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Arab Israeli Granted UK Asylum in Landmark Case on Basis of ‘Apartheid’
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
In a groundbreaking decision, the British government has granted asylum to an Arab citizen of Israel based on the “well-founded fear” that he could face persecution at home due to his religion and views on the Israeli government, which allegedly maintains an “apartheid system.”
Franck Magennis, the main lawyer representing the 24-year-old man, identified only as “Hasan,” hailed the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel as a “victory.”
Hasan was unexpectedly granted refugee status by the Home Office, only 24 hours before a scheduled tribunal hearing on his previously rejected asylum petition was set to take place.
Hasan said the ruling marked “a victory not only for me but for all Palestinians living under the Israeli apartheid regime.” According to British media reports, Hasan has lived most of his life in the UK.
“Without having to go to court, the British government has now accepted that the Palestinian struggle for freedom should not be limited only to Gaza and the West Bank but to all parts of historical Palestine under Israeli rule,” he added. “I want to express a huge thank you to all those who supported my case. Without your help, I could not have reached this point.”
Hasan’s lawyers had intended to argue that he would be at risk in Israel due to his participation in pro-Palestinian protests in the UK. They also aimed to make the claim that Israel “is governed by an apartheid regime that engages in systematic and pervasive discrimination, persecution, and violence touching on all aspects of Palestinian life.”
Magennis, the barrister representing Hasan, said the move marks a striking rebuke of the British government’s long-standing ally. Magennis’ legal team believes the Home Office’s asylum approval could set a far-reaching precedent in Britain and beyond, and may pave the way for more Israeli Arabs to successfully claim refugee status based on alleged persecution in their home country.
“What’s so shocking about this case is that Israel is normally considered a staunch ally of the UK government, and that the UK considers it the only democracy in the Middle East and in no way an apartheid regime. But what this reflects is a staggering contradiction in the heart of British foreign policy,” said Magennis.
As early as Oct. 7, Magennis posted “victory to the Intifada” on social media, according to the UK lawyers for Israel group which submitted a criminal complaint against Magennis in November. Magennis also published an image of a bulldozer breaking through the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza and changed his status to “Free Palestine.”
Another lawyer for Hassan, Taher Golhussain, said: “While the world rightly focuses on the Israeli genocide in Gaza, it is important to understand that by virtue of being an apartheid state, Israel’s oppression extends to every Palestinian under its control and authority, whether they are in Gaza, the West Bank, or even within what is considered the borders of Israel itself. Therefore we welcome the decision of the Home Office to grant asylum to our client in recognition of this basic fact.”
Israel firmly rejects the “apartheid” label. Approximately 20 percent of Israel’s population is Arab. Arab Israelis hold the highest positions of power in Israel’s legislative, executive, and judicial branches. An Arab Muslim is currently serving as a Supreme Court justice, and the last coalition government included Ra’am, an Arab Islamist party.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed that no Israeli would ever be permitted to live in a future Palestinian state.
On Oct. 9, Tamar S, a dual British-Israeli resident of the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod, applied for asylum status in the UK for her family on terror-related grounds. In her application, Tamar noted that she was afraid for her life and that of her children following the Hamas-led attack two days earlier, after thousands of Palestinian terrorists stormed Israel killing more than 1,200 people and abducting 253. Tamar, who declined to give her full last name, noted that many of the terrorists were still on the loose in Israeli territory.
In her petition, she included her fear that her hometown would once again become the scene of bloody riots, like those that erupted in Israel’s mixed cities in May 2021 during clashes with Hamas in Gaza. Nevertheless, Tamar’s application was rejected.
As an asylum seeker, Tamar would have been eligible for housing and more than $1,000 per month for herself, her partner, and her two young children.
“It’s a disgrace that I, as a British citizen, was rejected from refuge in the UK while terrorists were slaughtering Israelis,” Tamar told The Algemeiner.
While some Palestinians from Gaza have been granted asylum in Britain before, Magennis said he could find no precedent for an Israeli citizen receiving such protection based on their ethnicity and political views.
The Home Office did not provide justification for the sudden overturn of the ruling, stating only: “All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules. Where more information is provided or becomes available, the outcome of a decision can change.”
The post Arab Israeli Granted UK Asylum in Landmark Case on Basis of ‘Apartheid’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.