Franco-Palestinian human rights lawyer detained since March
France denounced Israel’s expulsion of a French-Palestinian human rights lawyer, Salah Hamouri, who had been detained since March on charges of endangering state security and links to a banned militant group.
“We condemn the resolution of the Israeli authorities, [which is] the law,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding that Paris had “clearly communicated its opposition to this expulsion of a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, an occupied territory. “
Hamouri, 37, an Israeli citizen long-time resident in Jerusalem, arrived in Paris on a flight Sunday morning from Tel Aviv, where his wife, Elsa, along with politicians, NGO representatives and supporters, were waiting to greet him at Charles de Gaulle airport.
A member of his crusade called the deportation a “war crime” and said it was a violation of foreign law. said the lawyer, who has French nationality through his mother, in an Array
Jean-Claude Samouiller, director of Amnesty International France, described the expulsion of Agence France-Presse as a “crime of apartheid,” saying it is “a satisfied day for a reunited family, but for the Palestinian people, an unsatisfied day. “
The expulsion underscores the fragile prestige of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, where an overwhelming majority are not Israeli citizens but have residency rights, which are revocable. It may also cause a diplomatic dispute with France, which has asked Israel not to execute him. .
Israel’s Interior Ministry said earlier Sunday that the lawyer was deported “following Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked’s resolution to revoke his resident status. “Shaked said in a videotaped statement: “I am pleased to announce that justice was served today and that terrorist Salah Hammouri has been expelled from Israel. “
Hamouri arrested in March and his residency prestige revoked on Dec. 1 because he is actively involved in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFMP), which is classified by Israel and its Western allies as a terrorist group.
He worked as a lawyer for Addameer, a Palestinian criminals’ rights organization that Israel banned for its alleged links to the PFLP, and spent seven years in crime after being convicted of trying to kill a prominent Sephardic rabbi, Ovadia Yosef, a rate he has denied.
Released in 2011 as part of an exchange in which Israel released 1,027 prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive through Hamas in the Gaza Strip for more than five years, Hamouri was not convicted in the most recent case against him.
However, Israel maintained that it had continued its activities with the PFMP and placed it in administrative detention, a questionable practice that it suspects can be detained for renewable periods of up to six months without charge.
“During his lifetime, he organized, encouraged and planned to carry out terror attacks for himself and for the organization opposed to known citizens and Israelis,” an Interior Ministry said Sunday.
Last year, Hamouri, one of six human rights activists whose cellphones were discovered by independent security researchers, was infected with spyware created through Israel’s NSO Group. It is not known who placed it on the phones.
Jessica Montell, director of HaMoked, an NGO representing Hamouri that described his deportation as a “dangerous precedent and a flagrant violation of human rights,” told Reuters that Hamouri’s case set a precedent for the expulsion of citizens of Jerusalem who had elected citizenship.
“Because he has a momentary nationality, it makes him more vulnerable to deportation,” Montell said, adding that he expected similar cases to appear more under the new right-wing coalition expected to shape Israel’s next government.
Israel regards the entire holy city of Jerusalem as its eternal and undivided capital. Palestinians have long sought the east of the city, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War and then, in a move not recognized around the world, annexed as the capital of a long-term state.
Palestinians in East Jerusalem can apply for citizenship, but few do, suspect a lengthy bureaucratic procedure and accept what they see as an occupation.
The Haaretz newspaper, which reports data from the Interior Ministry, said fewer than 20,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem, or five of the population, have Israeli citizenship and that 34 of the programs are approved.
Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press contributed to the report.