2023 RLLR 81
Citation: 2023 RLLR 81
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: December 20, 2023
Panel: Lesley Mason
Counsel for the Claimant(s): N/A
Country: Israel
RPD Number: TC3-15936
Associated RPD Number(s): TC3-15938
ATIP Number: A-2023-01721
ATIP Pages: N/A
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: I have considered your testimonies and the other evidence in your claims, and I am ready to render my decision orally. You will receive a copy of this decision by mail to the address that you have just given me. This is the decision of the claims for protection of XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. They are citizens of the State of Israel who seek refugee protection pursuant to sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[2] You allege the following, Mr.XXXX you were born on XXXX XXXX, 2000, in XXXX, Israel, you are a Christian. Ms. XXXX, you were born on XXXX XXXX, 1996, in Haifa, Israel and you are a Muslim. You are both Palestinian Arab descent. Since your childhoods, you have felt excluded from mainstream life in Israel, you have suffered discrimination in all aspects of your life. The Arab town in which you Mr.XXXX grew up had substandard buildings and your high school was poorly accommodated. Ms.XXXX, you provided various examples of problems you and your family experienced in Israel related to your Arabic race. For example, in 2015 you lost your job at the XXXX when you argued with your supervisor who had told you that you could not speak the Arabic language to another employee. In XXXX 2021, during Ramadan, you, Ms.XXXX, and your family were subjected to several body searches at military and police checkpoints as you made your way to attend the Al-Aqsa mosque. Inside the mosque, Arab youth chanted slogans against the heavy military presence of Israeli soldiers and this resulted in the soldiers firing with rubber bullets on those in the mosque, they also used tear gas. You lost sight of your family members when you ran to escape. You fell to the ground and physically assaulted by a soldier, by police. You were then trapped with other Arabs inside a compound for several hours. You fear walking in public in Israel, where graffiti in the form of, “death to Arabs” remains on public display for weeks. In 2022, Ms.XXXX, you were verbally assaulted on public transport when you were heard speaking Arabic. In XXXX of 2022, you and your mother were walking a short distance to visit your aunt, when extremist Jews, shouting death to Arabs ran after you and your mother. You were— you and your mother were able to escape with other Arabs.
[3] Mr.XXXX, you also provided examples of problems you experienced in Israel as a result of your Arabic ethnicity. For example, in 2017, while exiting Israel on a holiday to Georgia, you and your friends were separated by airport security and interrogated about the nature of your travels. In 2018, you were denied a job for which you were qualified because you’re an Arab. In 2022, Israeli was at war with Gaza, the Arabs were advised to stay inside, and the police would not be responsible for your safety. On XXXX, excuse me, on XXXX XXXX, 2022, you participated in a large protest against the war in Gaza, you carried the Palestinian flag. You were beaten by security officers and then taken into custody where you were held for XXXX (XXXX) days. During that detention, you were interrogated and beaten. You were released with a warrant, not-, excuse me, and warned not to participate in demonstrations against Israel, or you would suffer severe punishment. You arrived in Canada on XXXX XXXX, 2022, and initiated your claims for refugee protection shortly thereafter.
[4] Pursuant to Rule 55 of the Refugee Protection Division rules, these claims for protection were heard jointly. Regarding your identity, on the matter of identity, your personal identities as citizens of Israel have been established on a balance of probability by your credible testimonies and your Israeli passports. Your identities as persons of Palestinian origin within Israel have been established on the balance of probabilities, based upon your testimonies. With regards to your credibility, I find both of you to be credible witnesses. Your testimonies as to the circumstances of problems you experienced throughout your lives in Israel were straightforward and spontaneous. You made no obvious or-, excuse me, no apparent attempts to embellish your testimony and there were no obvious inconsistencies between the information you provided in your Basis of Claim forms and in your oral testimonies this morning. Through your testimonies, I find that you have established your subjective fears.
