Father and his 2 sons applied for review of their initially refused refugee status request. Claim Hamas threatened them for not joining.

Three Palestinian residents of Ramallah, Mohammad Adawi and his two sons Naser and Nasim, arrived in Canada in 2010 requesting refugee status. According to Adawi, he was forced to flee Samaria following death threats from armed members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The three recently applied for a judicial review of a 2012 decision that refused them refugee status and claimed their story was likely fabricated, reports Shalom Toronto. The federal courts involved in the review cancelled the earlier decision and opened a new hearing of their case.

Adawi reports that his eldest son refused to help Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and as a result rumors were spread that his family collaborates with Israel. On May 31, 2010, one of his sons was beaten by two Hamas-affiliated students, with another son getting involved to help protect his brother. That night the two sons, Naser and Nasim, went to stay at their uncle's house in Lod.

The same night, a group of masked men came looking for the boys at the family home, threatening the father that if he didn't turn them over in two days all three of them would be dead. The incident sent Adawi's wife into shock, leading her to have a miscarriage later that night.

Adawi only returned to his house in Ramallah twice, to pick up passports and clothes, and to meet a real estate agent of potential buyers for the house. He reports that both times masked men shot at him.

In early July the son and his fathers left through Jordan, arriving in Canada later in the month. It is unclear from court documents what happened to the mother.

Their request for refugee status was checked by Canadian authorities, who informed them a year later that they don't meet the criterion of refugees. In the decision, authorities cited inconsistencies between versions of the story told by the father and sons, unlikely claims and missing information.

In particular, the authorities reasoned that it is unlikely Adawi would have returned to his house in Ramallah only two days after receiving the ultimatum from Hamas, and that if the organizations were serious in their threats he probably wouldn't have been able to retrieve his belongings so easily.