17 March 2022
The First-Tier Tribunal has granted an anti-Zionist Jewish rabbinical student from Israel permission to appeal his asylum case to the Upper Tribunal.
The Tribunal found that it was arguable that the judge who dismissed his asylum appeal had committed legal errors by
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Failing to analyse his fear of persecution as an anti-Zionist at the hands of Israel’s apartheid regime;
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Failing to consider whether he would have to live discreetly as an anti-Zionist if returned to Israel;
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Placing undue weight on the untested hearsay evidence of his father about whether he was exempt from military service, over and above the evidence of numerous expert witnesses and multiple objective sources; and
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Failing to take into account extensive evidence of the ways in which the Israeli government and non-state actors persecute Orthodox Jewish anti-Zionist members of the Neturei Karta in particular.
Last month, an immigration tribunal dismissed his asylum appeal although it separately ruled that returning him to Israel would result in his being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment due to his mental health condition.
The Upper Tribunal will now be invited to set aside the original judge’s decision and proceed to make binding conclusions about Israel’s apartheid regime.
[END]
Notes to Editor:
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MF is represented in his asylum claim by Fahad Ansari at Riverway Law instructing Alasdair Mackenzie at Doughty Street Chambers and Franck Magennis at Garden Court Chambers. For further comment, please call (020) 3488 4545 or email info@riverwaylaw.com
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The Tribunal has made an anonymity order prohibiting the direct or indirect identification of MF or any member of his family.
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The Islamic Human Rights Commission has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for MF’s legal costs. Donations can be made here https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/fight-israeli-apartheid/
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MF relied on expert evidence from Professor Ilan Pappe, Professor Yakov Rabkin and Dr Tom Gilberthorpe as well as a witness statement from Noa Levy, an Israeli lawyer who has significant experience in representing individuals persecuted for resisting conscription to the military.
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For previous coverage of the case, please see the links below.
