Former Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin (l) and former Justice Rosalie Abella (r) are among the over 70 Canadian jurists who have signed a letter warning about the proposed changes limiting the independence of the Israeli judiciary. It is well intentioned, but it misses the mark. It ignores the fact that while the Israeli Supreme Court is vigilant about protecting human rights for Jews, it has been giving cover to more serious ongoing abuses of Palestinian rights. Read more...

Seven retired Supreme Court judges, including former chief justice Beverley McLachlin, and 70 other Canadian jurists have signed a public statement urging the Israeli government to rethink proposed legal changes that will weaken the independence of the Israeli Supreme court.

The statement, written by University of Toronto academics Lorraine Weinrib and Ernest Weinrib, accuses Israel of forgetting the lessons of the Nazis’ mass murder of six million Jews. “We write out of concern that recent proposals to transform Israel’s legal system will weaken democratic governance, undermine the rule of law, jeopardize the independence of the judiciary and impair the protection of human rights.”

But while raising the flag about serious potential threats to the human rights of Israelis, the letter totally ignores an even bigger existing Israeli human rights problem in which the Israel’s existing Supreme Court judges has been deeply complicit. Those of the human rights of Palestinians.

“The president of Israel’s Supreme Court, gave an impassioned speech this month criticizing the radical overhaul of the judiciary proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government“, notes Hagar El-ad, executive director of Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem. El-ad notes that in her speech, Justice Esther Hayuit gave many examples of where the Supreme Court has intervened to protect the rights of children, soldiers, LGBT and religious rights. “But, continues El-ad”, she made no mention whatsoever of Palestinian human rights. This omission cannot be accidental.”

Here are some other rulings by the Israeli Supreme Court which El-ad notes the Justice avoided mentioning:

• permitting the expulsion of entire Palestinian communities in the West Bank, such as Khan al-Ahmar or the communities of Masafer Yatta.
• sanctioning hundreds of cruel rulings, of collective punishment in the form of demolishing the homes of Palestinian families whose relatives attacked Israelis.
• approvals of takeover of Palestinian lands by Israeli settlers
• approval of Israel’s military policy in Gaza
• upholding the legality of the “Admission Committees Law,” effectively banning Palestinians from living in undreds of communities in Israel;
• upholding the the “Nakba Law,” imposing limitations on commemoration of the Nakba;
• upholding the “Citizenship Law,” barring Palestinian spouses from gaining legal status in Israel; and
• approving the the “Nation-State Law,” exclusively defining the state on ethnic Jewish terms.

Last year, Amnesty International released a 277 page report documenting what it claims are massive and widespread Israeli violations of the human rights of Palestinians, both inside Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It made headlines around the world because it formally charged Israel with committing the crime of “apartheid”.

Amnesty’s findings of human rights violations have been supported by accounts from several other reputable human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, Al Haq and Human Rights Watch. The reports are detailed, with hundreds of pages of evidence based on years of investigation, field reports and legal opinion. They document house demolitions, torture, imprisonment of children and repression of Palestinian and international human rights organizations, among other incidents.

The Israeli Supreme Court has ignored all of the allegations.

“Israel’s Supreme Court is no Human Rights Saviour, Just ask the Palestinians’, notes Nathaniel Berman in the Israeli daily Ha-aretz. “Even in the midst of the furious attacks on the Israeli Supreme Court as “leftist” and “elitist,” (…) the Court continues to authorize nearly every assault on Palestinian rights in the West Bank.”

“The Israeli Supreme Court has consistently declined to rule that the 300 Israeli settlements violate international law”, points out Michael Lynk, until recently UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. “These are clear breaches of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, and constitute war crimes under the 1998 Rome Statute. A court that is not prepared to defend the most basic precepts of human rights and dignity is a court that is no longer anchored to the rule of law,”

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Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.

Want to learn more about us? Go to http://www.ottawaforumip.org