New Zionist order to enhance the completion of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs from their homeland

Adib Kawar

 

http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/04/27/adib-kawar-new-zionist-order-to-enhance-the-completion-of-the-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestinian-arabs-from-their-homeland/

 

Translated by Adib S Kawar and revised by Mary Rizzo

(Arabic follows) A NEW INTIFADA SHOULD START IMMEDIATELY  

A Zionist Military Order that is ignoring the “Palestinian Authority” and threatening to break into its Territories

Occupation is executing a “Transfer” from the West Bank:

Tens of thousands of “Infiltrators”: in their Homeland

It seems as if a disguised Zionist transfer plan aiming at expelling Palestinian Arab citizens from the Palestinian occupied West Bank is in progress.

Zionist occupation military authority issued an order that shall be put into effect this week, which considers tens of thousands of Palestinian Arabs who are living in their own homeland as “infiltrators” who deserve expulsion and punishment. In spite of the full political tragedy in obliging a Palestinian and his family to leave his place of residence in Palestine, the political tragedy is no less important. The Zionist decision puts in doubt all what is known as the Palestinian Authority, it also shows the shallowness of its sovereignty on zones “A” and “B” of the occupied West Bank. And what is more important is that this decision stirs doubt about the meaning of the existence of the authority’s ministries and Palestinian security apparatuses, and what is known as “The state’s establishments from below.”

It is not clear yet how occupation authorities shall execute the military order, and whether it shall go in an operation of breaking through and arrests in the Palestinian authority territories to expel Palestinian Arab citizens, and to which destinations Palestinian “violators” shall be deported to, noting that the matter had raised widespread Palestinian fears.

As per Haaretz’s reporter in the occupied territories, military occupation commandment in the occupied West Bank shall be apply first of all on Gaza people residing in the West Bank.

As per “Israeli” specifications Gazawis are those whose addresses inscribed on their identity cards state that they are from Gaza even though the person concerned was born in the West Bank and had never been in or known Gaza. And there is an internal decision issued by the commander of the territory that Gazawi Palestinians are obliged since 2007 to obtain a residence permit in the West Bank. And since 2000 they are treated as illegal residents if their registered address is Gaza, as if they are foreign state’s citizens, noting that many of them were expelled from Gaza, including those born in the West Bank.

The second category the military decision applies to foreign women married to Palestinians, and their residence doesn’t require “Israeli” approval, also on non-Palestinians who entered the West Bank and remained in it.

As per Haaretz the new “Israeli” order considers an “infiltrators” all those who “entered the West Bank in an illegal manner” or “those who reside in it without obtaining a legal permit”. The paper pointed out that the order greatly widens the specification that was applied since 1969, that used to apply to those who crossed the border with bordering Arab states without official permit, what is new is that the military order is that it was written in an obscure text which is understood as those Palestinians who are residents of Jerusalem, Gaza or citizens of friendly countries such as (The United States) as infiltrators.

The military order states that if the military commander discovers that "the infiltrator didn’t enter the West Bank recently, the expulsion shall be executed quickly (within less than three days) on condition the such “infiltrators” shall be expelled (to the country from which he or she infiltrated”, and the order allows the commander to take criminal proceedings that could lead to up to seven years’ imprisonment against the “infiltrators”, and those who succeed in proving that they entered the Bank in a legal manner, or are residing in it in an illegal manner, shall be subjected to a punishment of up to three years in prison, noting that “Israeli” legislation punishes an illegal resident with one year in prison. The order gives the right to the territory commander to rule on imposition of the accused paying expenses of the detention and expulsion on condition that it shall not exceed 7500 Shekels.

Haaretz pointed out that General Gady Shamany, as a commander of Zionist troops in the West Bank, signed order No. 1650, on October 13th 2009, on condition that it shall go into effect after six months, that is April 14th 2004.

Human Rights Organisation, The Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual became aware of it two weeks before it was announced, and after study of it by a specialist in the organisation, the manager of “The Hamoked”, Dalia Kirshtein to the central territory commander, Avi Mizrahi, wrote a letter asking him to delay the application of the orders, because “of the dramatic changes, which shall affect the human rights of a huge number of people.”

The uncovering of the order stirred severe Palestinian criticism, as the Palestinian Authority considered what was published by the “Israeli” Haaretz daily newspaper about transferring West Bank Palestinians is rejected, because it contradicts the signed agreements. The spokesman of the Palestinian Authority, Nabil Abu Rudainah, noted that it is the right of Palestinian Arabs to reside anywhere in the land of Palestine.

