[News] Israeli army confiscates $3.5 million worth of Palestinian property

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Israeli army confiscates $3.5 million worth of Palestinian property

Submitted by Charlotte Silver on Tue, 07/08/2014 - 09:58
*http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/israeli-army-confiscates-35-million-worth-palestinian-property*

The Israeli army confiscated 
<http://euromid.org/uploads/reports/English_Confiscation_of_Palestinians_WestBank.pdf> 
nearly $3.5 million worth of property and cash from Palestinians during 
its recent three-weeks long military incursion into the West Bank, under 
the auspices of searching for three Israeli teens who went missing on 12 
June and whose bodies were found 30 June.

Since the beginning of the military assault, 830 Palestinians have been 
arrested and seven killed in the occupied West Bank. Nine have been 
killed 
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/hamas-threatens-revenge-after-gaza-air-raids-20147794524890806.html> 
in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Two more died from heart attacks suffered 
during an army raid or while being held at a checkpoint, and many dozens 
more have been injured. Israel is still bombarding Gaza with heavy 
airstrikes, and injuries and casualties are mounting.

On 7 July, the Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights, published a report 
compiling all incidents of confiscated private property and money. In 
addition to taking the equivalent of $370,000 in cash, the Israeli army 
seized ninety-three computers, as well as telephones, cars and buses 
totalling a value of $2.9 million. Euro-Mid Observer is headquartered in 
Geneva, Switzerland, with offices throughout the Middle East.


    "Organized robbery"

Euro-Mid Observer's investigation found that the confiscations occurred 
without a judicial warrant and without proper notification to the 
families. "In other words," the report states, "they were

On 2 July, Israel announced that the campaign, dubbed Operation My 
Brother's Keeper, was "completed," after the bodies of the three Israeli 
teens were found in Dura, near Hebron.

The report's findings suggest that pillage is yet another war crime that 
Israel appears to have committed during the campaign.

International law prohibits <http://www.icrc.org/ihl/com/380-600038> the 
destruction or theft of property in a military conflict. Euro-Mid 
Observer reports that the seizure of money and private property is a 
violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the pillage 
of or reprisal against civilians, particularly people under military 
occupation. Euro-Mid Observer also asserts that the widespread 
confiscation of property violates the Geneva Convention's prohibition 
against collective punishment.

The report states that the "Israeli government justifies the 
confiscation of money and equipment by claiming that they were used for 
funding or supporting terrorism."  The government has offered no 
evidence to support this claim.

Confication of Palestinian property by Israeli forces in West Bank 
between 14 June and  3 July (Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights).


    "Threatened with guns"

Twenty-four-year-old Muntaser Mohammed Musa, from a village near Hebron, 
told Euro-Mid Observer that after he realized money had been taken from 
his home during a raid, he approached the officer in charge: "He started 
laughing with the other soldiers, then they threatened me with their 
guns and ordered me to go back home," Musa said.

The largest charity in Hebron, the Islamic Benevolent Society for 
Orphans, had computers, documents, and printers confiscated. Israeli 
soldiers also raided the society's dairy factory and confiscated 
equipment worth up to $812,000.

Soldiers also raided the Developed Company for Agricultural Activities, 
where they "broke egg boxes, damaged a number of machines, and 
confiscated computers and

The destruction of private property and public infrastructure is 
reminiscent of Israel's 2008-2009 assault on the Gaza Strip, during 
whichthe army targeted 
<http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48_ADVANCE1.pdf> 
civilian infrastructure, including the blockaded enclave's largest 
chicken farm, relief centers, hospitals and factories.

In late 2013 
<http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.568473>, the 
Israeli military's central command signed a military order making it 
impossible for Palestinians to challenge the confiscation of their 
property in a military court, instead requiring them to file litigation 
with the Israeli high court --- a significantly more burdensome process 
as it requires they attain a lawyer with access to Israel, and pay a fee 
to file with the high court.

Israeli pillage of West Bank resources has been justified 
<http://electronicintifada.net/content/stealing-palestines-resources-illegal-despite-israeli-court-ruling/10904> 
in the past by the Israeli high court under the reasoning that it funds 
the Civil Administration --- the body overseeing Israel's military 
occupation of the West Bank --- which allegedly "promotes various kinds 
of projects aimed to benefit the interests of the area."

Seized property and money are given to the regional treasury and 
allotted for "public use." The regional treasury is operated by the 
so-called Civil Administration.

Far from benefiting the residents of the West Bank, the Civil 
Administration is responsible for home demolitions, manning checkpoints, 
violently suppressing protests, and denying Palestinians the right to 
collect water, along with various other functions of the 47-year-old 
occupation.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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