropriating the land and water resources of the occupied population and injuring this population’s most basic rights.”
The Perpetual Motion of the Occupation – July 3, 2012 (Huffington Post, editorial by ACRI Executive Director Hagai El-Ad)
Perhaps the occupation is in fact an alternative reality unfettered by the rules of physics. Many have marveled at our ability to bend the rule of law on that other side of the Green Line, as epitomized by the tortured heuristics of the government’s increasingly absurd arguments before the Supreme Court. Now, however, it seems even the most fundamental of laws — the laws of the universe — are suffering the same fate, fluttering in the wind over the hills of Samaria. Miraculously, right here in the Occupied Territories, we have succeeded in building what so many thought to be impossible: a perpetual motion machine. All that stands between us and the Nobel (for Physics, of course) are those pesky Palestinians who don’t know progress when they see it.
Violations of Freedom of Expression and Protest
Petition: Tel Aviv municipality using red tape to stifle Israel’s social protest – July 3, 2012 (Haaretz)
The Association of Civil Rights in Israel and five leaders of the social protest petitioned the Tel Aviv district court on Tuesday, demanding that the municipality drop its demand to receive a permit to erect tents in the city.
Attorney Sharona Eliahu Chai of ACRI told Haaretz that “the Tel Aviv Municipality is loading the protestors with unnecessary bureaucracy, without legal authority, and the practical result of this action is severe damage to freedom of expression. There’s a huge difference between preventing nuisances and demanding endless permits from those who wish to express legal protest. If this policy was applied last summer, the social protest wouldn’t have been possible.”
Attorney Avner Pinchuk, also of ACRI, added that “the association is familiar with cases where supervisors evacuated tents, when these were critical of mayors and heads of local councils. There have already been efforts to stifle local protests when these cause inconvenience to the local authorities. If the court recognizes this illegal policy of evacuating tents only because they lacked permits from the municipality, it will be a death blow to all forms of protest. The average citizen cannot purchase huge advertisement spaces and cannot always deal with local bureaucracy. Tents, placards and expressions of protest – are all basic rights in democratic states.”
‘Social Protest’ Activists Sue over TA Policy – July 3, 2012 (Arutz Sheva)
Activists coordinating the “social protest” in Tel Aviv have filed an appeal to the regional court demanding to be allowed to put up tents. The city of Tel Aviv should be allowed to remove tents that cause a serious disturbance, they said, but not to dismantle any tent put up without authorization.
The activists, represented by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), argued that allowing municipal workers to take down any unauthorized tent would give them undue control over the protest.
Does Big Brother have a pet ‘Raccoon’ watching you? – July 1, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
If you were walking through Tel Aviv on Saturday night in the smaller, alternative march that broke off from the main social justice demonstration, you may have been photographed by one of the IDF’s state-of-the-art field reconnaissance and surveillance vehicles.
Attorney Avner Pinchuk of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said that “Israel has long used aggressive means to suppress demonstrations in the occupied territories, and last night we saw the use of similar tactics in Tel Aviv, where an armored surveillance vehicle was present at the social justice demonstration. The presence of such a vehicle has an obvious chilling effect on the freedom of expression.”
Palestinians face the real police violence – with no right to demonstrate – July 3, 2012 (Haaretz, editorial by ACRI Attorney Raghad Jaraisy)
Difficult questions about the thin line between legitimate protest and disturbing the peace have been raised by demonstrations organized by Israel’s social protest movement and the methods used to police these events raise. What makes a protest legitimate? Is it the measure of ‘righteousness’ inherent in the cause? Or is it just a permit to demonstrate authorized by the police? And what makes a protest ‘just’? Does justice exist only in the eye of the beholder? Or in the eyes of the political camps that we identify with? Are there any objective criteria for what constitutes a ‘good’ reason to demonstrate?
Be’er Sheva police made protesters promise not to denigrate Israel’s name – July 5, 2012 (Haaretz)
The permit, signed by station chief Tomer Badash, was for the demonstration held in the southern city on May 12, one of many around the country. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel says the conditions violate the right to freedom of expression.
“We hope there is no need to explain that the freedoms of expression and demonstration also include the freedom to use expressions ‘that damage Israel’s name,'” ACRI attorney Sharona Eliahu-Chai wrote in a letter to Shaul Gordon, legal adviser to the Israel Police.
Unacceptable conditions – July 6, 2012 (Haaretz)
Particularly grave is that the list of restrictive conditions in Be’er Sheva was signed by the commander of one of the city’s police stations, Tomer Badash. As the Association for Civil Rights in Israel noted in a letter to the police, this was not a case of “a junior policeman who exercised faulty judgment in a pressured situation, but a station commander acting after calm reflection in a way that completely violates his function and exceeds his authority.”
Think before shooting – July 7, 2012 (Jerusalem Post, editorial by Director of ACRI’s Social and Economic Rights Department, Attorney Tali Nir)
Many consider the establishment of local patrol units a good solution to the recent crime wave, since such patrols will provide more eyes on the ground and more tools to deal with the problem. But before we hurry to fill the streets with uniformed patrols, we should stop and consider whether such good intentions won’t actually bring us more incidents of violence.