Nabil Sha3th, member of the Central Committee considered that this military order is a new link in the chain of ethnic cleansing under the apartheid regime, “Israel”, is practicing against the Palestinian Arab people, and he considered that this action is in completion to the enemy’s actions in the transfer and expulsion, tightens the stranglehold of Palestinian Arab citizens in all manners including but not limited to freedom of movement, siege and residence against Palestinians. And called on the international community to confront this Israeli policy and reject it.

The Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine called on Palestinian Arabs to unite their forces. Member of its Politburo, Nafez Azzam said, “this action is a cautioning message to Palestinians that drives them to organize their conditions, which is also a message to Arabs to adopt a strict deterrent policy in confronting the Zionist entity and those supporting it.”

“The Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine” (PFLP) considered the military order as a new form of transfer and expulsion to empty the land from its indigenous Palestinian Arab population, and pointed out that this decision is nothing but going deeper in a grave of systematic desecration of Palestinian human rights. The Front demanded from Palestinians to unite forces to enforce Palestinian reconciliation, and proceed with a comprehensive dialogue, and reunite their forces and reach decisions without which the occupation shall proceed with its attempts the rights of our people and going ahead with its plans to further proceed stealing our land and the expulsion of its people, and returning with the cause to the circles of mandate, subordination and annexation.


 في ما يبدو أنها   خطة ترانسفير إسرائيلية مقنّعة تهدف إلى إبعاد المواطنين الفلسطينيين من الضفة  الغربية المحتلة.
أصدرت السلطات العسكرية الإسرائيلية أمرا، سيدخل حيز التنفيذ هذا الأسبوع، يعتبر عشرات الآلاف من الفلسطينيين المقيمين في وطنهم "متسللين" يستحقون الطرد والعقاب. ورغم المأساة الإنسانية الكامنة في إرغام الفلسطيني وعائلته على مغادرة مكان سكنه في فلسطين، فإن المأساة السياسية لا تقل عن ذلك. فالقرار الإسرائيلي يضع موضع شك كل ما يعرف بالسلطة الفلسطينية، كما أنه يظهر ضحالة سيادتها في المناطق «أ» و«ب». والأهم أن مثل هذا القرار يثير تساؤلات حول معنى وجود وزارات السلطة وأجهزة الأمن الفلسطينية وكل ما يعرف بـ”مؤسسات الدولة من تحت”.                              
 ولم يتضح على الفور كيف ستعمد أجهزة الاحتلال الإسرائيلي إلى تنفيذ الأمر العسكري، وما إذا كانت ستشن حملة مداهمات واعتقالات في مناطق السلطة، تمهيدا لعمليات إبعاد المواطنين الفلسطينيين، ولا الجهة التي سيرحّل إليها «المخالفون»، علما بان الأمر أثار مخاوف فلسطينية رسمية وسياسية وشعبية واسعة النطاق.
 وبحسب مراسلة المناطق المحتلة في صحيفة «هآرتس»، فإن الأمر العسكري الجديد الصادر عن قيادة الاحتلال في الضفة الغربية سيسري أولا على أبناء قطاع غزة المقيمين في الضفة الغربية.
 وبحسب التعريف الإسرائيلي فإن أبناء غزة هم كل من تحدد عنوانه في بطاقة هويته على أنه من غزة، حتى ولو ولد في الضفة الغربية، ولا يعرف غزة أبدا. وهناك قرار داخلي لقائد المنطقة يعتبر أن فلسطينيي غزة ملزمون منذ العام 2007 بالحصول على تصريح إقامة في الضفة الغربية. ومنذ العام 2000 يتم التعامل معهم كمقيمين غير قانونيين إذا كان العنوان المسجل هو غزة، وكأنهم مواطنو دولة أجنبية، وكثيرون منهم طردوا إلى القطاع، بما في ذلك أولئك الذين ولدوا في الضفة الغربية.
 وبعد هؤلاء يسري الأمر العسكري على الأجنبيات المتزوجات من فلسطينيين، ولم يرتب أمر إقامتهن بموافقة إسرائيلية، وكذلك على الفلسطينيين الذين دخلوا الضفة الغربية بتصاريح زيارة وبقوا فيها.
 وبحسب «هآرتس»، فإن الأمر الإسرائيلي الجديد يعرّف الـ "متسلل" بأنه كل من دخل الضفة بغير وجه قانوني أو «من يمكث في المنطقة وليس لديه ترخيص قانوني». وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن هذا الأمر يوسّع بشكل كبير التعريف الذي كان متبعا في الأمر العسكري الأصلي الصادر في العام 1969، والذي كان يسري على من يعبر الحدود من دول الطوق العربية من دون تصريح رسمي. والجديد في الأمر أن الأمر العسكري صيغ بلغة غامضة يفهم منها أنه يعتبر الفلسطينيين من سكان القدس وغزة ومواطني دول صديقة) كالولايات المتحدة) متسللين

