The case of the 21-year old rabbinical student, who is appealing the decision to deny him asylum, was adjourned yesterday after the Manchester court in which it is being heard failed to provide a Yiddish interpreter. It will now be heard next month.

The case carries huge strategic significance for the reason that it could force the British government to issue binding country guidance about Israel in the same way it does with other countries from where people are fleeing persecution. If that happens, it could pave the way for Israelis and Palestinians to claim refugee status in Britain.

The guidance for Israel was last updated in 2007 and makes no reference to the fact that it is a discriminatory, apartheid regime which brooks no opposition by Israelis or Palestinians alike.

IHRC maintains that is simply not possible to properly consider the student’s case without addressing apartheid, which is a legal concept codified in the 2002 Rome Statute and the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.

The student, whose identity is being withheld for his own protection, has been detained and beaten by Israeli authorities on several occasions for vocally supporting Palestinian rights and opposing Zionism and discriminatory Israeli policies.

The need to consider apartheid has gained traction following the recent release of reports from B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch, both concluding that Israel is governed by an apartheid regime that systematically dominates and oppresses Palestinians.

To date IHRC has received strong support in its crowdfunding for the case with nearly half of the £10,000 target already raised. The money is required to pay the student’s legal costs, interpreter and expert witness fees and travel costs.

IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh said: “This state has clearly been identified as an apartheid state by human rights groups and the UN special rapporteur. It is simply outrageous that the discrimination and brutality of the Israeli regime is not recognised in British government guidance.”

More details are available at https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/fight-israeli-apartheid/

For more information or comment please contact the Press Office on (+44) 7958522196[ENDS]

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IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
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