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- ACTION ALERT
- April 12, 2010
- Contact: newseditor@wrmea.com
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- Please read this article and take action.
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- IDF order will enable mass deportation from West Bank
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- Enforcement starts tomorrow against:
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- Gazans living or attending school in the West Bank (WB)-many
of whom fled after Hamas assumed control of Gaza
- Jordanians living in the WB-many of whom are married
to West Bankers
- Expats working with NGOs, especially advocacy groups
- Jerusalemites working in the WB-the IDF will force them
to choose their "center of life"
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- Some court cases may be pending in the next few days
to suspend implementation of the new law, the enforcement of which will
likely be at checkpoints. The number of possible expulsions ranges from
70,000125,000.
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- The new military order aimed at preventing "infiltration"
into the West Bank will come into force this week; it puts under the sole
jurisdiction of Israeli military courts those who are likely to be targeted
by the new order [i.e., 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 and also foreign-born spouses of Palestinians].
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- The new order defines anyone who enters the West Bank
illegally as an infiltrator, as well as "a person who is present in
the area and does not lawfully hold a permit." The order takes the
original 1969 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.
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- Islamic Jihad, Fatah, PLO condemn new military orders
- Ma'an
- http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275630
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- Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Fatah Central Committee
leader Nabil Sha'ath issued their own condemnations of the orders, with
Erekat calling them "an assault on ordinary Palestinians, and an affront
to the most fundamental principles of human rights," and the tools
of an "apartheid state."
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- IDF order will enable mass deportation from West Bank
- By Amira Hass
- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162075.html
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- 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.
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- When the order comes into effect, tens of thousands of
Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders liable to be
severely punished.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- The new order defines anyone who enters the West Bank
illegally as an infiltrator, as well as "a person who is present in
the area and does not lawfully hold a permit." The order takes the
original 1969 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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."
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- 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."
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- 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.
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- 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."
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- 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.)
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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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- TAKE ACTION
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- Phone the White House to say this order will
destroy any chances for peace and prevent charitable workers, teachers,
and others from doing their jobs. (While you are at it, insist on a nuclear
free Middle East-including Israel.) 202-456-1414 or 202-456-1111
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- Phone the U.S. State Department Public Information
Line: 202-647-6575 ext 1
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- Phone the Israeli Embassy: 202-364-5500
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- Phone the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 011-972-2530-3111
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