The imprisoned French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri is threatened with deportation from his homeland, occupied Palestine, by officials of the Israeli occupation regime at any time. Although his deportation was initially announced for December 4, he was then ordered to be held for further hearings on December 6, 2022. However, instead of having his deportation legally postponed, he was ordered to be transferred from Hadarim prison, where Palestinian political prisoners (labeled “security detainees”) who were taken into detention pending deportation at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 6 will.
Salah Hamouri, a Palestinian human rights defender and lawyer working for the freedom of political prisoners, has been detained without charge or trial since March 2022 and his arbitrary administrative detention has been repeatedly extended.
On Monday, December 5, the Justice for Salah campaign reported that Hamouri was taken to Givon prison in al-Ramleh for another hearing, where he was again denied access to his lawyers or legal counsel, as reported It was the case at the earlier hearing December 1, following an order for deportation by Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked. The campaign reported that the French consul in Tel Aviv was only able to speak to Salah briefly.
Two hearings are scheduled in the occupation courts for 6 December: the first at 11:00 a.m. and the second at 1:30 p.m., the first hearing concerning the deportation order imposed on him and the second concerning his detention pending deportation. “As of today, Salah has been in detention as a deportee,” the campaign says. His family was denied access to both hearings, but he is expected to have access to his lawyer as well as the French consul. The campaign reiterated that Salah Hamouri opposes any deportation from Palestine and opposes all illegal measures and procedures against him by the occupation regime.
Since June 2021, the human rights defender has been fighting against the Israeli authorities’ attempt to forcibly deport him by stripping him of his identity and residence in Jerusalem, his city of birth and residence. Fascist Home Secretary Ayelet Shaked signed an order to strip his Jerusalem identity and forcibly expel him in 2021 – and it was released just days after the release of a major international essay opposing attempts to expel him from his homeland , arrested and placed in administrative detention hometown. She announced on December 1 that she had signed a revocation of his residence permit and an order for his deportation, which Salah Hamouri categorically denies.
This attack on Salah Hamouri is an integral part of the ethnic cleansing policy being carried out by colonial Zionist forces in the Palestinian capital of Jerusalem. Indeed, since 1967, Israel has disenfranchised more than 14,600 Palestinians, which constitutes a war crime.
While France is trying to criminalize the boycott of Israel and ban organizations that advocate for justice in Palestine, such as Collectif Palestine Vaincra (a member organization of the Samidoun network) once again shows its complicity with Israeli apartheid by its almost complete inaction to uphold the rights of Salah Hamouri, despite the positive positions taken through the mobilization of hundreds of associations, parliamentarians and locally elected officials became. French officials have expressed that Salah should be able to live freely in Jerusalem with his family, but France needs to apply real pressure to defend the rights of its citizens — including imposing sanctions on the Israeli regime that Cessation of the arms trade and practical and immediate refusal to accept a deportation flight for Salah Hamouri.
Both Salah’s mother, Denise Hamouri, and his wife, Elsa Lefort, have appealed to French officials to take meaningful action to stop Salah’s deportation.
Denise Hamouri wrote: “Salah must not be deported, he must be able to stay in Jerusalem with his family as he wishes, that must be a strong demand on your part, Salah is French, I am French, my children are French, his wife and children are French, it is your responsibility Mr President. Furthermore, the withdrawal of Salah’s residency card and his deportation from Jerusalem are very serious facts and an open door for other similar actions against other Palestinians in the city with the long-term goal of ridding Jerusalem of its Arab residents. A hearing will be held on Tuesday to determine the terms of his deportation. So we still have a few days left and a little bit of hope. We ask you to act as decisively as possible, Mr President.”
Elsa Lefort wrote: “20 years in which France does not do much, not enough, to defend its citizens, including Palestinians. If Salah were expelled from his homeland, it would be a pain for him and for all who love him and who know how much Salah and Jerusalem are one. That he has walked every alley in the Old City, that a journey with him in Jerusalem is punctuated by dozens of greetings, exchanges and smiles. Salah is a son of Jerusalem, Jerusalem Salah will never leave, that’s for sure. If he were forcibly expelled, Israel would be committing a war crime. One more. Emmanuel Macron, France should be proud to have among its children a man who stands against the occupation, despite the beatings, despite the suffering, he refuses to bow. France cannot remain silent in the face of this war crime, which affects one of its own. Mr. President, you are the only one who can bring about justice and freedom for Salah Hamouri….Mr. President, why have you never mentioned Salah’s name publicly? Doesn’t he deserve to be defended as vigorously as the other Frenchmen?”
The Palestinian prisoner solidarity network Samidoun condemns the attempt to strip Salah Hamouri of his Jerusalem identity and his Palestinian presence in the land of Palestine. We call for an end to the ongoing detention of Salah Hamouri, the use of administrative detention against Palestinian leaders and human rights defenders, and the ongoing Israeli ethnic cleansing project in Jerusalem targeting the Palestinian people and the identity of the city, the capital of Palestine. We call on all supporters of Palestine to take action to demand the release of Salah Hamouri and all Palestinian prisoners held in occupation prisons.