Exemption from Documenting Security Interrogations Is Extended
Israel extends law exempting security forces from documenting investigations of terror suspects – July 3, 2012 (Haaretz)
Representatives of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Public Defender’s Office opposed the extension, insisted that there is utmost importance in such documentation. Attorney Lila Margalit of ACRI and Rachel Daniely of the Public Defender’s Office argued that the exemption request for all security investigations is unbalanced and too comprehensive.
ACRI submitted a document to the committee explaining the utmost importance of documenting security investigations, not only for the purpose of guaranteeing the credibility of confessions, but also for promising a proper investigation and preventing unacceptable investigation methods.
Knesset extends legislation that facilitates torture – July 8, 2012 (+972 Magazine)
The security establishment pushed hard to make the law permanent; Haaretz reports that opposition by two of the democratic-leaning Likud members, Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan, as well as human rights organizations like ACRI resulted in the compromise of a temporary extension. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel wrote in a statement that:
In security-related offenses, full documentation is all the more necessary. This, both because of the increased concern for wrongful pressure in such interrogations and because of other authorities – such as preventing a suspect from meeting with an attorney for a long period of time – that are often invoked in such cases and prevent a minimal external monitoring of these interrogations. Enabling these interrogations without visual documentation severely injures a long list of the basic rights of the suspect: the right to dignity, to bodily integrity, to due process, to liberty, and to equality. It also stands in contradiction to Israel’s obligations, under international law, to act in order to prevent torture and to maintain the dignity of arrestees.
Proposed Bill to Limit Palestinians’ Ability to Sue Israeli Authorities for Damages
Proposed bill would limit Palestinians’ ability to sue Israel – July 9, 2012 (Israel Hayom)
The Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee is planning in coming weeks to discuss a bill meant to restrict Palestinians’ abilities to sue the State of Israel for physical injury or property damage they suffer due to actions by the Israeli Defense Forces.
[…] The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, as well as rights groups such as Adalah and Hamoked, have all stated that Israel’s High Court already ruled that the bill was unconstitutional in 2006. The organizations have asked the committee members to oppose the bill as it circumvents the High Court’s ruling. They said that if the bill was passed, “it will place Israel’s executive branch and its armed forces above the law and will exempt them from the scrutiny of the judicial system and from any form of accountability. The bill challenges the court’s authority and prevents any legal discussion regarding the violation of basic human rights by the government.”
Bill that Would Limit Palestinian’s Ability to Sue Israel to be Discussed – July 9, 2012 (Algemeiner)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, as well as rights groups such as Adalah and Hamoked, have all stated that Israel’s High Court already ruled that the bill was unconstitutional in 2006. The organizations have asked the committee members to oppose the bill.
The Public Housing Crisis
Once a mighty stream, Israel’s public housing has dried to a trickle – July 16, 2012 (Haaretz)
“The Housing Ministry’s basic criterion, which prevents it from granting aid to anyone who has owned an apartment since 1972, is a draconian condition,” said attorney Gil Gan-Mor of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. “We’ve asked it several times to abolish this requirement, but without success. The state doesn’t care whether you’ve lost your assets or if you need help today. The very fact that you owned an apartment or part of one in the past disqualifies you from receiving assistance.”
Poverty and Neglect in East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem Suffers Economic Tailspin – July 8, 2012 (Forward)
According to a new report by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and to interviews conducted by the Forward with residents in four neighborhoods, East Jerusalem, an area annexed to Israel on June 27, 1967, and declared part of its “eternal, undivided capital,” has fallen to unprecedented levels of poverty. The political and physical barriers separating it from the West Bank are viewed as a primary cause. Nearly 80% of East Jerusalem Palestinians now live below the Israeli government poverty line, according to figures cited in the ACRI report, up from 64% six years ago.
[…] The consequences of Israeli policy are evident in Palestinian neighborhoods. According to ACRI figures released in May, housing density in Arab neighborhoods is almost twice that of Jewish neighborhoods. The lack of available land forces many Palestinians to build homes where they can without first obtaining a building permit. Alternatively, Palestinians feel forced to leave the city and relocate to the West Bank, whereupon they lose the special residency status that gives them the right to enter Jerusalem freely as Palestinians.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians suffer from water supply disruptions in East Jerusalem – July 11, 2012 (Haaretz)
For the past month the water supply to tens of thousands of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem has been sporadic, at times no more than two days a week. […] On Monday, attorney Nisreen Alyan of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel sent a letter to the head of Gihon demanding a resolution of the water supply problem in the areas under the municipal corporation’s jurisdiction.
“The right to water is a basic right,” says Alyan. “It is incumbent on the authorities that govern the area to supply this basic right, especially during the summer. The disregard of the fact that entire neighborhoods are not linked to the water network is unacceptable.”
Human Trafficking in Israel
Israel Improves Human Trafficking Record – July 6, 2012 (Forward)
From nailing pimps to cracking down on forced labor, Israel is doing a much better job of preventing so-called human trafficking, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of State.
[…] While all sides active on the issue praise the actions already taken, NGOs providing protection and help to foreigners in Israel think the State Department’s upgrade was too soon and that important work still needs to be done.
“Nothing happened to justify this,” wrote Oded Feller, an attorney from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, in a mass email to activists. He noted recent legislation allowing bondage of caregiving workers to their employers, lack of prevention of forced labor trafficking and maltreatment of asylum seekers who fall prey to criminals in the Sinai desert as problems that still plague the treatment of trafficking victims.
