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UK rejected asylum claim of Israeli defender of Palestinian rights, says IHRC

A cartoon against apartheid is seen at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2017. (Via AFP)

An Israeli defender of Palestinian rights who was forced to flee to the United Kingdom after being tortured by Israeli authorities has seen his asylum claim refused, a London-based NGO says.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), an NGO campaigning for justice for all peoples, said the UK Home Office refused the asylum claim of the Jewish rabbinical student from Israel “who vocally supports the struggle for Palestinian rights, and strongly opposes Zionism and Israeli apartheid on religious and political grounds”.

According to IHRC, the student was forced to flee to the UK after he was detained and physically assaulted by the Israeli authorities on several occasions for peacefully protesting against Israel’s policies.

The Israeli activist has appealed the decision to the Upper Tribunal, saying Israel's apartheid regime persecutes anti-Zionists like him, and that he will be conscripted into Israel's military that commits war crimes and crimes against humanity, the NGO reported.

The IHRC has launched a crowdfunding campaign, urging people to support its client's claim for asylum.

“The case has the potential to set an important legal precedent, not only for Jewish Israelis resisting conscription, but for Palestinians oppressed by Israel's apartheid regime,” the IHRC said.

Several rights groups have concluded that Israel is committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.

Earlier this year, B’Tselem, an Israeli advocacy group, said Israel is an “apartheid regime” that systematically oppresses the Palestinians via military occupation and racist laws.

“Israel also persecutes and tries to silence those Jewish Israelis who, like our client, oppose its apartheid regime,” the IHRC said.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want for their future state — during the six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza.

About 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds since then. The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law but has done little to pressure the Israeli regime to freeze or reverse its policies.             


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