Adalah Seeks Cancellation of Travel Ban Imposed on Renowned Literary Critic and Journalist Antwan Shalhat
Antwan Shalhat is a prominent literary critic, journalist, and translator in the Palestinian Arab community in Israel as well as in the Arab world. He has translated from Hebrew to Arabic the work of distinguished Israeli authors such as Yehoshua Leibowitz and Hanoch Levin. Mr. Shalhat also worked for many years as an editor with Al-Ittihad and Fasl al-Maqal newspapers, and is now working at Madar – The Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies.
On 25 December 2005, Mr. Shalhat received a temporary order dated 18 December 2005 and signed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in his capacity as Minister of the Interior, barring him from leaving Israel until 31 December 2005. In a letter accompanying the order, the Director of the Population Administration in the Ministry of the Interior informed Mr. Shalhat that the decision to bar his travel was based on classified information, and that the ban could be extended until the end of 2006.
On the following day, 26 December 2005, Adalah sent a letter on behalf of Mr. Shalhat to the Minister of the Interior and the Director of the Population Administration. In the letter, Adalah Attorney Marwan Dalal argued that the temporary travel ban violates Mr. Shalhat's constitutional right to leave the country under Article 6 of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, and that the use of “secret” information to justify the order violated his basic right to due process. Mr. Shalhat was not given an opportunity to challenge the order prior to its issuance, nor could he adequately do so now without knowing the reasons that allegedly warranted the prohibition in the first place, Adalah maintained.
Mr. Shalhat received a second letter dated 29 December 2005 from the Director of the Population Administration on 2 January 2006, informing him that the travel ban had been extended until 15 January 2006. However, no signed order by the Minister of the Interior himself accompanied the letter.
On 2 January 2006, Adalah sent a second letter to the Director of the Population Administration emphasizing that his notification letter to Mr. Shalhat regarding the extension of the travel ban does not substitute for the order itself, as he lacks the official authority to ban a citizen from traveling; this power is held solely by the Minister of the Interior. Adalah further added that the fact that Mr. Shalhat did not have any plans to leave the country before the travel ban order and extension letter were issued underlines the arbitrariness of the policy pursued by the Ministry of the Interior.
Mr. Shalhat and Adalah have not received any response to the letters sent to the Ministry of the Interior and the Director of the Population Administration. Adalah will shortly be submitting a petition to the Supreme Court against the Ministry of the Interior challenging the travel ban imposed on Mr. Antwan Shalhat.
