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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.addameer.org/index.php/news/4531">addameer.org</a>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israeli Minister of Interior to Officially Revoke Permanent Residency of Lawyer Salah Hammouri</h1>
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<p><img src="https://www.addameer.org/sites/default/files/styles/scale_ima/public/upload/news/convers/Social%20Media%20Storm%20Salah%204_0.png?itok=JvsIDJ98" alt="" width="400" height="449">
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<p>18-10-2021
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<div><p><span><span><span><strong><span lang="EN-US"><span><span><span><span>Earlier this morning, </span></span></span></span></span></strong><span lang="EN"><span><span><strong>the
Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked officially notified 36-year-old
Palestinian-French human rights defender Salah Hammouri of the
revocation of his permanent residency status in Jerusalem based on a
"breach of allegiance to the State of Israel." </strong>This decision
comes after being approved by the Israeli Attorney General Avichai
Mendelblit and Minister of Justice Gideon Sa'ar. The initiation of his
residency revocation and forced deportation, pursuant to Amendment No.
30 to the Entry into Israel Law of 1952, comes on the heels of the
Israeli apartheid regime's targeted harassment campaign against Salah
Hammouri, a vocal Palestinian human rights advocate, long-time employee
at Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and former
prisone</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span><span><span><span>r.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span><strong>In
communicating the decision to move forward with residency revocation on
the basis of "breach of allegiance," the Minister of Interior cites
intentionally vague and broad allegations of "terroristic activities"
and/or affiliation with "terrorist entities," based on withheld "secret
information" withheld. </strong>The withholding of "secret information"
mirrors the Israeli occupation's administrative detention practices, in
stark violation of fair trial standards, which place Palestinians under
indefinite detention based on secret material that cannot be disclosed
to the detainees or their lawyers. <strong>To this end, she further
cites recommendations based on his past history of arrests—most of which
were under administrative detention, without charge or trial. Notably,
the Ministry explicitly alludes to the notable escalation of permanent
residency revocation of Palestinian Jerusalemites for "breach of
allegiance," as exemplified by the case of Salah Hammouri, by stating
that the decision was necessary "to deter others from breaching
allegiance to the State of Israel."</strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span lang="EN-IE"><span><span>As a Palestinian
human rights defender who challenges Israel's widespread and systematic
human rights violations and voices legitimate calls for justice and
accountability, Salah has endured constant Israeli attempts to
intimidate him <span><span>and his family, including previous arbitrary
arrests, banning from entering the West Bank for almost 16 months, and
the deportation of his wife, Elsa Lefort, a French national, separating
him from his wife and son in 2016</span></span>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span lang="EN-IE"><span><span>Previously, on 3 September 2020, the Israeli occupying authorities notified </span></span></span><a href="https://www.addameer.org/prisoner/salah-hammouri"><span lang="EN-IE"><span><span> Salah Hammouri</span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-IE"><span><span>
of the Ministry's intention to revoke his permanent residency status
for so-called "breach of allegiance" to the State of Israel. Notably,
Salah and his legal counsel, HaMoked Center for the Defence of the
Individual and Advocate Lea Tsemeel, submitted written and oral claims
challenging the decision. </span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span lang="EN-IE"><span><span>Alarmed by the
imminent threat of having his residency revoked, which denies Salah's
basic human rights to family life, freedom of movement and residence,
including the right to leave and to return to his country, freedom of
expression, as enshrined in Article 19 of the ICCPR and freedom of
peaceful assembly and association, in line with Articles 21 and 22 of
the ICCPR.<a name="_ftnref1" title="" id="gmail-_ftnref1"><sup><sup><span lang="EN-IE"><span><span>[1]</span></span></span></sup></sup></a> </span></span></span><span lang="EN"><span><span><span><span>Residency
policies embedded in Israel's regime of racial domination and
oppression are designed to maintain a perilous legal status for
Palestinians in East Jerusalem and uphold an Israeli-Jewish demographic
majority in the city. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span><span>Israel's policy
of revoking Palestinian residency rights in East Jerusalem further
violates Article 43 of the Hague Regulations and Article 64 of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates that the Occupying Power may
not act as a sovereign legislator or extend its own legislation over the
occupied territory.<a name="_ftnref2" title="" id="gmail-_ftnref2"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span><span>[2]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a> Moreover,
the criterion of allegiance to Israel is illegal. In fact,
international humanitarian law explicitly forbids the Occupying Power
from demanding allegiance from the occupied population, as stated in
Article 45 Hague Regulations and Article 68(3) of the Fourth Geneva
Convention.<a name="_ftnref3" title="" id="gmail-_ftnref3"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span><span>[3]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a>
Furthermore, the transfer of Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem
is considered a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court.<a name="_ftnref4" title="" id="gmail-_ftnref4"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span><span>[4]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a> The
revocation of residency policy forms part of a widespread and
systematic transfer policy directed against a civilian population.,
which may also amount to a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the
Rome Statute.<a name="_ftnref5" title="" id="gmail-_ftnref5"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span><span>[5]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span><span>END</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
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<p><span><span><span><a name="_ftn1" title="" id="gmail-_ftn1"><sup><span lang="EN"><span><sup><span lang="EN"><span><span>[1]</span></span></span></sup></span></span></sup></a> <span lang="EN"><span>Articles 19, 21, and 22, ICCPR.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><a name="_ftn2" title="" id="gmail-_ftn2"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span>[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <i><span><span>Hague
Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and Its
Annex: Regulations Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land</span></span></i><span><span> (adopted
18 October 1907, entry into force 26 January 1910) (henceforth the
“Hague Regulations”) Article 43, Hague Regulations, and Article 64,
Fourth Geneva Convention.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><a name="_ftn3" title="" id="gmail-_ftn3"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span>[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <span lang="EN"><span><span>Article 45, Hague Regulations, and Article 68(3), Fourth Geneva Convention.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><a name="_ftn4" title="" id="gmail-_ftn4"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span>[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <i><span><span>Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court</span></span></i><span><span> (adopted 17 July 1998, entry into force 1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 3. (henceforth “Rome Statute”)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><a name="_ftn5" title="" id="gmail-_ftn5"><span><span><span lang="EN"><span><span>[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <span lang="EN"><span><span>Article 7, Rome Statute</span></span></span></span></span></p>
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