Docket: IMM-6873-13
Citation:
2015 FC 348
Ottawa, Ontario, March 19, 2015
PRESENT: The
Honourable Mr. Justice Phelan
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BETWEEN:
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ALONA DAVIDSON
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YARON DAVIDSON
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ADAM SHMUEL DAVIDSON
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ELIAD-ALEXANDER DAVIDSON
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AHARON ZOHAR DAVIDSON
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Applicants
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and
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THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
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Respondent
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JUDGMENT AND REASONS
I.
Introduction
[1]
This is the judicial review of a decision by the
Refugee Protection Division [RPD] dismissing the Applicants’ claim for refugee
status and for protection.
II.
Background
[2]
The main Applicant, Alona Davidson [Applicant],
and her four children are citizens of Israel. The Applicant immigrated to
Israel in 1990 and began living with an Arab Bedouin, Gaber Karaja, in 1993
after she became pregnant.
[3]
Approximately four months later, Gaber Karaja
was killed in a blood feud incident with the Jarushi family. The blood feud has
continued to the present day resulting in 24 murders and many injuries.
[4]
The Applicant provided the police with all the
information about this killing. The police had warned Gaber about possible harm
but did not provide any protection. As a result of the Applicant’s evidence and
other witnesses, two of the three murderers were convicted and jailed.
[5]
The Applicant had a son by Gaber and named him
Gaber after his murdered father. She received a threat against her son,
reported it to police but the complaint was not accepted.
[6]
The Applicant married Ron Davidson, had three
children by him and changed young Gaber’s name to Yaron to minimize risk to
him.
[7]
In February 2010, the Applicant learned that the
Jarushi clan were showing interest in her and Yaron. She did not report her
concerns to police because she feared being forced to disclose the source of
her information which would put the sources at risk.
[8]
The RPD dismissed the claim because of (a) lack
of nexus to a Convention ground and (b) the failure to rebut the presumption of
state protection. In so doing the RPD rejected the evidence of a former Israeli
police officer finding it not credible, sufficient or convincing.
[9]
The RPD’s determinative finding was that there
was no credible evidence to suggest that Israeli police authorities would not
act and provide the claimants with adequate protection should evidence suggest
that a criminal act has or would take place against the claimants
notwithstanding any issue of resources. The RPD put considerable reliance on
the current US DOS report.
III.
Analysis
[10]
It is well established that state protection is
reviewable on the reasonableness standard (Kovacs v Canada (Citizenship and
Immigration), 2010 FC 1003).
[11]
While there are arguably soft spots in the
analysis of the claim, any such concerns are addressed by the overall
reasonableness of the decision.
[12]
The RPD did not just focus on the “willingness”
of Israeli authorities although it did refer to willingness. The RPD did note
that there were difficulties with the claim, particularly the knowledge since
1994 that Yaron and Alona’s lives were in danger and that this danger could
become very real when Yaron turned 18 (the rules of this blood feud dictate not
killing until a person is 18). In the face of that knowledge and warnings by
family members in 2011, the Applicant did nothing.
[13]
The RPD also had evidence that the Applicant had
travelled frequently outside Israel to Convention countries yet took no efforts
to claim protection. That evidence, along with the US DOS Report, the concrete
action of the police when Gaber Sr. was killed and the Applicant’s failure to
seek protection from 1994 onwards provided a reasonable basis for the
conclusion that the Applicants were not in need of protection; that if
protection was needed, it was adequate and available in Israel.
IV.
Conclusion
[14]
This judicial review will be dismissed. There is
no question for certification.
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