The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel against the Israeli police’s unlawful policy of prohibiting demonstrations in Palestinian towns in Israel against the ongoing war in Gaza, and in support of a ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners. The petition was filed on behalf of Adalah and Mohammad Barakeh, Chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel.
The petition follows several weeks during which the police, systematically and unlawfully, have blocked the High Follow-Up Committee from holding a small protest vigil that does not require a permit under Israeli law, at the Al-Ein Square in Nazareth, according to an Adalah press release.
These attempts also resulted in the detention of six members of the Follow-Up Committee, including four former members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, some of whom were released under restrictive conditions on 9 November. The petition was additionally submitted in response to statements made by t
he Police Commissioner and the police spokesperson that they would suppress any attempts by Palestinian citizens to protest against the war.
The arrest of Palestinian political leaders in Israel on 9 November led to widespread public alarm. According to a report by the Israeli daily Haaretz, the State Attorney himself, Amit Isman, has ‘sharply criticized the police conduct toward citizens who protested against the government, claiming that the force’s actions amount to harming the rule of law.’
The Follow-Up Committee began to organize a protest after a Supreme Court’s ruling delivered on 8 November in response to an earlier petition by Adalah in which it challenged the police’s decisions to deny permits for protests in the Palestinian towns of Umm Al-Fahem and Sakhnin in northern Israel.
In its decision, the Court upheld the police’s decision to reject the permits in these two specific cases, based on alleged concerns about a shortage of manpower. However, the court determined that an absolute and general
ban on demonstrations was illegal and that the Police Commissioner lacked the authority to impose such a ban.
In the petition, Adalah argued that the Supreme Court’s determinations, declaring a sweeping ban on demonstrations as illegal, are even more pertinent to protests like the one organized by the High Follow-Up Committee in Nazareth, which does not require a permit.
On 22 November, Barakeh sent a letter, via Adalah, to the police in Nazareth to inform them, along with the State Attorney and Attorney General, of his intention to hold a small protest with other Palestinian leaders in Israel at the Al-Ein Square in Nazareth. Barakeh asked the police to respect the protesters’ right to demonstrate peacefully and urged them not to suppress or disperse the vigil. In response, the police stated that they would not permit the protest and would act to prevent it from taking place.
Shortly before the scheduled time of the protest (Saturday, 25 November, at 11:00 am), a significant number of police officers were
deployed at the square, and the police sent a message to Barakeh, requesting that he cancel the protest to avoid its forcible dispersal by the police.
After repeated appeals to the State Attorney’s Office, it responded on 30 November that Deputy State Attorney on Special Matters Alon Altman had examined the matter and found no grounds to intervene in the police’s decision, because ‘The decision regarding the exercise of police powers concerning protests falls within the jurisdiction of the Israel Police, which operates independently, in accordance with its own professional considerations, based on real-time and concrete assessments of all relevant professional entities on its behalf.’
In response, Adalah filed a petition to the Supreme Court to demand a halt to the Israeli police’s unlawful policy of suppressing freedom of assembly and specifically that the police be prohibited from continuing to suppress protests by the High Follow-Up Committee at the Al-Ein Square in Nazareth. Adalah further requested tha
t the court issue an interim order preventing the police from taking action against demonstrations and protests in Palestinian towns and villages in Israel during the war.
Adalah emphasized that the current policy constitutes a severe violation of the freedoms of expression and assembly and is illegal. Prohibiting protests that do not require a permit in advance undermines the rule of law, as it stands in breach of both the Police Ordinance and the guidelines of the Attorney General on the matter, it said.
Adalah’s Legal Director, Suhad Bishara commented: ‘The Supreme Court’s endorsement of the police’s decision to prohibit demonstrations in the Palestinian towns of Umm al-Fahem and Sakhnin, based on the police’s own assessment, coupled with the State Attorney’s decision not to intervene in the police’s discretion to prevent the Nazareth protest, has effectively given the police a green light to implement a sweeping, racist policy that severely curtails freedoms of expression and assembly exclusively in Pal
estinian towns and villages in Israel. Under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s leadership, the Israeli police have relentlessly stifled Palestinian citizens in Israel, violating their right to protest against the war. Regrettably, the State Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General have failed in their crucial role as guardians of the rule of law, and the Supreme Court has thus far only offered generic statements, and failed to intervene effectively to safeguard the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly of Palestinian citizens, as we demand once again.’
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA