Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement.

  •  
  •  
  •  
  • About
    • About Gisha
    • Board
    • Gisha Staff
    • FAQs
    • Vacancies
    • Institutional Donors
  • Topics
    • Control over Gaza
    • Economy and Development
    • Access to Education
    • Family Unity
    • Residency Rights
    • Other
  • Legal Activity
    • Legal Advocacy
    • Procedures and Protocols
  • Media
    • Gisha in the media
    • News Releases
    • Media Inquiries
  • Reports & Data
    • Publications
    • Graphs
    • Gaza up close
  • Gallery
    • Image Gallery
    • Video Gallery
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Get information
    • UNDO the closure
    • Campaigns
  • Updates
    • Updates
    • Gisha in Action
  • Contact Us
Legal Activity » Legal Advocacy » Following Gisha’s petition, Israel allows West Bank resident to complete academic program in Israel

Following Gisha’s petition, Israel allows West Bank resident to complete academic program in Israel

On December 14, 2014, Gisha filed an urgent administrative petition (Hebrew) to the Tel Aviv District Court, sitting as the Court for Administrative Affairs. The petition was filed on behalf of a West Bank resident enrolled in a program in an Academic Institute, and on behalf of the institute itself. In the petition, the court was asked to lift the ban issued against the petitioner’s entry into Israel in order to complete the program. Following Gisha’s petition, the petitioner was allowed to enter Israel and complete the program he had began.

The institute where the student was enrolled offers a variety of research programs. Palestinians living in the West Bank are only able to study at the institute if they receive a permit to enter Israel, which is given following an in-depth security screening, as the program runs for four months and requires overnight stay in Israel.

The petitioner, a Palestinian resident, was accepted into the program and was given a stay permit, including overnight stay, from September 2014 until mid-January 2015. He began his studies at the institute on time, and with the permit he received, he returned to visit his home in the West Bank once a month. Until recently, these visits presented no difficulties.

Toward the end of November, representatives of the Israel Security Agency (ISA) arrived at the petitioner’s home in the West Bank, with a summons for a “security conversation.” The petitioner went to the meeting. During his conversation with an ISA interrogator, the interrogator focused on the petitioner’s social connections with his colleagues at the program, especially the Jewish colleagues. He also asked about other activities the petitioner was engaging in as part of the program. The petitioner was offered a salary for collaborating with the ISA, but he politely declined. The next day, the petitioner left his home and headed for the Meitar crossing in order to return to the program, but when he arrived at the crossing and presented his permit, he was told he was banned from entering.

This conduct is a breach of both international law and the principles of good governance. International law explicitly prohibits pressuring protected residents (i.e., residents of the occupied territory) into collaborating and providing information. The respondents broke this prohibition, ignoring their duties and seriously violating the petitioner’s rights to education and freedom of occupation. The decision to deny his entry into Israel robs him of the opportunity to finish the academic program, and it is neither reasonable nor proportionate. In addition, the respondents failed to consider Israel’s public interest in fostering regional cooperation on environmental issues.

To minimize the petitioner’s forced absence from the program, the petition was accompanied by a motion to schedule an urgent hearing. The court responded, instructing the respondents to submit their response to the motion, with reference to the remedies sought in the petition, by December 17, 2014. On December 17, 2014, the parties submitted a notice to the court (Hebrew), stating that the petitioner was issued a permit to enter Israel, valid until January 5, 2015, and that he may apply to have it extended.

     

More in Legal Advocacy

  • Following Gisha’s High Court petition, Israel allows travel from Israel into Gaza for mourning rituals during the pandemic
  • Following petition, Israel allows a Palestinian woman to move back to the West Bank with her young children
  • Following petition, Israel allows a 75-year-old widow to return home to the West Bank from the Gaza Strip
  • Following petition, Israel allows a mother and her four children to return home to the West Bank from the Gaza Strip
  • Court ordered deletion of petition filed on behalf of a cancer patient wishing to return to her home in Gaza from Jordan, after her condition deteriorates

Gisha's Blog

Recent posts:
Border and fashion police‬
22.04.2021
Starting from scratch every day‬
21.04.2021
Cosmetic dreams‬
04.03.2021
Donate
Get information
1.4 Million Did you know that seventy percent of the population in Gaza, 1.4 million people, are under 30 years old?
Watch the video
Gallery
Distant | Relatives
facebook icon   Gisha on Facebook
twitter icon   Gisha on Twitter
  • Homepage
  • About
  • About Gisha
  • Board
  • Gisha Staff
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Vacancies
  • Legal Activity
  • Legal Advocacy
  • Procedures and Protocols
  • Media
  • Gisha in the media
  • News Releases
  • Reports & Data
  • Publications
  • Graphs
  • Gaza Up Close
  • Gallery
  • Image Gallery
  • Video Gallery
  • Updates
  • Updates
  • Gisha in Action
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • Get information
  • Contact Us
 TechnoCraft |  בניית אתרים | סטודיו ג2 | Copyright © 2021 Gisha.org