العربية
HE
العربية
HE
A ten-year-old boy is sick with cancer and must undergo a series of difficult chemotherapy treatments. The child lives in the West Bank where such treatment is unavailable, and therefore he has to leave for Jordan. The ISA is preventing his father's exit, and the father is the only adult capable of escorting the boy to Jordan for the treatments.
On 31 March 2009, the father and his ailing son reached the Allenby Bridge on route to Jordan, where the boy was to begin a series of chemotherapy treatments. At the Bridge, Israeli representatives prevented the father's exit, claiming he was precluded from leaving for abroad by the ISA. A distant relative was passing through the Bridge at the time, and the father requested that he take the sick child to the Jordan hospital. The man agreed and left for Jordan with the boy. At the Bridge, the father met with an ISA official who suggested that he collaborate with the ISA in exchange for permission to escort his ailing son. The father declined the offer.
The sick boy's grandfather, who is 80 years old and suffers from a heart condition, left for Jordan that same day to be beside the boy during the hospital treatments. For medical reasons and due to his age, the grandfather could not remain by his sick grandson, and therefore, the boy's mother traveled to Jordan, leaving behind three small children, the youngest only a six-month-old infant whom she was still breastfeeding.
When the second series of treatments was scheduled to begin, in April, the grandfather was again the only adult who could escort the sick child. Once again, the grandfather had to return to the West Bank after a week at the hospital. The sick child's brother, a 17 year old, left school and traveled to Jordan to care for his ailing brother.
The following treatment was scheduled for 25 May 2009, and past experience indicated that no one but the father could escort the child – the grandfather's condition deteriorated, the mother could not leave her minor children again, as she was still breastfeeding, and the elder brother was preparing for end of year exams.
HaMoked petitioned the HCJ and requested an urgent hearing, in order to overturn the ISA's decision and allow the father to leave for Jordan. Following an intense hearing and after the Justices reviewed the confidential material and pressed the State to find a solution, ISA officials backed down from their position and agreed to allow the father to exit, on a one time basis, to escort his son to Jordan for the upcoming treatment, with a provision that this would not constitute a precedent with regard to future treatments.
This horrible story illustrates Israel's complete disregard for the basic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population – the soldiers, who prevented a father from traveling abroad to escort his ailing son; the ISA, who attempted to get the father to collaborate immediately after he sent his son for difficult hospital treatments, escorted by someone else; the Supreme Court Justices, who heard the petition and delved into issues such as the type of assistance required for a child cancer patient, and the type of person who should provide the 10-year-old boy with such assistance, and who finally prided themselves on the change in the ISA's position and on the permission obtained for the father's exit on a one time basis; not one of these people took pause to note the absurdity of the need for the petition and the hearing.
To view the judgment dated 20 May 2009 (Hebrew)
To view the respondent's response dated 19 May 2009 (Hebrew)
