2023 RLLR 76

Citation: 2023 RLLR 76
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: November 6, 2023
Panel: Roderick Flynn
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Waseem Hussein (Representative without fee)
Country: Israel
RPD Number: TC3-07451
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2023-01721
ATIP Pages: N/A

 

DECISION

 

[1]       MEMBER: This is a decision in the claim for refugee protection made by XXXX XXXX. The file number is TC3‑07451. You are claiming to be a citizen of Israel. You are seeking refugee protection pursuant to section 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Hereinafter referred to sometimes as the Act or IRPA.

 

DETERMINATION

 

[2]       Based on all the evidence, I find you to be a Convention refugee pursuant to section 96 of the IRPA, based upon the intersection of your nationality as a Palestinian Israeli and your imputed political opinion as a potential opponent of the country based upon your refusal to spy on members of the Palestinian community in Israel for Israeli security.

 

ALLEGATIONS

 

[3]       The allegations in this matter may be summarized as follows. You have described you are an Israeli citizen of Palestinian origin who was raised in a town in East Jerusalem. You have described that as an Israeli of Palestinian origin you were always treated in a lower-class manner to such an —

 

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[4]       MEMBER: And that you consider yourself a Palestinian first rather than as an Israeli citizen. You detailed that you were always unequally treated with respect to basic rights. You have outlined that your situation got much worse in XXXX 2022, when you were contacted by Israeli internal security Shabak, and you were asked to spy on members of the Palestinian community in your municipality and report back to security. Despite your refusal, Shabak insist you spy for them anyway and report back to them in three (3) days. Shabak later, then picked you up at your workplace four (4) days later, unannounced. They beat you and threatened that if you did not comply, they would jail you indefinitely on false charges. After being released, you were home and getting medical treatment. You got your nephew’s help while hiding out at your uncle’s home to apply for a visa and travel to Canada as soon as you could where you have now sought refugee protection. You allege if you return to Israel, your fear that you will be persecuted, threatened, or even killed by Israeli security would come true. You allege there is no state protection for you in Israel because state security is the overarching agent of persecution with jurisdiction everywhere within the country.

 

[5]       On the matter of identity, your personal identity as a citizen of Israel has been established by your credible testimony and the identity documentation which has been entered into evidence at our hearing. While you described in your oral evidence that you do not feel Israeli because of your poor treatment in your home country, it is clear from the documentation and all your testimony that you actually are citizen of Israel. Your identity as a person in Palestinian origin within Israel has been established on a balance of probability by your testimony. I find on a balance of probabilities that identity and country of reference, Israel, have been established.

 

[6]       On the matter of nexus, I find there is a link between your fear, persecution, and your cumulative national and political profile as a member of the Palestinian minority in Israel who have been targeted as disloyal by Israeli security. Therefore, your claim is being assessed under section 96 of the IRPA.

 

Credibility

 

[7]       I find you to be a credible witness with no major inconsistencies which go to the heart of your claim. I accept as credible that if you return to Israel, there is more than mere possibility you will face persecution or even violence based upon your cumulative profile as a Palestinian who refused to cooperate with Israeli security. I accept as credible you have been identified by Shabak as a person who might help them in spying on the Palestinian minority community in the country.

 

[8]       I also accept, on a balance of probabilities, your refusal to agree to spy for the Israeli security carries with it more than a mere possibility of you being persecuted and or harmed upon your return as a presumed enemy of the Israeli nation, which of course is currently at war with Palestinians from Hamas. You support your oral evidence with persuasive documentation, including various documents detailing the mistreatment of Palestinians in Israel, as well as medical documentation confirming that you suffered a XXXX XXXX injury — XXXX XXXX injury of a XXXX XXXX XXXX. Based upon the evidence provided, I find your credible subjective fear of persecution in Israel from Israeli security is well-founded.

 

Objective Evidence

 

[9]       The objective documentary evidence confirms your credible subjective fear in Israel. The National Documentation Package, or NDP for Israel, shows that Palestinian neighborhoods in Israel show a lack of appropriate infrastructure, including improper educational, recreational, and health care facilities. Further, 13.1 of the Israeli NDP shows that Israel is continuing to pursue a government policy of “boxing in” Palestinian neighborhoods, imposing sharp restrictions on Palestinian access to land within the country. The result is that Israelis of Palestinian origin are packed into densely populated enclaves in which there are severely restricted movement with resulting increases in crime, violence, and internal conflict. Quite apart from the ongoing military engagement.

 

[10]     Amnesty International also reports Israeli soldiers, police, and ISA officers continue to torture and otherwise treat Palestinian detainees, including children with impunity. Reported methods include beating, slapping, painful shackling, sleep deprivation, use of stress positions, and threats of violence against family members. Human Rights Watch also confirms Israeli authorities in 2020 systemically repressed and discriminated against Palestinians in ways that far exceeded the security justification they often provided. Israeli forces routinely turn away or humiliate and delay Palestinians at checkpoints without explanation.

 

[11]     Your testimony about misconduct by Israeli security is also confirmed in the NDP for Israel. Item 2.1 of the NDP confirms that under Israeli law, members of Shabak are excluded from prosecution for using, “exceptional methods” in dealing with detainees. As you have testified and Waseem has mentioned, this article reports that the Israeli government has admitted that Shabak uses “exceptional methods” in dealing with detainees. However, the Israeli government strictly denies that these tactics amount to torture. Further, NGOs in Israel report that the upward trend in complaints of torture by Shabak continues and appears to be worsening. In Item 9.1 of the NDP states that Shabak violent tactics have been emboldened by a broadly worded 2016 anti-terror law, which is expected to significantly harm the civil rights of Palestinians within the country. Having considered the objective evidence summarized above, as well as more credible testimony, I conclude on a balance of probabilities that your fear of persecution in Israel from Shabak is well-founded.

 

State Protection

 

[12]     Given that the state and the state agency are the primary agents of persecution, I find there is not adequate state protection for you in Israel if you return.

 

Internal Flight Alternative

 

[13]     Given that your agent of persecution is the Israeli state and its internal security agency, I find there is no safe and viable internal flight alternative for you as a Palestinian Israeli, given the level of discrimination against Palestinians and the jurisdiction of the security agency throughout the country. Therefore, I am satisfied that you face a serious possibility of persecution in all parts of Israel, and there is no viable internal flight alternative for you.

 

[14]     In conclusion, I find you are a Convention refugee under section 96 of the IRPA based upon your cumulative national and imputed political profile. I accept your claim.

 

——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———