Political Rights Violations in the West Bank and Gaza by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas
In this report, the Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ) examines political rights and freedoms in the West Bank and Gaza. Through comprehensive research and interviews with those living and working in the West Bank and Gaza, this report aims to illuminate the situation on the ground with regard to political rights for Palestinians in these territories. Freedom of Assembly is routinely violated throughout the West Bank and Gaza either by unlawful police interference in private assemblies, or disproportionate use of force in public assemblies. Freedom of Association is severely restricted, with the Ministry of Interior assuming control over the set-up, funding and dissolution of associations and charities. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are making little effort to protect and promote these rights of the Palestinian people and are thus in violation of international law.
Download
Violations of Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press Under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas
This report exposes the censorship on freedom of expression and freedom of press in the Palestinian territories. Journalists and citizens are restricted from speaking out on many topics, and areas such as politics and corruption are red line (forbidden) issues. The consequences of criticizing the reigning government can range on a spectrum from arbitrary arrest, torture and other abuses. Journalists are not protected by any body and therefore are constantly at risk.
While free press and speech are suppressed, hate speech and incitement of violence are common occurrences by Palestinian individuals and officials. Palestinian public bodies do not work to quell such actions, and in some ways political institutions encourage and sanction them. Even more so, journalists, religious leaders and government officials are at the core of spreading and promoting hate, antisemitism, and anti-Israel propaganda. With the rise in popularity of social media, the internet has become a main forum with which hate speech is circulated throughout the Palestinian community and disseminated world-wide.
Downloads
Dealing with Refugees
A comparison of refugees after World War II in Europe and Palestine
This report examines refugee populations following World War II in Europe and Palestine, and common characteristics with the current Syrian refugee crises. After the conclusion of World War II in Europe as former residents resettled or integrated, the number of European refugees and camps declined. At the same time, the number of Palestinian refugees continued to grow as they were not naturalized in their host countries. Instead they were inheriting refugee status after being registered as such by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a UN institution exclusively responsible for the Palestinians.
The following pages compares the circumstances and call for right of return between those expelled from Germany after World War II and Palestinian refugees. The aim of this paper is to show that there are alternative stop UNRWA's current policies and retaining refugee status for an entire population group is not the optimal way to solve the problem.
Downloads
Discrimination against Women under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas
The following report examines the degree to which the Palestinian governing authorities in the West Bank and Gaza adhere to CEDAW. Findings indicate their acute failure to protect women’s rights within both legal codes and cultural practices. Even in cases where legal codes guarantee certain women’s rights, laws are either not enforced
or inconsistently enforced and very few categories of rights receive complete protection. For example, in 2011 the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) published an extensive document entitled “National Strategy to Combat Violence Against Women 2011-2019.” This document is an impressive acknowledgement of women’s rights violations, but despite the authorities’ ostensible intentions to counteract violence against women, the problems outlined remain rampant.
Downloads
Hidden Injustices
This report highlights the human rights violations regularly committed by the Palestinian government authorities. These include arbitrary detention, torture and cruel punishment, violation of the freedom of expression and the freedoms of the press, violation of the freedom of religion and minority rights, and violation of the rights of women and children. The EU and the US share a guiding principle that all nations should uphold and affirm the human rights of each individual, wherever they may reside in the world. As critical sustainers of the Palestinian Authority’s leadership through the provision of vast quantities of annual aid, how much more so, then, ought the EU and the US require accountability of the PA?
Downloads
A Human Rights Approach to the Perpetuated Palestinian Refugee Crisis
5-6 million Palestinians who have inherited the status of ‘refugee’ living today throughout the Middle East are, for the most part, condemned to living lives of abject poverty. The policies of the Arab nations discriminate against Palestinian refugees, unjustly trapping them in an economic and social underclass in which they do not enjoy equal access to civil rights, economic and social privileges. As long as Palestinian refugees are treated as pawns in the Middle East conflict, with their interests held hostage to distant promises of a permanent peace agreement, they will continue to pay the highest price.
Downloads
Hamas & the International Human Rights Law
This paper first determined that Hamas, as a quasi-state actor, is bound by International Human Rights Law (IHRL). Not only is the purpose of IHRL served by applying it to all international actors, but international law affirmatively obligates in particular quasi-state actors—entities that have significant control and influence over a population—to comply with IHRL. Second, this paper discussed statehood under international law and the consequences should a terrorist organization become the governing entity of a recognized state, including granting immunity to terrorist leaders, justifying terrorism, and undermining the international community’s ability to firmly and decisively combat terrorism.
Download
Reassesing UNRWA
This report analyzes the contrasting histories and track records of UNRWA and UNHCR. UNRWA’s original mission has been fatally compromised by a combination of systemic corruption and intervention into the internal political affairs of host countries. Most recently, this has included growing acquiescence, if not outright support, of ideological hostility to Israel and regional terrorism. By comparison, UNHCR remains faithful to its original mission, demonstrating a track record of substantive assistance to refugee communities. Therefore, we recommend the dissolution of UNRWA by its absorption, where useful, into UNHCR.
Download
Freedom of Religion - A human rights-based approach to discrimination against religious minorities in the Palestinian Authority
This report focuses on the religious freedom of different religious minority groups under the rule of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Gaza. These areas were officially governed by a unity government consisting of both Fatah and Hamas. In 2014 the PA signed and ratified 15 international conventions dealing with, among other issues, the right to freedom of religion. The government is therefore obliged to grant people living in areas under the PA’s control the freedoms enshrined in these conventions.