A new paper published by Mada al-Carmel– The Arab Center for Applied Social Research, authored by Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi, civil and political rights attorney, reviews the behavior of the Israeli justice system, represented by the High Court, during the genocidal war on Gaza to try to understand its role in "managing" judicial affairs related to the war and legitimizing policies of extermination and oppression against Palestinians at all levels.
The paper seeks to track the court’s decisions in the most prominent cases before it involving issues directly or indirectly connected with the ongoing war and its outcomes. The court’s decisions are pivotal to understanding its stance vis-à-vis government policies. The paper investigates three main types of cases: those directly related to the residents of the Gaza Strip; those concerning political prisoners in the security section of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS); and those related to Palestinian Israelis.
The paper argues that, based on a review of the court’s decisions and conduct, it has provided a cover for genocidal practices, and that its handling of the cases related to the war on Gaza and the decisions it has issued have supported the Israeli state’s "security considerations." At best, it has not provided a deterrent against the policies and practices of the government’s policies and the War Cabinet, although they are in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law as well as domestic laws and regulations. The court has thus contributed to the entrenchment of Israel’s violations of the fundamental rights of the individual
The paper concludes that the Israeli justice system is part of the political system and is affected by the domestic Israeli conflict over the independence of the High Court and by pressure from the far-right government.
To read the full paper in English, click here.
To read the full paper in Arabic, click here.
To listen to the podcast discussing the paper (in Arabic), click here
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