Center for the Defence of the Individual - Following HaMoked’s petition, the State stipulated a high monetary guarantee as a condition for permitting a Palestinian to travel to Jordan in order to mourn the death of his father: As he is unable to afford the high sum demanded by the State, his journey will be delayed
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
19.10.2009

Following HaMoked’s petition, the State stipulated a high monetary guarantee as a condition for permitting a Palestinian to travel to Jordan in order to mourn the death of his father: As he is unable to afford the high sum demanded by the State, his journey will be delayed

On 11 September 2009, a resident of Hebron requested to leave for Jordan through the Allenby Bridge, in order to bid farewell to his elderly father who was terminally ill and hospitalized in Amman. At the Bridge, a representative of the military informed him that he was precluded from travelling. On 30 September 2009, the dying father was released from hospital and returned home to spend his final days with his family. In light of the humanitarian circumstances and the urgency of the matter, HaMoked appealed to the army to allow the son to see his dying father and permit him to travel to Jordan. Despite the urgency, the military failed to provide a substantive response and on 8 October 2009 HaMoked was forced to submit a petition in the matter to the High Court of Justice. At the same time the petition was filed, the father passed away and HaMoked submitted an updating notice to the court, in which it requested to allow the petitioner to leave for Jordan in order to grieve with his family.

In the petition, HaMoked claimed that in light of the tragic circumstances of the case, continually preventing the petitioner from travelling to Jordan would cause a severe violation of his and his family’s right to family life, a right to which protected residents are entitled under international humanitarian law. The state claims the petitioner is a Hamas operative whose exit to Jordan entails a security risk. In the course of negotiations between HaMoked and the state attorney’s office, the state agreed to allow the petitioner to travel to Jordan for a limited time period of 36 hours and subject to a 10,000 NIS guarantee to be deposited by the petitioner, ensuring his return to the West Bank on schedule.

Despite the compromise that was reached, it seems that for the time being the petitioner will not be able to leave for Jordan, due to the large sum which the State insists on. Therefore the parties have agreed that once the petitioner manages to deposit the said amount of money, he would be able to submit another application to travel to Jordan, and if the circumstances of the case remain the same, his exit would be permitted. Following this agreement, the two sides submitted an application to delete the petition to the Supreme Court. 

To view the petition dated 8 October 2009 (Hebrew) 

To view the application to delete the petition dated 12 October 2009 (Hebrew)