Occupied Territories On Edge Again

Tensions in the West Bank and Gaza have increased significantly in recent days after Israel announced new legislation that makes it illegal for anyone without a permit to live in the West Bank, punishable by, deportation, up to seven years in prison, and a 7,500 NS fine. The military order is an extension of an original law implemented in 1969 to prevent and punish infiltrators from local enemy Arab countries, which at that time included Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon. This new order, however, gives significant power to military commanders and soldiers in the West Bank to essentially arbitrarily deport and imprison almost anyone in the West Bank. Israeli human rights' groups have argued that even Palestinians born in the West Bank wouldn't necessarily have these permits because the Israeli authorities haven't been issuing them in decades. In addition, the law would mean that any Gazans, foreigners with expired tourist visas, and foreign-born Palestinians married to West Bankers would also be deported, imprisoned, or fined.

The Syrian president has called this latest move an example of Israel's Ethnic Cleansing Policy and demonstrators in Ramallah have urged Palestinians to fight Israeli apartheid. The law, which is scheduled to go into effect today, has the potential to fundamentally alter all aspects of life in the West Bank: freedom of movement, the unity of blended families, land ownership rights, and work permits for the thousands of residents who have become instantaneously illegal under this law. It remains to be seen, of course, just how this is implemented. The implications are endless and terrifying. Families literally torn apart (which has happened before), arrest, fines, and deportation of thousands now deemed "illegal," the seizure of land owned by the "infiltrators," and general increased stress and repression in the daily lives of the 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.

There are so many disturbing and upsetting aspects of this latest effort by Israel to increase its land holdings and power by decreasing Palestinian populations that I have to wonder 1) has Israel lost its mind? 2) have I lost my mind and this isn't actually happening? 3) has the international community lost its collective mind that something like this could even happen while not even provoking a response from the major world powers? The fact that cases are set to go before the Israeli high court regarding family reunification of Palestinian families unlucky enough to have members from the West Bank, Gaza, and Jordan is shocking enough - how exactly Israel has jurisdiction over the resident status of these people is ridiculous enough - but to actively separate families is cruel and inhuman. In addition, given Israel's already clear lack of interest in assuring that its arbitrary laws and regulations are easily applied to Palestinians so they can be in compliance (e.g. the process of border crossings, seizing Palestinian lands using round about reasoning based on refusal to issue permits), one also has to wonder how many Palestinians will even be able to obtain these permit cards and at what cost? How many hours lost attempting to collect paperwork and standing in chaotic lines? How many hastily constructed checkpoints along the way? What recourse will be offered if there are mistakes in the process or someone is mistakenly deported/arrested (the process will only take 3 days now - down from 7 before - according to the power given to the military tribunals). And where is the international outrage? Why has no one said that enough is enough - or those who do, say it for political gain (Ahmedinijad).

So yeah, we get it, Israel feels threatened. The Jews have historically been persecuted. Also very well known. The holocaust was the most horrific evidence of the depth of humanity - also very present in our minds. No group, whatever the religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, skin colour, socio-economic class, Mac vs Microsoft, chocolate vs vanilla, sunrise vs sunset, should be discriminated against. But how does any of this give the Israelis to behave the way they have since 1967 - flouting international laws, launching multiple military campaigns killing thousands and thousands of civilians in situations that define asymmetric warfare (I mean, seriously, who is the only power in the region with nuclear weapons and a massive supply of US-made weapons and advanced machinery?), and systematically increasing political repression and economic hardship on the millions of people who live in a land that Israel has illegally occupied for decades? Sometimes I wonder if I'm missing something - like there is no way that humans can treat other humans this way - especially those who have been so persecuted themselves. It makes me sad that even Israelis have lost control of their country - like the US during the Bush II years, the Israeli government has been hijacked by extremists seeking to please a small, radical portion of society. And with recent cases of even Israeli journalists being silenced by the government, one has to wonder whether the Israeli government has begun to have more in common with the repressive governments that surround it, and less with the democratic principles of its greatest ally.