[News] Palestine - as simple as ABC

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Antoine Raffoul – As Simple as A, B, C!

By 
<http://palestinethinktank.com/author/guest-post/>Guest Post • Apr 22nd, 2010
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/04/22/antoine-raffoul-as-simple-as-a-b-c/

Israel has always been in the habit of changing 
its laws to suit its colonial aims in all of 
historic Palestine (but specifically in areas it 
has been occupying since the Partition of 
Palestine in November 1947) . These aims centre 
around the one single core policy which lies at 
the heart of the Zionist programme advocated by 
Theodor Herzl in 1897: the establishment of a 
Jewish State in historic Palestine within 50 
years. This Zionist programme would eventually 
include the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by way 
of expelling its indigenous Palestinian 
population and the erasure of any physical presence they have.

It took the Zionists 51 years to establish their 
Jewish State, while the ethnic cleansing 
continues to this day.  This is not wishful 
thinking but solid information at the core of 
declassified state archives as researched and 
published by internationally respected 
historians. In the name of 'achieving security' 
for the State, the ethnic cleansing has become 
Israel's daily military activity throughout 
Palestine (and I do not wish to isolate any 
particular area by naming, say, only the West 
Bank or East Jerusalem – the theft is a total theft in all of Palestine).
Israel's colonial policies are generally carried 
out by its IDF forces under orders from the 
military establishment. There are no civil laws 
to protect the Palestinians in occupied 
Palestine, but even if there were, they would 
still be executed by military orders issued by 
military commanders via decisions by Israeli 
military courts. You cannot fault them for 
consistency. The IDF forces  are everywhere to 
ensure complete compliance. The rest of the world sits and watches.

One of the most notorious of these laws has 
earned a wide coverage in the press recently when 
it took effect on 13 April 2010.

Order No.1650 titled 'Order regarding Prevention 
of Infiltration' was signed on 19 October 2009 by 
'Gadi Shamni who is Major General of the IDF 
Forces in the Judea and Samaria Area [Area: means 
the whole of the West Bank and Jerusalem]. This 
law is in essence an Amendment to a previous 
Order No. 329 issued in June 1969 and which took 
effect a month later. It was signed then by 
another Brigadier General Rafael Vardi.

The basic aim of this Law is to prevent 
infiltration 'knowingly and unlawfully' by anyone 
into the Area from the East Bank of the Jordan, 
Syria, Egypt or Lebanon and who does not lawfully 
carry the 'proper permits'. A person is 
considered an 'infiltrator' if he or she is 
present in the Area 'without a document which 
allows identification as a resident of the Area'. 
The burden of proof falls upon the 'infiltrator' 
to show that he did not infiltrate. Anyone who 
remains in the Area following the expiration of 
the permit is considered an 'infiltrator'. This 
applies to Palestinians, foreigners (even holders 
of American passports) and NGO members. Needless 
to say, the Order will not apply to Israelis.

The new Order is unclear as to what permits it 
refers to: a permit that is currently valid or a 
new permit to be issued by the military command. 
Suspected 'infiltrators' are liable to sentences 
of up to 7 years or, in the case of those who 
have entered the West Bank legally but without 
permission, the sentence is 3 years. Presently, a typical sentence is 1 year.
Once detained, the 'infiltrator' is liable to pay 
the cost of his detention, his custody and his 
expulsion. This could total NIS 7,500.

There is no question that the new Order's aims 
are to limit the movement of the Palestinians and 
to allow their mass expulsion from their land.

Until recently, Palestinians considered East 
Jerusalemites needed permits to enter Area A 
which, if you recall under the Oslo Accords, is 
considered under full control of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

This brings us to the subject of the farcical 
nature of the so-called Oslo Accords of 1993, not 
that we should give this much written space 
except that they relate directly to the above 
Order. Oslo divided what was left of Palestine 
[the West Bank and East Jerusalem at that time] 
into further Bantustans which they labelled as follows:

Area A: which includes major Palestinian cities 
with no Israeli presence. It constitutes 17% of 
the West Bank and holds about 55% of its population.
Area B: which constitutes 24% of the West bank 
and holds 41% of its Palestinian population. The 
PA has civilian control of this area. Israel has total security control.
Area C: which constitutes 59% of the West bank 
and includes 4% of its population. Israel has 
full control here with the exception of main Palestinian population centres.

Areas A, B and C may have their share of PA and 
Israeli controls but Order 1650 makes that a 
simple illusion. Nothing moves in the West Bank 
without a permit from the IDF. Nothing comes in 
or goes out without a permit from the IDF. The 
lives of the Palestinian people in areas A, B and 
C will become even more stifled under Order 1690 
which is in contravention of Oslo and of International Law.

But the obvious and simple fact is that Israel 
did not, does not and will not abide by any 
agreement, past, present or future. Order 1650 
makes this saga a simple one. In fact it is as simple as A, B, C.

Antoine Raffoul
Coordinator
1948: LEST WE FORGET
<http://www.1948.org.uk/>www.1948.org.uk




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