[5] I have assessed your claims under section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as I find there is a link between your fears of persecution and the Convention ground of ethnicity, that being Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel. I have considered whether your experience in Israel, experiences in Israel, where and whether your forward-looking risk is discrimination or persecution. In the decision of Ward, the Supreme Court held that persecution is the, “sustained or systemic violation of basic human rights, demonstrative of a failure of state protection.” The United Nations High Commission for Refugees indicates in its handbook that discrimination rises to persecution where there is a-, where there are a number of discriminatory acts substantially prejudicial to the person concerned, which take place in a general atmosphere of insecurity and which result in a feeling of apprehension and insecurity with regard to the future existence of the person concerned. In determining whether you face a serious possibility of persecution upon return to Israel, I am guided by a Refugee Appeal Division decision identified as a reason of interest. This decision contextualizes persecution within the following human rights framework. This test must be understood within the context set out by Hathaway, who explains that the assessment of persecution must be done in the context of human rights law. This human rights-based approach to assessing persecution is not intended to be hierarchical or categorical, but rather flexible and fluid. Allowing for decision-makers to take into account of the cumulative human rights impact of the various harms alleged, in order to arrive at a synthesized assessment of the totality of the claim. As for these reasons, I must consider the situation in the country and whether the government is creating an atmosphere of intolerance. The consequences of the discrimination, including whether there are impacts on an ability to access education, healthcare, and jobs which lead to an insecure future existence the personal circumstances of the claimants and their vulnerabilities, including age, health, finances, and gender, and the cumulative nature of the discrimination and whether it rises to persecution. Upon applying this framework of analysis in the context of your particular circumstances and the country condition evidence for Israel, as I will discuss in a moment.
[6] I find that you have established a forward-looking serious possibility of persecution. I acknowledge that you are both educated, however, the restrictions at the Israeli universities that led you Ms.XXXX to obtain your XXXX XXXX at a Palestinian university led to limited employment opportunities in Israel. Nevertheless, you both gained employment and had a modicum of economic security. However, I note that this relative privilege did not shelter you from multiple incidents of discrimination and violence based upon your Arab race both from security officials and Israeli society, which affects your rights to liberty, security, and mobility. Mr. XXXX, I acknowledge the violence you experienced at the hand of authority-, hands of authorities for expressing your political views which are a violation of your first-tier rights as explained by Professor Hathaway and that therefore this incident constitutes persecution in and of itself. I find-, I find, based upon the country conditions that there is a serious risk for both of you of experiencing such racial persecution on a forward-looking basis. It is well established in the jurisprudence that persecution may be caused by discriminatory acts that are sufficiently serious and occur over a long period of time that it can be said that the claimants, physical, or moral integrity is threatened. I have considered the social exclusion-, exclusion you experienced as well as the psychological impact of experiencing and witnessing verbal and physical violence for being Arabs, and I find that cumulatively the human rights impact of all these harms amounts to persecution.
[7] Regarding the objective evidence, it supports your forward-looking fear of discrimination rising to persecution for Arabs in Israel. The objective evidence indicates that in the course of history, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and its repercussions, Palestinians have long suffered human rights violations at the hands of Israeli authorities. Defined legally and acting practically as a Jewish State, Israel subjugates its approximately 1.5 million Palestinian Arab citizens within a system of discrimination and exclusion. The legal and political system creates a hierarchical citizenry that privileges Jews over others in Israel. The Israeli legal system and the judiciary provide no guarantees for safeguarding the basic human rights of the Palestinians, as both are largely impacted by extremist political parties that control the Israeli Government. The National Documentation Package shows that Palestinian neighborhoods in Israel show a lack of appropriate infrastructure, including improper educational, recreational, and healthcare facilities. A recent Human Rights Watch report 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 they are severely restricted-, have severely restricted movement, this results in increasing in crime, violence, and internal conflict, quite apart from the ongoing military engagement.
[8] Amnesty International also reports that 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 systematically repressed and discriminated against Palestinians in ways that far exceed the security justification they often provided. Israeli forces routinely turn away or humiliate and delay Palestinians at checkpoints without explanation. As a result of the foregoing analysis, I find that the objective evidence supports your subjective fears and forward-looking risk. Regarding state protection, 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. Regarding an internal flight alternative, given that your agent of persecution is the Israeli state and its internal security agency, I find that there is no safe and viable internal flight alternative for you as Palestinian Israeli, excuse me, Israeli Arabs, given the level of discrimination in the country that I have previously discussed. Therefore I am satisfied that you face a serious possibility of persecution in all parts of Israel and you could not relocate for safety. In conclusion, I find that you XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX are Convention refugees under section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act based upon your race. I accept your claim and I wish you well.
——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———