On September 22, 2103, an elderly Palestinian man arrived at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, the West Bank's only access point abroad. He was planning to go to Jordan to visit relatives, but the Israeli border authorities refused to let him cross and told him to turn around and go back. On the next day, the man went to the Huwwara DCO with his son. He filled out a form challenging the security preclusion against his exit abroad. Two months later,
the military notified HaMoked, which was representing the man, that the security preclusion had been lifted more than a month earlier, "on the assumption that [the man] signs a declaration that he would not see his son".
On December 5, 2013,
HaMoked notified the army that the man refused to sign the outrageous undertaking that meant waving his right to see his son. HaMoked stressed that the son, whom Israel deported to Lebanon in the 1992 mass deportation, could have returned to the West Bank in 1994, but chose to live in Turkey, where he remains, with his family, to this day. The man has not seen his son for more than two years.
On December 31, 2013,
HaMoked petitioned the Supreme Court, asking it to instruct the army to let the man travel abroad without stipulating injurious conditions. HaMoked recalled that according to case law, the authorities must state the reasons for a travel preclusion and it must be imposed for a limited time. HaMoked said the army was violating the man's rights to freedom of movement and family life.
The elderly man's choice to stand his ground proved itself and on January 13, 2014, the army notified HaMoked that the travel preclusion had been lifted, without mentioning a demand to refrain from seeing the son. The requested relief was granted, and HaMoked withdrew the petition.
Questions regarding the outrageous condition remain.
