The Israeli government's recent announcement of Army order No. 1,650 was just the latest act of provocation in a series of calculated measures to derail any possible resumption of peace negotiations. Under this new draconian measure, anyone who doesn't have a "permit" to be in the West Bank is to be considered an "infiltrator" and subject to expulsion or risk up to seven years in jail.
Expulsions and deportations are not something new for the Israeli military administrative system which was established in 1969, shortly after the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War. At the time, the Israeli military was given the legal power to expel "infiltrators" without trial for various unspecified "security reasons."
Two particular Palestinian communities will be impacted by order No. 1,650: Palestinians with Gaza residencies and Palestinians with East Jerusalem residencies, as well as foreign-born residents of the West Bank. But many Palestinian and Israeli experts believe that it's the foreigners living amongst Palestinians who are the real target of the Netanyahu government. Many believe that this is part of an ongoing Israeli effort to silence dissent and crack down on international solidarity members and activists who travel to Palestinian areas to support protests and rallies, often bringing with them the eyes of the outside world.
Now that Israel has almost completed its "Separation Wall", it wants to build a "Wall of Silence" and control the flow of information and limit the presence of foreign-born eyewitnesses on the ground. The question is, why now?
A "White Intifada" has begun to take hold in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Every Thursday and Friday, Palestinian peace activists, accompanied by members of the Israeli Peace Now movement, as well as international supporters, gather to demonstrate against what they term as Israel's "Apartheid Wall" and land and home confiscations in the villages of Bil'in, Naalin, and the Sheikh Jarah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Volunteers from B'Tselem( the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories), document by video suspected violations of human rights by members of the security forces during those protests.
Two months ago, I witnessed a Friday demonstration in Sheikh Jarah where settlers tried to provoke peaceful demonstrators by harassing and spitting on them while Israeli Police and border patrol units watched from across the street. I was impressed by the demonstrators' calm and unfazed demeanor. Similarly, at the villages of Bil'in and Naalin, peaceful demonstrators have been brutally beaten and arrested by the Israeli army. Nevertheless, more keep coming back every week.
In February a Czech volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement was taken in the night from her house in Ramallah and deported by Israeli forces. This new order will give a blanket legal cover to the Israeli police and army to instantly deport foreign activists and aid workers spotted at demonstrations. Last December, at another demonstration I covered at Erez (Gaza-Israel Crossing), Israeli police did not engage the peaceful demonstrators who gathered calling for an end of the siege on Gaza. Instead, policemen were busy videotaping those who showed up, especially foreign nationals. Interestingly enough my Israeli Press Card was indefinitely delayed for renewal after my coverage of that story, but that's another subject on its own.
For years I've been hearing the popular question usually posed by Americans, "Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?"
During the past two trips that I've made to the Palestinian territories and Israel, I think that I discovered him/her in the eyes of the many peaceful demonstrators against the Israeli occupation. Nonviolent resistance could be the biggest threat to Israel's ability to justify it's continued military aggression and occupation of Palestinian lands. Order No. 1,650 is to neutralize the movement by deporting Gandhi.
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This "new draconian measure" actually constitutes some minor rewordings of Order # 329, formulated in 1969 (which you refer to obliquely). Frinstance, previously an "armed infiltrator" was subject to life imprisonment; this "new draconian measure" amends that to twenty years. Very draconian. And what seems to upset you: whereas previous an "infiltrator" was anyone who entered the area illegally or didn't have a permit, from "the east bank of the Jordan, Syria, Egypt or Lebanon", that's now amended to be anyone who entered the area illegally or doesn't have a permit, from anywhere. Despite your concern, I'm not sure that allowing for the possibility of infiltrators from Monaco, in addition to the established enemies list ca. 1969, is much of a stretch, draconianmeasure-wise.
Point #2:
Is there any country anywhere that allows nonresidents without proper permits and/or who entered illegally to just continue to hang around? Particularly armed ones? I thought that was one of the basic definitions of a country, control over one's borders. But if you're conceptually opposed to that, you might be able to swing more weight trying to influence your very own country to lay off the poor illegal Mexican immigrants (who by and large have zero interest in overthrowing the US government). I know I feel my energies are more profitably applied in writing to my representatives regarding that rather than fulminating against regimes on the other side of the ocean who aren't interested in our opinions, (possibly for good reason).
"Particularly armed ones?"- What a funny quession, last time I was in the West Bank I only saw settlers totting arms!
Point #1:
The original Israeli military order (like many other ones) is draconian enough, and most Palestinians who were deported as a result of it were regular Palestinians who “lost” their residency in the racist and unbearable labyrinths of Israeli military bureaucracy in the Occupied Territories. You only need to read the reports of NGOs and human rights organizations to learn the facts about that.
Pont #2:
You don’t defend the borders of your country by occupying another country and start throwing its people to third countries under flimsy pretexts of security! And let’s wait and see how many “armed people” will be deported as opposed to ordinary people and foreign volunteers who came to the West Bank to support the Palestinians.
Point #3: If this military order was issued by a state other than Israel and its intended targets were Jews, I don’t believe you would dare to support it or use these empty arguments to justify it.
there is less documentation of what is going on. They are afraid of the truth it seems.
Because it is crystal clear that there is not going to be a Palestinian state, because Israel has practically ensured that there is no continguous land left on which to put the thing.
The British Raj, the American (all three Americas) gencides of the Indians, the Australians and the aborigines.. and Israel's crimes against the native people of Palestine (as it was once called).
I know any Zionist on this thread would gladly accept people moving into their homes for religious reasons. Right folks?
Of course, MOST Zionists live in the US.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb326lP5RPg
I own a Koran, and Bible, and Talmud.
'There is nothing in the Koran about 72 virgins.
BTW-- Most white colonialists think that they are "moral eople," and that Godd is on their side.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/966952.html
It's true, though. that most Jews are not members of AIPAC. In fact, most Jews are not Zionists.
The Palestinians WERE born on native soil. However, in an apartheid colonial system, under a separate set of laws than other citizens (like, South Africa), they are vulnerable to theft and destruction of their homes, orchards, farms and business, or theft of same by squatting "settlers." with no legal recourse.
Frankly, one of the reasons why Israel is getting a major black eye in the world press is that white elitist colonial apartheid systems are no longer seen as enlightened.
..And yes, thank you so much for your concern for the Palestinians’ "citizenship rights" in Arab states! “It appears to me” very genuine! However I would have been more appreciative if you called for their repatriation to their homes and families in Palestine.
Also “I heard” that Israel grants its citizenship to any Jew anywhere in the world under a "right of return" and in many cases these people actually hold two citizenships; Also “I have read” that Israel denies Palestinian refugees and their descendants the right of return to their homeland. And now “it appears to me” that Israelis is putting into effect a racist military order that treats Palestinians as infiltrators in their own country!
"Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary."- Gandhi
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/14/world/la-fg-israel-secrets14-2010apr14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI51PKXPUHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMntMb-omIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh7gzUoy3vc
From last year, Hate Thy Neighbour - mostly about the settlements with some protest coverage at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPtW3ZYq0Wk