Adalah and Chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee Petition Israel’s Supreme Court to Cancel the Police Ban on Protests Against the War in Palestinian Towns in Israel

30/11/2023

For several weeks now, the Nazareth police have been preventing protests organized by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel, even though these protests do not require permits under Israeli law. The State Attorney’s Office has refused to intervene in the decision of the police, which has threatened to forcibly disperse the protestors.

Today, 30 November 2023, Adalah – 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 Mr. Mohammad Barakeh, Chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel. The petition follows several weeks during which the police, in a systematic and unlawful manner, 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. These attempts also resulted in the detention of six members of the Follow-Up Committee, including four former Knesset members, some of whom were released under restrictive conditions on 9 November. The petition was additionally submitted in response to statements made by the Police Commissioner and the police spokesperson that they would suppress any attempts by Palestinian citizens to protest against the war.

HCJ 8510/23 Mohammad Barakeh et al. v. Police commissioner et al.

CLICK HERE to read the Petition [Hebrew]

The petition was filed by Adalah’s Legal Director, Dr. Suhad Bishara

The arrest of Palestinian political leaders in Israel on 9 November led to widespread public alarm. According to a report by 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.

HCJ 8007/23 Hadash – Democratic Front for Peace and Equality et al. v. Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai et al.

CLICK HERE to read more about the Court decision

In the petition filed today, 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, Mr. 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. Mr. 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 Mr. 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 this morning (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.”

CLICK HERE to read the letter to the State Attorney's Office dated 22 November [Hebrew]

CLICK HERE to read the letter dated 29 November [Hebrew]

CLICK HERE to read the State Attorney's Office’s response [Hebrew]

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 that 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.

Adalah’s Legal Director, Dr. 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 Palestinian 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.”