translated from Spanish: Israel court avala expel local HRW director

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Supreme Court paved the way Tuesday to expel the local director of Human Rights Watch by rejecting the ruling of a minor court, prompting human rights advocacy groups to claim that the decision will affect the freedom of expression and his work in the country. Director Omar Shakir, who is American, was initially ordered to leave the country because Israel accused his opposition to Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as supporting a Palestinian-led boycott movement.

An Israel law of 2017 prohibits entry to those publicly supporting a boycott of Israel for its settlements in the West Bank. Shakir’s case has been closely followed by the international community as a litamping test to see how Israel would impose the controversial law.” Does Israel want to join the ranks of a country like Iran, North Korea, and Cuba, and block access to Human Rights Watch employees? Today’s decision will have important ramifications,” Shakir said. Tuesday’s ruling was handed down after an extensive legal battle in which Shakir challenged the decision to expel him and where the junior court joined the state. Shakir was allowed to remain in Israel during the trial.
The judge who wrote the ruling seemed to minimize the potential future impact on other human rights groups and activists.

“There is nothing in the decision that considers other human rights organizations and activists,” Judge Neal Hendel wrote. His ruling mainly addressed the legality of the decision to expel Shakir and not the 2017 boycott law. The court granted Shakir 20 days to leave the country and ordered him to pay the legal costs associated with the case. HRW said neither the agency nor Shakir called for a resounding boycott of Israel. The human rights organization added that Shakir, who held the position of director in 2016, was attacked by the group’s opposition to Israel’s west West Bank settlements, as well as calls from the group for companies to stop working with the Settlements.

Original source in Spanish