PRESS RELEASE

Palestinian and American lawyers along with BADIL Resource Center for
Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights and Ittijah Union of Arab Community
Based Associations in Haifa condemn the Israeli governmental bill currently
being discussed by the Knesset that would deny compensation to Palestinian
victims of Israeli acts or omission including war crimes perpetrated in the
occupied Palestinian territories and call on the international community to
remind Israel of its obligations under international human rights and
humanitarian law.

Bethlehem, West Bank-Palestinian and American lawyers joined with BADIL
Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights and Ittijah
Union of Arab Community Based Associations based in Haifa, Israel to condemn
an attempt by members of the Israeli government to pass a bill in the Knesset
that seeks to deny Palestinian residents of the occupied Palestinian
territories (OPT) compensation for the negligent acts and omissions and war
crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces and other agents of the State
of Israel in the OPT. The bill is scheduled to be discussed on Thursday, June
23, 2005 by the Knesset Constitution and Law Committee. It will then be
submitted on the same day to the Knesset for a second and possibly a third
reading. Once approve in a third reading, the bill will become law.

“This bill is the latest attempt by the Israeli government to exempt the State
of Israel from the requirements of international law,” says Zaha Hassan,
spokesperson for the National Lawyers Guild, a US legal association
headquartered in New York. “This bill is especially shameful at a time when
Israel has managed to secure itself as a regional vice president in the UN
General Assembly and is attempting to obtain a seat on the UN Security
Council.” Hassan contends that “no country that shows such disdain for
international law should hold such positions at the United Nations.”

Hussein Abu Hussein, a Palestinian attorney practicing in Israel and an expert
on Israeli tort law, called the bill blatantly racist in design and effect
before the Knesset Constitution and Law Committee which publicly reviewed the
bill on June 15, 2005. “The bill proposes to prevent only those persons of
Palestinian origin who happen to reside in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
from bringing a negligence action or a claim for violation of human rights
and humanitarian law against Israeli soldiers and officials before Israeli
courts,” asserts Abu Hussein. “Israeli Jews residing in settlements in the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are all illegal under international law,
are excluded from the reach of the bill.”

If passed, this bill will have retroactive effect and will be applicable to
all incidents occurring since September 29th, 2000, the start of the second
Palestinian uprising. “The retroactive nature of the law violates principles
of international law as well as the laws of all civilized nations,” states
Abu Hussein.

BADIL states that the bill is consistent with Israel’s long-standing policy of
denying any meaningful compensation or restitution to Palestinians either
inside or outside of Israel’s borders for actions of the Israeli military
violating international law. The bill, if passed, may also effectively
prevent restitution and compensation for damages incurred to Palestinians by
the Wall currently under construction in the occupied West Bank in violation
of the 2004 ruling by the International Court of Justice and related UN
resolutions.

BADIL calls upon the international community to put pressure on Israeli MPs to
oppose passage of the bill:

Constitution, Law and Justice Committee:
Fax: +972-2-6753199
E-mail: vdept4@knesset.gov.il

For further information, contact

In the US, Zaha Hassan: (919) 567-9967 or zaha@uswest.net;

In Israel and the OPT:

Hussein Abu Hussein, 972 0528720276 (mobile), 972 4 6313640 (office) or
ahusein@zahav.net.il; and

BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights:
+972-2-2747346 or info@badil.org

ITTIJAH - Union of Arab Community Based Associations, +972 4 8507110 or
ittijah@ittijah.org.