Ashrawi: Israel is Manipulating Its So-Called Democratic Legal System to Provide Cover for Its War Crimes

Ramallah, MINA — PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi said that Israel is manipulating its so-called democratic legal system to provide cover for its war crimes and to shield its soldiers from any kind of judicial accountability, thereby providing them with full impunity at the expense of the Palestinian people who are brutalized and terrorized on a daily basis.

Ashrawi issued a statement ahead of Israel’s proposed “Prohibition against Photocopying and Documenting IDF Soldiers” bill, stating, and slammed the bill as a dangerous move. “If Israel and its occupation army have nothing to hide, there is no harm in documenting their actions against Palestinians.”

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The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation will discuss a bill that would prohibit the recording, photographing or documentation of Israeli soldiers ‘in the course of their duties, with the intention of undermining the spirit of IDF soldiers and residents of Israel, shall be liable to five years imprisonment.

According to WAFA,the bill would also ban the publication of photos or video content in the media or on social networks.

“This proposed bill is part of the deliberate escalation of Israel’s adoption and implementation of unlawful and unjust laws, proposals and measures aimed to prolong the military occupation and entrench the grave suffering of the Palestinian people,” said Ashrawi..

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“If passed, this bill will constitute a serious breach of the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

Israel is bent on employing policies that deliberately target media institutions and organizations that present the Palestinian human narrative in a fair and just manner and report on Israel’s persistent violations of international law and consensus, she added.

“There is an urgent and crucial need for effective international intervention to curb Israel’s unlawful and criminal actions and to provide protection for the Palestinian people. Israel should not be given a free hand to persist with its illegal unilateral measures and get away with it,” Ashrawi concluded.(T/RS5/RS1)

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Mi’raj Islamc News Agency (MINA)