Gisha petitions High Court to allow two 16-year-old musicians to exit Gaza to participate in an international workshop in Jordan and performances in Jordan, the West Bank and Israel

August 1, 2017

On July 20, 2017, Gisha filed a petition (Hebrew) with the High Court against the minister of defense and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) on behalf of a violinist and a trumpeter, both sixteen years old from the Gaza Strip. The young musicians applied for a permit to travel out of Gaza for a two week period (August 1 to 15) to take part in a professional music workshop in Jordan with international-caliber teachers and Palestinian musicians from around the world. The two young musicians are also slated to participate in a tour that includes concerts in Amman’s Roman Theater, Birzeit University, and the Haifa Auditorium.

The Gaza Civil Liaison Administration (CLA) denied the application (Hebrew) on July 17, citing failure to meet criteria for travel out of Gaza, despite the fact that it had, in the past, approved applications from the same musicians (and others like them) to participate in similar projects abroad and in the West Bank, and that the criteria have not changed since.

In the petition, Gisha argued that the CLA’s decision was unreasonable, arbitrary and discriminatory and that it severely violated the musicians’ right to freedom of movement and autonomy. It was also argued that the refusal contradicted Israel’s own criteria (Hebrew) for travel to Israel, the West Bank and abroad by Gaza residents (the “Closure Permissions Status” document), which do list “personal needs” as a criterion for a permit to enter Israel and “special conferences” as a reason for travel abroad via the Allenby Bridge border crossing.

Gisha also argued that the Gaza CLA had the power to approve applications even if they did not meet the criteria, pursuant to Israel’s consistent policy regarding cases that are not “patently humanitarian,” meant to expand travel abroad from Gaza and promote normal life in the Strip. Gisha presented the position that approval of the musicians’ application conforms to Israel’s declared policy of giving Gaza residents hope for normalcy and strengthening civil society in the Strip.

In their response (Hebrew), filed on July 25, 2017, the respondents withdrew the refusal to allow the musicians to travel to Jordan, noting this was done ex gratia and despite the fact that the trip did not meet criteria. The respondents went on to say that travel to Ramallah and Israel remained impossible as Gaza residents have no right to enter Israel for whatever purpose. As for previous travel by the petitioners, both abroad and to Ramallah, the respondents claimed those permits had been granted as a privilege, ex gratia, and were not obligatory in other cases. The respondents noted that they “were unable to clarify” the circumstances under which the two musicians’ previous applications had been approved.

In an urgent hearing (Hebrew) held on July 27, 2017, before a panel headed by Justice Hanan Melcer, the court dismissed the petition stating there was no legal cause to intervene in the respondents’ conduct as Gaza residents may travel abroad and to the West Bank in exceptional humanitarian cases only, with an emphasis on medical needs, which was not the case in this instance. The court’s ruling was given despite the fact that the petitioners presented statistics showing that no less than 161 permits had been issued for members of the same orchestra since 2016, for identical events in the West Bank.

Though Mr. Suhail Khoury, one of the directors of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music spoke at the hearing and explained how important it was for the petitioners to participate in the project, the justices found no reason to allow them to travel to the West Bank, stating that “musical development is not geographically dependent.” The court and the respondents were presented with an official invitation from the Ministry of Culture in Ramallah which was issued on the morning of the hearing. Though the respondents tend to view Palestinian Authority sponsorship of projects with prospective attendants from the Gaza Strip as important, the court refused to give them time to consider whether their position would change given the invitation, saying the Palestinian Authority should not contact the Israeli authorities via the petitioners or as part of court proceedings.

In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court, the musicians left Gaza for Jordan on August 1, 2017.

An article on the musicians was published in Al Jazeera English on September 16, 2017.