TEL AVIV, April 14, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Journalist Amira Hass wrote, today, that “the goals {of the latest Israeli Military Order to deport “illegal” Palestinian residents} are to limit the population growth of Palestinians in the West Bank; to complete the process of severing the Palestinian population in Gaza from West Bank society (in violation of the Oslo Accords); and to deter foreign nationals joining the popular struggle against the occupation.”
In her editorial published in Haaretz Israeli Daily Newspaper, she added that the vague language used in the order combined with the gradual changes is enough to sound the warning siren. This ambiguousness is not just any ordinary slip of the tongue.
Army order number 1650 expands the legal definition of infiltrator, the criminal, so that it can immediately be applied to the following population groups: Palestinians (and their offspring) who lost their residency status due to Israel's actions since 1967; Palestinians whose ID lists them as Gazans; and foreign nationals.
That is killing many birds with one stone - birds who are already in the West Bank and those who plan to commit the crime of 'infiltrating' it, she said.
She explained that “the new key word in the amended edict is 'permit,' without which an individual will be considered an infiltrator. Over the last 20 years Israel has instituted a complicated system of travel and residency permits for the Palestinians in the West bank and Gaza.”
'Permit' is a euphemism for prohibition. The more Israeli politicians spoke of a two-state solution, the more complicated this regime of travel restrictions between Gaza and the West Bank became. The tentacles of this regime, which made travel between Gaza and the West Bank more difficult, and limited entry to individuals in certain areas of the West Bank, branched out further and further, she elaborated.
The regime, which constantly invents new types of permits, has become the trademark of Israel's military rule. It grants junior and senior commanders the right usually reserved for authoritarian rulers or military dictators to determine whether people are able to study and where they can work, live or travel. It even allows them to decide whom they can marry. The new edict expands the right of the ruler to expel, Hass concluded.
