RAMALLAH, May 29, 2018 (WAFA) - PLO Executive Committee Hanan Ashrawi Tuesday called out an Israeli Knesset bill that would Palestinians’ access to Israel’s High Court of Justice and described it as “an assault on Israel’s judiciary and Palestinian rights.”

She said in a press release after the bill passed its first reading in the Knesset, that it is a direct blow to the judicial system and constitutes an attempt at depriving Palestinians from any legal appeal.

The bill would send the thousands of Palestinian cases of Israel’s High Court of Justice, particularly with regard to land ownership and demolitions in Area C of the West Bank, to Israeli district courts.

It is believed the bill is part of an Israeli right-wing push toward creeping annexation because it expands the district courts’ purview outside of sovereign Israel.

Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has made it clear that with the bill she hopes to normalize the status of the occupied West Bank as part of Israel and grant its illegal and extremist settler population the same rights as Israeli citizens by allowing them access to standard civil and criminal legal proceedings, said Ashrawi.

According to Israeli media sources, Shaked said after the vote that "the Knesset today took a big step toward the normalization of life in Judea and Samaria. The rights of Judea and Samaria residents are no less important than the rights of other citizens.”

Ashrawi explained, “Palestinian victims would be forced to submit their cases to an Israeli district court regarding building and land disputes. Such legislation would guarantee impunity for Israel’s flagrant violations and war crimes and would deny the Palestinians their right to seek legal recourse.”

She said this bill is another distortion of Israel’s legal and judicial systems and constitutes a grave violation of the separation of powers.

“It is also part of a series of proposals and laws targeting the Supreme Court and undermining its powers for political ends,” she concluded.

M.H.