Justice and Human Rights Israel Project #22542

Protect the Protest in Palestine & Israel

by Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

Protect the Protest in Palestine & Israel

Project Report | Oct 27, 2023
Israeli Police Impose Sweeping Ban on Protests against Offensive on Gaza

By Ranna Khalil | Researcher

Umm al-Fahm protest. Photo: Muhammad Khalilieh

Police carried out illegal arrests following protests against Israel’s war crimes against civilians in Gaza. Adalah: Directive by Israeli Police Commissioner to prohibit protests is illegal and incites against the Palestinian Citizens of Israel.

Demonstrations against Israel’s offensive on Gaza were dispersed with brutal force by Israeli police in the towns of Haifa and Umm al-Fahm on 18 and 19 October 2023. During the two protests, the police arrested 17 Palestinian citizens of Israel, including minors.

These events followed a directive by the Israeli Police Commissioner to reject all permits for demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Commissioner made this directive public on 17 October 2023 during a briefing in which he also stated that "Anyone who wants to identify with Gaza is welcome, I will put them on buses now that are headed there and I will help him get there [to Gaza]”. The police widely circulated a video of the Commissioner's briefing (with Arabic subtitles) online, emphasizing the aforementioned comment. In response, Adalah sent an urgent letter to the Police Commissioner and to Israel's Attorney General demanding the immediate cancellation of the Commissioner's illegal directive.

CLICK HERE to read more about the video and Adalah’s letter

The following day, on 18 October 2023, hours before a planned demonstration in Haifa against Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, the police issued a statement that the protest did not have a permit, and that the police “will take a firm hand, subject to the law, to disperse the demonstration, including using mass dispersal measures as required."Adalah sent an urgent letter to the Haifa police, arguing that this decision is illegal and that, according to Israeli law, the protest does not require a permit.

However, before the protest was set to begin dozens of officers arrived at the scene, declared the protest unlawful and used brutal force to arrest five demonstrators who refused to leave the site. At the Police station, Adalah attorneys were told that the detainees will be held overnight in accordance with direct orders from the commissioner. Adalah represented these protesters, and ultimately, the Haifa court ordered their release a day later. In light of these developments, Adalah sent a follow-up letter to the Deputy Attorney General demanding his immediate intervention and the cancellation of the Commissioner's directive.

On 19 October 2023, Israeli police spokesperson further stated in a radio interview, that the police will not allow any demonstrations in support of Gaza or Hamas: “Those who dare to protest without permission – we will reach and deal with the demonstration by all means... Anyone who dares to step out and utter a single word in praise of Gaza will be behind bars."

The Commissioner and spokesperson’s statements seek to delegitimize any protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza and thus, they can be used to justify the use of illegal and dangerous means to disperse protests. This, in turn, could lead to increased police brutality against protesters, resulting in potential injuries and even loss of life. Adalah is currently pursuing legal action against this order.

On the same day (19 October 2023), the police arrested 12 protestors during a demonstration held in Umm al-Fahm, a Palestinian city in the Wadi Ara region in Israel, against Israel’s offensive on Gaza that has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties. The police used violent and dangerous means to disperse the legitimate and non-violent protest, including the reported use of rubber bullets and stun grenades.

On 20 October 2023, the police sought the extension of the detention for 11 protestors, including 4 minors. Adalah, along with volunteer lawyers, represented the protesters before the Haifa Magistrates Court. The hearing was delayed for several hours, as the police did not bring the detainees to the court and failed to facilitate a video conference, which is required by the emergency regulations that are now in effect. After hearings for the detainees began, the court decided to abruptly end them due to the beginning of Shabbat, approving the extension of all 11 detainees until the following night in clear violation of their right to a due process and for a fair trial. After the District Court rejected Adalah’s appeal against the Magistrates Court’s decision, Adalah filed a request to appeal to the Supreme Court. Adalah lawyers continue to represent two detainees from Umm al-Fahm who are still under arrest.

Adalah’s legal director, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, commented:

“The arrests the police carried out during the two protests were unequivocally illegal, and are a direct result of the Commissioner's illegitimate order to ban lawful protests and his inflammatory and racist statements. The arguments of the Police in court reaffirm that the basis for these arrests is a false accusation of "supporting of terrorism,” which the police associate with any criticism of the Israeli offensive or any expression of solidarity with the civilian population in Gaza. The entire police force is currently being mobilized for the supremacist objectives of National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, to whom the police is subservient, with the goal of labeling all Palestinian citizens as enemies. The court in Haifa has also played its part in this effort by approving the extension of this unlawful detention, while denying the detainees their freedom and the opportunity to defend themselves and address the accusations.”

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Jun 28, 2023
Adalah Report: Two years after the May 2021 events

By Ranna Khalil | Researcher

Dear friends,

Greetings to you from Adalah.

In this update, we report on our new publication on the May 2021 events, also known as the “Dignity Uprising”, and how those extremely violent events and protests – which took place throughout Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory - laid the foundation for the current draconian policing practices by Israel’s new radical, right-wing government against Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI).

Two years after the May 2021 events: Israel's use of excessive force and racial segregation against Palestinians continues

Two years after the May 2021 events, Adalah published a report that provides an in-depth understanding of the events and their implications within a broader system of oppression against Palestinians. During May 2021, the police violently dispersed peaceful protests by PCI without justification, clamping down on freedom of expression and assembly.Data obtained by Adalah demonstrates how the police and the State Attorney followed a clear two-tiered policy of racial discrimination, a segregated system of law enforcement, one for Palestinians and one for Jewish Israelis - in applying the law and filing indictments.