وجاء في الأمر العسكري: «يعتبر الإنسان متسللا إذا ما وجد في منطقة من دون هوية أو ترخيص يدلان على مكوثه في المنطقة قانونيا، من دون تبرير معقول»، موضحاً أن «الهوية أو الترخيص القانوني (هما) هوية أو ترخيص أصدرهما قائد قوات الجيش الإسرائيلي في يهودا و السامرة (الضفة الغربية) أو أي (جهة( من قبله». ويتجاهل الأمر وجود السلطة الفلسطينية والاتفاق معها.
 وبحسب الأمر العسكري، فإنه في حال اكتشف القائد العسكري بأن «المتسلل قد دخل إلى المنطقة منذ وقت غير بعيد»، فان إجراءات الطرد ستكون سريعة للغاية (في غضون اقل من ثلاثة أيام) شريطة أن «يطرد المتسلل إلى الدولة أو المنطقة التي تسلل منها». ويسمح الأمر العسكري باتخاذ إجراءات جنائية تحمل عقوبة بالسجن تصل حتى سبع سنوات ضد «المتسللين». ومن ينجح في أن يثبت انه دخل إلى الضفة الغربية بشكل قانوني، أو يمكث فيها بغير وجه قانوني، يقدم إلى المحاكمة أيضا، بجريمة تحمل عقوبة سجن حتى ثلاث سنوات، علماً أنه في التشريع الإسرائيلي يعاقب الماكث غير القانوني بالسجن سنة واحدة. ويسمح الأمر لقائد المنطقة بأن يفرض نفقات الاعتقال والاحتجاز والطرد بنفسه شريطة ألا تزيد عن 7500 شيكل.


 وأشارت «هآرتس» إلى أن الجنرال غادي شماني، كقائد للقوات الإسرائيلية في الضفة الغربية، قد وقّع على الأمر رقم 1650، في 13 تشرين الأول العام 2009، على أن يدخل حيز التنفيذ بعد ستة أشهر من التوقيع عليه، أي يوم غد.
 وكانت مؤسسة «هموكيد» لحقوق الإنسان قد تنبهت إلى هذا الأمر العسكري. وقبل أسبوعين، وبعدما درسه المختصون في المؤسسة، بعثت مديرة «هموكيد» داليا كيرشتاين إلى قائد المنطقة الوسطى آفي مزراحي رسالة تطلب منه فيها إرجاء تطبيق الأوامر، وذلك” بسبب التغيير الدراماتيكي الذي تحدثه بالنسبة لحقوق الإنسان لعدد هائل من الناس.”
 وأثار كشف النقاب عن القرار الإسرائيلي انتقادات فلسطينية شديدة، إذ اعتبرت السلطة الفلسطينية أن ما نشرته صحيفة «هآرتس» الإسرائيلية عن ترحيل فلسطينيين من الضفة الغربية هو أمر مرفوض، ويتناقض مع الاتفاقات الموقعة. وقال المتحدث باسم الرئاسة الفلسطينية نبيل أبو ردينة أن من حق الفلسطينيين الإقامة في أي مكان من الأرض الفلسطينية.
 كما أن عضو اللجنة المركزية لحركة فتح نبيل شعث أكد أن هذا الأمر العسكري الجديد يشكل حلقة جديدة من حلقات التطهير العنصري في ظل نظام الفصل العنصري الذي تمارسه إسرائيل بحق الشعب الفلسطيني. واعتبر شعث أن هذا الإجراء مكمّل لإجراءات العدو بالإبعاد والترحيل، ويضيق الخناق بكافة السبل في الإقامة والتنقل والحصار ضد الفلسطينيين. ودعا المجتمع الدولي إلى التصدي لهذه السياسة الإسرائيلية الجديدة ووقفها.

 

حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين أن هذا القرار ينبغي أن يدفع الفلسطينيين لتوحيد صفوفهم. وقال عضو المكتب السياسي لحركة الجهاد الشيخ نافذ عزام إنّ "هذا الإجراء رسالة تحذير جديدة للفلسطينيين يجب أن تدفعهم لترتيب أوضاعهم، وهي رسالة للعرب لكي يتبنوا سياسات حازمة ورادعة في مواجهة الكيان الصهيوني ومن يدعمه".
واعتبرت الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين الأمر العسكري بأنه شكل جديد للترانسفير والتهجير وتفريغ الأرض من سكانها الأصليين. وأشارت إلى أن القرار ليس إلا إمعاناً في الانتهاكات المنهجية والجسيمة لحقوق الإنسان الفلسطيني. وطالبت الجبهة الفلسطينيين بحشد الجهود من أجل فرض المصالحة الوطنية واستئناف الحوار الوطني الشامل، واستعادة وحدة الصف والكلمة، التي من دونها سيمضي الاحتلال في محاولاته لتبديد حقوق شعبنا وترسيخ مخططاته في نهب الأراضي وطرد السكان والعودة بالقضية لدوائر الوصاية والتبعية والإلحاق.

