HaMoked's activity in 2017: overview and statistics
2017 marked 50 years of Israeli occupation, and the Israeli government continued to promote policies to entrench its control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It also worked to silence and intimidate watchdogs and critics of the occupation. Amid this difficult context, HaMoked continued its work to provide individual assistance and to promote systemic change. We can look with some satisfaction at our achievements.
HaMoked provided free legal aid to over 8,000 people this year. This includes tracing Palestinians in detention, ensuring families are able to visit them and responding to complaints of violence and ill-treatment; advocating for residency rights in Jerusalem; obtaining permits necessary to access farmlands beyond the Separation Barrier, travel between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, or travel abroad; and contesting punitive home demolitions. Even when a case seems hopeless, HaMoked is committed to raising a principled voice on behalf of basic rights. And in fact, through stubborn advocacy, over 80% of our cases were concluded successfully this year (see statistical data below).
In addition to the individual assistance, we advocated for systemic change, through research and public interest litigation. Here, too, we can point to some achievements:
- In two separate rulings this year, the Supreme Court stated that Palestinian Jerusalemites are an “indigenous population” with a “unique status” in the city. HaMoked filed an amicus brief in both cases.
- This year we saw the fruits of our successful public interest litigation in the High Court on the behalf of family unification. Over 1,500 Palestinian spouses were finally granted legal status after years of living in uncertainty and with very restricted social welfare rights.
- HaMoked and B'Tselem published their joint report on the abuse and denial of due process that Israel employs in arresting, interrogating and detaining Palestinian teenagers in Jerusalem.
- HaMoked blocked the deportation to Gaza of a young man who moved to the West Bank as an infant. Israel refuses to register any change-of-address from Gaza to the West Bank and threatens to deport those living in the West Bank "illegally."
- In December, we succeeded in pushing back against a new form of collective punishment. As a result of HaMoked’s appeal, the state retracted its baseless allegations against the family members of a man who perpetrated a violent attack and the Appeals Tribunal cancelled the proceedings to terminate their family unification status.
Statistical Summary
| Total 2017 Caseload |
| New Cases | 7020 |
| Ongoing Cases | 1200 |
| New Legal Activity | 305 |
| Ongoing Legal Activity | 172 |
| Breakdown by Issue Area | 2017 cases | Resolved successfully |
| Detainee Tracing | New Tracing | 4560 | 99% |
| Repeat Tracing | 1930 |
| Habeas Corpus | 3 |
| Detainee Rights/
Torture | New Cases | 139 | 92% |
| Ongoing Cases | 291 |
| New Legal Activity | 50 |
| Ongoing Legal Activity | 36 |
| Freedom Of Movement | New Cases | 316 | 86% |
| Ongoing Cases | 562 |
| New Legal Activity | 158 |
| Ongoing Legal Activity | 58 |
| Jerusalem Residency &
Social Rights | New Cases | 58 | 60% |
| Ongoing Cases | 297 |
| New Legal Activity | 82 |
| Ongoing Legal Activity | 57 |
| Respect For The Dead | New Cases | 0 | All ongoing |
| Ongoing Cases | 10 |
| New Legal Activity | 1 |
| Ongoing Legal Activity | 10 |
| Punitive Home Demolitions | New Cases | 11 | 0 |
| Ongoing Cases | 18 |
| New Legal Activity | 8 |
| Ongoing Legal Activity | 3 |
| Tort Claims | New Cases | 6 | All ongoing |
| Ongoing Cases | 22 |
| New Legal Activity | 3 |
| Ongoing Legal Activity | 8 |