The report documents patterns of excessive use of force by Israeli police against Palestinian citizens of Israel,measures of surveillance and control, and violence by settlers and Jewish civilians in Israel with the collusion of state institutions to protect them. The report includes testimonies from dozens of protestors who were detained by police about the abuse and torture they endured inside and outside police stations, lawyers who were assaulted, and released prisoners. Adalah submitted testimonies as complaints to the Israeli Police Investigations Unit (“Mahash”), all of which were closed without exception, illustrating the sweeping impunity provided by the state.

READ THE FULL REPORT:

Two Years After the May 2021 Events

Advancing the establishment of the 'National Guard'

One year after the May 2021 events, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced the establishment of a National Guard, a decision that is being advanced by the far-right Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir. The National Guard will be composed of Israel’s Border Police, army reservists, and civilian volunteers, who will be subordinate to the National Security Minister.

Adalah sent a letter on 2 April 2023 to the Attorney General, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of National Security, demanding that the government refrain from establishing this "National Guard”, as it will entrench the maintenance of two separate law enforcement systems based on ethnic and national affiliation, and institutionalize an extremely dangerous cooperation between armed Jewish-Israeli civilians and the police, as we witnessed during the May 2021 events.

Challenging new law subordinating police to national security minister Ben Gvir

Based on the new government’s coalition agreements, the Knesset on 27 December 2022 enacted a new amendment to the Police Ordinance, which, for the first time, grants the National Security Minister the authority to determine the police's policies and general principles of operation, including policies regarding investigations and setting “principled priorities”.

Adalah, on behalf of the High Follow Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court, in April 2023, demanding the new law’s cancellation, as it contradicts the rule of law.

At a Supreme Court hearing on this high-profile petition and others, on 7 June 2023, which was broadcast live on online Israeli news outlets, Adalah argued that Minister Ben Gvir's actions indicate that the new law is aimed at increasing racist law enforcement against Palestinians. These actions include, among other things, the Minister's directives to enforce a prohibition on raising the Palestinian flag in public areas and to increase home demolitions in East Jerusalem as a retaliatory action “in response to attacks”. The case remains pending.

Read Adalah’s position paper on the new government’s coalition agreements

Read Adalah’s position paper on the legality of displaying the Palestinian flag, amid a new bill to criminalize it

Adalah will continue to challenge the racist government policies and violent police practices in order to protect the right of Palestinian citizens of Israel for freedom of expression and assembly.

In solidarity,

Ranna Khalil and the Adalah team

Links:

ADALAH'S REPORT: TWO YEARS AFTER THE MAY 2021 EVENTS

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Feb 3, 2023
Security Minister granted expanded powers over the police, bans the Palestinian flag

By Ranna Khalil | Researcher

Land Day march, 2010. Image by: Makbula Nassar

Dear friends,

Many greetings to you from Adalah.

In December 2022, the most extreme far-right government in the history of Israel was sworn in. The new governing coalition immediately published its fundamental guiding principles, detailing how it will begin to realize and advance its racist agenda to entrench Jewish supremacy and Palestinian repression throughout Israel and the OPT.

The government plans to achieve its goals through provisions of the coalition agreements and guiding principles, which pose grave threats to the rights of Palestinians, including deepened political control over law enforcement and policing. On 28 December 2022, the Knesset passed a law that grants the newly appointed National Security Minister, the ultra-nationalist leader of the Jewish Power Party, full and direct control over law enforcement authorities. Before the law was enacted, Adalah sent letters challenging the bill, arguing that the law substantially expands the powers of the Minister, including in setting the police's policy, and will result in increased police violence against Palestinians.

The recent escalation in violence in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and in Israel is a continuation of the Israeli policies of repression, aided by recent intensified racial policing against Palestinians, which has resulted in more violent crackdown on protestors.

The National Security Minister has already started to exploit his expanded powers by issuing a sweeping directive that bans the raising of Palestinian flags and ordering the police to remove them in public spaces. In response, Adalah sent letters to the Ministry and the Attorney General demanding that they direct law enforcement authorities that the waving of the Palestinian flag, in itself, is not illegal under Israeli law. Adalah argued that the Minister's description of the Palestinian flag as a symbol of support of “terrorism" indicates that his directive illegally bans the waving of the Palestinian flag, in a sweeping manner and under all circumstances. Under the preexisting Police Ordinance (1971), the police have the authority to confiscate a flag only if it results in “disruption of public order or breach of peace”, but the ordinance does not grant authority to impose a sweeping ban on waving the Palestinian flag. Adalah noted in the letters that the directive is also contrary to previous Supreme Court decisions and the Deputy Attorney General's legal opinion.

On 26 January 2023, the police violently arrested six protestors for raising the Palestinian flag during a protest in the city of Haifa, Israel against the military's killing of nine Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Among the detainees was an Adalah lawyer who was present at the protest to ensure that the police would not violate protesters’ rights and to provide counsel to protesters as to their right to wave the Palestinian flag. Following the protest, the police issued a statement explicitly stating that the arrests were made because the protestors refused to put down the Palestinian flags.

The police acted illegally by violating the legitimate rights of the demonstrators to protest and violently prevented them from realizing their rights to legal representation. The police's actions are yet another in a series of attempts to deprive Palestinians from expressing their national identity and to terrorize them through violence in order to deter them from protesting.

Adalah will continue to challenge the racist policies and laws of the new government and to stand against the onslaught of the National Security Minister’s actions against Palestinians' right to protest.

In solidarity,

Ranna Khalil

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