IDF order will enable mass deportation from West Bank

By Amira Hass

A new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years.

When the order comes into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders liable to be severely punished.

Given the security authorities' actions over the past decade, the first Palestinians likely to be targeted under the new rules will be those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip – people born in Gaza and their West Bank-born children – or those born in the West Bank or abroad who for various reasons lost their residency status. Also likely to be targeted are foreign-born spouses of Palestinians.

Until now, Israeli civil courts have occasionally prevented the expulsion of these three groups from the West Bank. The new order, however, puts them under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts.

The new order defines anyone who enters the West Bank illegally as an infiltrator, as1969 well as "a person who is present in the area and does not lawfully hold a permit." The order takes the original  definition of infiltrator to the extreme, as the term originally applied only to those illegally staying in Israel after having passed through countries then classified as enemy states – Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.

The order's language is both general and ambiguous, stipulating that the term infiltrator will also be applied to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, citizens of countries with which Israel has friendly ties (such as the United States) and Israeli citizens, whether Arab or Jewish. All this depends on the judgment of Israel Defense Forces commanders in the field.

The Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual was the first Israeli human rights to issue warnings against the order, signed six months ago by then-commander of IDF forces in Judea and Samaria Area Gadi Shamni.

Two weeks ago, Hamoked director Dalia Kerstein sent GOC Central Command Avi Mizrahi a request to delay the order, given "the dramatic change it causes in relation to the human rights of a tremendous number of people."

According to the provisions, "a person is presumed to be an infiltrator if he is present in the area without a document or permit which attest to his lawful presence in the area without reasonable justification." Such documentation, it says, must be "issued by the commander of IDF forces in the Judea and Samaria area or someone acting on his behalf."

The instructions, however, are unclear over whether the permits referred to are those currently in force, or also refer to new permits that military commanders might issue in the future. The provision are also unclear about the status of bearers of West Bank residency cards, and disregards the existence of the Palestinian Authority and the agreements Israel signed with it and the PLO.

The order stipulates that if a commander discovers that an infiltrator has recently entered a given area, he "may order his deportation before 72 hours elapse from the time he is served the written deportation order, provided the infiltrator is deported to the country or area from whence he infiltrated."

The order also allows for criminal proceedings against suspected infiltrators that could produce sentences of up to seven years. Individuals able to prove that they entered the West Bank legally but without permission to remain there will also be tried, on charges carrying a maximum sentence of three years. (According to current Israeli law, illegal residents typically receive one-year sentences.)

The new provision also allow the IDF commander in the area to require that the infiltrator pay for the cost of his own detention, custody and expulsion, up to a total of NIS 7,500.

The fear that Palestinians with Gaza addresses will be the first to be targeted by this order is based on measures that Israel has taken in recent years to curtail their right to live, work, study or even visit the West Bank. These measures violated the Oslo Accords.

According to a decision by the West Bank commander that was not backed by military legislation, since 2007, Palestinians with Gaza addresses must request a permit to stay in the West Bank. Since 2000, they have been defined as illegal sojourners if they have Gaza addresses, as if they were citizens of a foreign state. Many of them have been deported to Gaza, including those born in the West Bank.

Currently, Palestinians need special permits to enter areas near the separation fence, even if their homes are there, and Palestinians have long been barred from the Jordan Valley without special authorization. Until 2009, East Jerusalemites needed permission to enter Area A, territory under full PA control.

Another group expected to be particularly harmed by the new rules are Palestinians who moved to the West Bank under family reunification provisions, which Israel stopped granting for several years.

In 2007, amid a number of Hamoked petitions and as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, tens of thousands of people received Palestinian residency cards. The PA distributed the cards, but Israel had exclusive control over who could receive them. Thousands of Palestinians, however, remained classified as "illegal sojourners," including many who are not citizens of any other country.

The new order is the latest step by the Israeli government in recent years to require permits that limit the freedom of movement and residency previously conferred by Palestinian ID cards. The new regulations are particularly sweeping, allowing for criminal measures and the mass expulsion of people from their homes.

The IDF Spokesman's Office said in response, "The amendments to the order on preventing infiltration, signed by GOC Central Command, were issued as part of a series of manifests, orders and appointments in Judea and Samaria, in Hebrew and Arabic as required, and will be posted in the offices of the Civil Administration and military courts' defense attorneys in Judea and Samaria. The IDF is ready to implement the order, which is not intended to apply to Israelis, but to illegal sojourners in Judea and Samaria." 

 

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