Protect the Protest in Palestine & Israel

Dear friends,

Since 7 October 2023, Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI) have faced increased political repression, including a severe crackdown on their freedoms of expression and assembly. A coordinated effort by government offices, Israeli institutions, and far-right groups, this crackdown aims to intimidate and silence PCI who criticize the ongoing genocidal attacks on the Gaza Strip. Measures employed include: unlawful arrests and detentions, a ban on solidarity protests, and attacks on students’ speech and faculty’s academic freedom at universities and colleges.

Israeli authorities have accused hundreds of individuals of “supporting terrorist organizations” or engaging in “incitement to terrorism” for participating in protests and boycotts and for expressing their opinions on social media platforms. Under Israel’s 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law, these two offenses mandate punishment by five years’ and three years’ imprisonment, respectively. The posts, interactions, and other means of expression largely fall within the rights protected by freedom of expression under international law. Criminalized speech includes opposition to the targeting of civilians in Gaza, expressions of sympathy for the Palestinian people in Gaza, opposition to collective punishment and war crimes, or simply the dissemination of news about Gaza.
 
From 7 October 2023 to 27 March 2024, the Israeli police arrested 401 individuals for speech-related offenses under Article 24 of the Counter-Terrorism Law – the vast majority of whom were PCI and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. In addition to these arrests, Israeli police have interrogated hundreds of Palestinians based on their social media activity and other forms of expression, and detained others for allegedly “disturbing the peace” under Israel’s Penal Code. Israel Police have indicted more than 160 people for incitement to terrorism, and Israeli courts have convicted more than 20 people as of late June 2024.

In November 2023, the Israeli Knesset amended the Counter-Terrorism Law to criminalize the “consumption of terrorist materials”.  At the same time, the Israeli parliamentarians have introduced several bills, some of which are currently in advanced stages of legislation, to expand the scope of the Counter-Terrorism Law and to otherwise criminalize expressive behavior of PCI and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. For example, one proposed amendment to the Law would lower the evidentiary threshold for establishing the offense of incitement while also introducing a new offense that prohibits any praise, sympathy, or identification with a person who committed a terrorist act. Another bill would allow for the revocation of citizenship and residency status of people convicted of an offense under the Counter-Terrorism Law.
 
Since the start of the war, Adalah has been at the forefront of defending PCI against violations of their right to free speech. Adalah has provided legal counsel and direct representation to protestors detained for participating in peaceful demonstrations, handling dozens of such cases. Additionally, Adalah has defended PCI arrested for expressing their views on social media.

Furthermore, Adalah has represented 95 Palestinian students from 34 Israeli academic institutions in disciplinary proceedings initiated in response to complaints from far-right Jewish Israeli student groups and individuals. One of the most prominent cases involved R.M., a Palestinian citizen of Israel and a student at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology who was suspended from her studies and later arrested for her social media posts. The New York Times featured an extensive article on R.M.'s case, highlighting the broader crackdown by Israeli authorities and institutions on PCI's freedom of speech.

Read: How Four Posts on Instagram Destroyed Her Life, The New York Times, 3 November 2024

Thank you for supporting Adalah’s work at this very critical time.

In solidarity,

The Adalah team.

Dear Friends,

Since the outbreak of the War on 7 October 2023, the Israeli police have initiated an unprecedented number of unlawful arrests and detentions of Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI). The state's actions, aimed at suppressing their freedom of speech and Palestinian identity, have targeted PCI protesting on the streets or online, primarily in support of Palestinian civilians – facing mass killing, injury, starvation, property destruction and more by the Israeli military - in Gaza.

One of the most serious protest cases that Adalah is dealing with concerns that of A.K. and M.J. On 19 October 2023, the police arrested 11 PCI protestors, including four minors, from the Arab town of Umm Al-Fahem during a demonstration against the Israeli war on Gaza. The police forcefully dispersed the protest, reportedly using rubber bullets and stun grenades. Within the next three days, following legal representation by Adalah and volunteer lawyers, the courts released all the detainees except for two human rights defenders, A.K., who is also a well-known lawyer, and M.J.

On 6 November 2023, the state prosecutor indicted A.K. and M.J. – the organizers of the protest - for "incitement to terrorism" and “identifying with a terrorist organization” under Israel’s 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law, requesting their detention without bond until the conclusion of proceedings. The state initiated these charges solely based on their participation in the protest and the slogans they chanted, which have been commonly used during PCI demonstrations for decades.

On 11 January 2024, the Haifa Magistrate's Court decided to release A.K. to house arrest, acknowledging his positive role as a social activist in his community. "[He had been a] social activist, in the positive sense of the term, in his city, involved in efforts to reduce violence in Arab society, working with youth, and had not been involved in any criminal events”, the Magistrate's Court ruled. However, the Israeli prosecution appealed to the Haifa District Court, which, on 15 January 2024, overturned the lower court’s decision and ruled to detain A.K. until the conclusion of all proceedings. A.K.'s legal team, consisting of Adalah and a private attorney from the Human Rights Defenders Fund, appealed this decision to the Israeli Supreme Court (SCT). The legal team argued int the appeal that the District Court based its decision on irrelevant considerations and erred in ascribing ideological motivations to A.K's actions, as the slogans fall under the freedom of expression, and do not amount to criminal incitement. On 7 February 2024, the SCT overturned the District Court's decision, ordering the release of A.K. after three and a half months of detention.

M.J. was released after eight months in prison. On 16 June 2024, the Haifa District Court rejected the state prosecution's appeal against the Magistrates' Court decision to release him to house arrest with conditions, in Zalafa, an Arab village near his hometown of Umm Al-Fahem. The Magistrate's Court's decision followed a request submitted by Adalah to reconsider its earlier decision to detain M.J until the end of the proceedings. The Magistrate's Court acknowledged the long and harsh conditions of his imprisonment and noted that his time served was close to the expected sentence for such cases, contrary to the prosecution's claims that a harsher sentence would be imposed in this case.

Following their indictment, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) held A.K. and M.J. in Israeli detention facilities under extremely dire conditions. The already poor conditions for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in security wings of Israeli prisons have deteriorated alarmingly since the start of the war. Palestinian prisoners face severe overcrowding, brutal treatment by guards, denial of family visits, prolonged delays for lawyer visits, and inadequate food and access to hygiene items. A.K. also reported being verbally abused and witnessed other prisoners being physically abused by the guards.

A.K and M.J.’s arrests for protest activities, along with their prolonged detention and criminal indictment under the Counter-Terrorism Law, violate their rights and pose a significant threat to free speech and peaceful assembly for all Palestinians in Israel. The authorities aim to deter all dissent by creating such a chilling effect on speech among the broader Palestinian population in Israel. The state’s policy of requesting detention until the conclusion of legal proceedings is designed to act as a harsh deterrent for any PCI who considers protesting against the War.

Adalah continues to represent A.K. and M.J.

Thank you for your continued support for Adalah’s work at this very critical time.

The Adalah team.