What Laws??

An Azzun family of seven male children suffered soldier incursions at 1:30am one night, two months ago. “We lost their father in a building accident two years ago,” sniffled the mother, “and now, my two older sons can’t continue their work in Israel for our family income!” 

Azzun family with two older brothers incarcerated

 Soldiers had busted into their two story house, upturned and broke furniture, and tore up cupboards. Their purpose was to arrest a 17 year old son for throwing stones one night during a protest. “Our boy has been in an Israeli jail since mid-May 2011, and our family can’t get permits to visit him.” Oh, but children 16 years and younger can travel into Israel from their Palestinian home and visit their relatives in jail without a permit! “After Mahmoud was arrested, Israel cancelled my other two sons’ work permits!  They had decent jobs in Israel,” the mother pined. 

Judgment on the boy’s fate was suppose to be made by the Court in mid-July but this was postponed, as happens frequently with [military] court cases. Being a juvenile, he is tried in a military court, like adults are; there are no ‘civil’ courts for Palestinians!  “My brother helps me,” the mother continued, “but he also has a family. We have no further income to the household, except a very small stipend from the Palestinian authorities for food maintenance!  And there aren’t any ‘good’ jobs for young male Palestinians in Azzun town of 12,000 people.” I did not have to embellish the translation of this hideous situation.

This is thanks to that law of 'the right of return' for anybody with Jewish heritage to settle in Israel with instant citizenship and probably with instant jobs.

“Boys easily get into trouble in Palestine villages”, said one old man during his sheesha smoking session. The rough and confined parameters for movement upset old and young; they view barbed wire fences constantly which keep them, their work animals, and tractors away from their fields. “Boys see their fathers’ lands disappear” because of the encroaching illegal settlements of Israelis and their colonizing immigrants.  “Then when the soldiers come in their vehicles to harass us, the boys throw stones!  Wouldn’t you?” he suggested.

 

Jayyus North Gate wire art

 And what about the farmer who has a permit to enter one agriculture gate, but one of his lands is near a second gate 5 kilometres away for which he cannot get a permit to enter. Which means he walks some 15-20 kilometres to visit both lands and exit through only one gate in the evening. What redress does he have to obtain this second permit? Little.  He was lucky to obtain the one permit he has, even though it’s due to expire soon….which means he may have to wait for renewal…during the important upcoming harvest season in October…..which means his trees won’t have the proper maintenance they need…..

What laws? The old archaic Ottoman Empire law of the mid-1800s is still on the Israeli books:  if a land has not been worked and has deteriorated over a 3 year period (who deems this situation? Who dates this period?), then that land reverts back to the State (i.e  of Israel).  No compensation to the farmer who has entitlements to that land! There’s also the French, Islamic Sharia, and tribal laws still operating, which need consolidating if any ‘justice’ system is going to work fairly in Israel.

Whose laws??  Palestinians in the West Bank are not ‘citizens’ of Israel, but rather are governed by the State of Israel through the Palestinian National Authority.  Yet Palestinians pay taxes (albeit, smaller than Israelis) which are collected by the Israeli finance ministry, and then distributed to the PNA coffers….  To build roads, finance electricity and water (which is rationed four times more to Israeli settlements than to Palestinian villages), clinics, etc.  

Ramalla advert

 But even USAID-financed infrastructural developments, like roads and wells, are considered a sham aid, when viewed next to the massive millions received by the State of Israel to bolster their pervasive and invasive occupation industry all through post 1948 Palestinian territory.

And who writes which laws?  Has the Knesset ever thought of just stopping to think out carefully what on earth it’s been doing for the past 60 years?