Israel’s top court has delayed the expulsion of Human Rights Watch’s country director following a petition challenging the move, his lawyer says Thursday.
The Jerusalem district court last month rejected an earlier petition against the decision to expel Omar Shakir, a US citizen, ruling he had until May 1 to leave.
But just a day ahead of the deadline the Supreme Court issued an injunction allowing Shakir to remain in Israel for seven days, attorney Michael Sfard says.
During this period the Interior Ministry can submit its response to the appeal which Shakir lodged at the supreme court.
After the May 7 deadline the court “could theoretically issue a new decision” on the case, Sfard tells AFP.
The Interior Ministry’s decision to deny Shakir his work and residency permits was due to his alleged support of a boycott of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians — a claim accepted by the district court.
HRW denied the group or Shakir promoted a boycott of Israel, calling the April district court ruling a “new and dangerous interpretation of the law,” since it equated criticism of businesses operating in the West Bank to boycotting Israel.
— AFP
Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine director Omar Shakir at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 9, 2018. (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)
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