Afraid of torture due to sexual tendencies
Photo: Reuters
Gay Palestinian requests Israeli visa
Plaintiff requests court allow him to live with his Israeli partner, says he fears for his life in the West Bank
A 30-year-old Palestinian man who has resided in Israel with his partner for the past seven years has filed a petition with the High Court of Justice asking to prevent his deportation to the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian and his partner claim deportation would put him at serious risk of being arrested and tortured at the hands of Palestinian security forces, as well as persecution by his extended family because of his sexual orientation and the fact that his partner is an Israeli.
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The petition also says the Palestinian man has been suspected of collaboration with Israel in the past, which would also put him in harm's way if he is returned to his previous home.
Originally from Nablus, the man says he has been harassed in the past by Palestinian security officers who suspected he had been having an affair with his employer in the West Bank.
The couple claim they have appealed numerous times to the Interior Ministry since 2006 in order to gain the status of a common-law couple, however they have not been successful.
The petition says the ministry's decision "is extremely implausible as it has ignored the evidence regarding the imminent danger homosexuals face within the Palestinian territories because of their sexual tendencies".
