The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) and the Legal Centre for Palestine (LCP) have succeeded in having the Canadian travel authorisation of West Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King revoked, as rights advocates press the US Department of Justice to prosecute him ahead of an upcoming visit.
The legal victory in Canada follows a formal criminal complaint and comes as HRF submits a prosecution request to the US Department of Justice against King, who also founded the Israel Land Fund (ILF), for war crimes and incitement to genocide ahead of his expected arrival in the United States on August 31.
The US filing details how King, a dual UK-Israeli national, has used his public platform to incite genocide in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories under US law (18 U.S.C. §1091).
The complaint highlights his repeated calls to halt humanitarian aid to Gaza, his demands for the forced expulsion of its population, and his campaign against UNRWA, which included public calls to destroy its facilities and target personnel.
Unlawful transfer
The submission also accuses King of war crimes under the US War Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. §2441) through the systematic dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhoods, including Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, to replace them with illegal Israeli settlers.
"Arieh King has made it his life's work to remove Palestinians from their land—either through Israel's discriminatory legal system or through force," said Jake Romm, US Representative at HRF.
"The US must act in line with its international and domestic legal obligations and arrest, prosecute, and punish King before he can do any more damage to Palestine and its people."
Following the revocation of King's travel permission in Canada, HRF Director General Dyab Abou Jahjah stressed that perpetrators should not move freely behind a shield of impunity, adding: "International crimes must have international consequences."
