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Palestinian factions describe deportation of lawyer as ethnic cleansing

December 19, 2022 at 9:26 am

French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri arrives at the Parisian airport of Roissy, after he was expelled from Israel, on December 18, 2022. [DAPHNE BENOIT/AFP via Getty Images]

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement condemned on Sunday Israel’s deportation of Palestinian-French lawyer and ex-detainee Salah Hamouri from the occupied city of his birth, Jerusalem.

“This move is a continuation of the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement aimed at expelling the Palestinians and banishing them from their land,” said Hamas. “In light of this arbitrary decision which blatantly violates international norms and conventions, the international community and human rights organisations should take serious measures, condemn this crime and put pressure on the Israeli occupation to backtrack on it.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said that the expulsion of Hamouri which uproots him from his home city was a political decision. “He was expelled from Jerusalem because he has been calling for the freedom of his fellow Palestinians, as well as calling for an end to the Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes and aggression against Palestinian women and children.”

The PFLP also described the move as “ethnic cleansing” as part of the occupation state’s efforts to expel the “indigenous residents” from the Holy City. “This is a flagrant violation of international law,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs called for Hamouri to be returned to his home along with his wife and children. “Hamouri’s expulsion from Jerusalem highlights the need for the Palestinians to have international protection from these Israeli practices.”

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