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Taking Back the Rule of Law On the West Bank

plitnickm — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:01:46 -0500

The rule of law is not something that can simply be talked about, or even instituted, and then left to its own devices. In human history, there are far more examples of governments and powerful entities of all sorts circumventing, defying or simply not tolerating law than there are of such bodies committed to upholding it. The guarantor of the rule of law has always been civil society.

The myriad and labyrinthine methods Israel has employed to "legalize" or, sometimes, to simply be brazenly defiant about its settlement activities are well known in Israel, though not so much here in the United States. The best in-depth description of these processes can be found in Idith Zrtal's and Akiva Eldar's book, Lords of the Land: The War Over Israel's Settlements In the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007.

But Israel is a country that holds by the rule of law, even if, like many countries, it evades or defies law at times. Few would argue, I think, that the court system has not been the strongest part of Israeli democracy over the years. And now it comes before the court that the settlement has flouted a basic principle of law: that of rights to property. This is a right enshrined deeply in Israeli law. More than that, even with each announcement of expanding settlements, Israeli leaders always repeat the mantra that they will not displace any Palestinians with the new construction.

That has been well known to be untrue for some time, but amid the general lawlessness in the Occupied Territories it gets little notice. But in December 2006, it got front page coverage at the New York Times and a big splash around the world thanks to this report by Peace Now. And this week, one case has been brought to the court in Israel.

Two Israeli human rights groups, B'Tselem and Yesh Din, along with five Palestinians who own land which has been appropriated by the nearby settlement of Ofra, have filed a petition with the court to order that work on the nine houses being built on the land owned by the Palestinians stop, that the illegal structures be removed (in accordance with both a demolition and a cease and desist order that Israel has issued but has not been enforced), and that they not be connected to electrical and water systems.

That such a petition is even necessary when the Israeli authorities confirm that this land is owned by the five Palestinians in question testifies to the lawlessness around the settlement project. As B'Tselem's Research Director, Adv. Avi Berg says: "The state's avoidance of enforcing the order that is the subject of this petition constitutes additional evidence of collaboration between the government and the illegal activities of the settlers, and adds to the criminal enterprise entailed by the settlements, in and of itself illegal under international law."

The timing is particularly important as well. Under Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the experiments Israel has agreed to with Palestinians handling security have worked well thus far. Yet the expansion of settlements continues and, whether or not these are in areas Israel "expects to keep" under a final agreement, they undermine Fayyad's and Abbas' credibility. That can only help more radical forces.

Indeed, there is no downside for a new policy that brings the settlement project under the rule of law, other than for those who believe that settlement of the West Bank is more important than law, peace or justice.

Those who care about Israel, who care about the health of Israeli society as well as its ability to defend itself against military threats or terrorism, must support these efforts. One of the biggest dangers of sustained conflict, and one of the goals of terrorism, is to make a society abandon its higher ideals, its laws and liberties, in the name of "security." This isn't an either/or choice-it is not only possible, but crucial that Israel be supported both in its capability to defend itself and in maintaining the rule of law and the ethics of a democratic society. As I've noted previously we in the Diaspora have done a very good job supporting Israel's military but have come up sorely lacking in supporting Israeli civil society.

This is not a zero sum game. Supporting Israel's civil society strengthens Israel and makes it better able to use the defense support it gets. Allowing lawlessness to reign in the West Bank only adds to the defense burden overall, even if short-term benefits may seem to be gained. And the ethical degradation caused by an atmosphere of lawlessness should not be underestimated. Israel must be supported in legitimate self-defense, of which it has all too much need, but must also be supported in ensuring that those defense needs are not translated into a carte blanche that removes all ethical and legal barriers.

This case is a first step in that direction. As Yesh Din's legal consultant, Adv. Michael Sfard says: "Each ruling by the High Court of Justice will have repercussions for Ofra and on the expanding practice of illegal construction on Palestinian land in the West Bank. In this case, the petitioners' ownership of the land is unquestioned, and exposes the methodological land theft and the blind eye turned to it by law enforcement officials in the occupied territories." If a petition of this sort isn't something we can stand behind, then what kind of Israel is it we hope to support?

The Banality of Occupation

plitnickm — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:43:42 -0500

On a warm day in early April, I was in a jeep cruising along the main highway running from north to south in the West Bank. This particular road is, for much of its length, open to travel for vehicles bearing both the yellow license plates identifying it as Israeli and the green and white plates identifying a Palestinian vehicle.

It was the middle of the week and midday, a time when highways are generally not packed but have significant traffic, usually consisting of commercial vehicles and people heading to some job or meeting somewhere. Yet I saw perhaps one vehicle every four or five minutes.

The reason for this absence of traffic is simple. Israelis have bypass roads, which they much prefer to use instead of the main highway because of a history of shooting attacks on Israeli cars during the height of the second intifada. And Palestinians simply have nowhere to drive to because of the lack of commerce in the West Bank.

There is, of course, no explicit prohibition by the Israeli authorities on commerce. But the system of checkpoints and closures and various other day-to-day restrictions, combine with external factors to severely limit Palestinians' livelihood. To be sure ongoing violence means that Israel must take steps to ensure the safety of its citizens. But, when one sees an economy this comatose, it is important to ask if sufficient care is being taken to minimize the impact on the overwhelming majority of Palestinians who are innocent of any sort of violence.

In recent weeks, a global conference was held to help revitalize the economy on the West Bank. But many aspects of the occupation that have the same sort of day to day character never get that kind of spotlight shone on them.

Recently, B'Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories reported on what might seem like a very minor issue at first glance but which actually has enormous impact on the daily lives of Palestinians.

The report is entitled "Israel refuses to issue ID cards to unregistered Palestinians" and it describes the impact this policy has on the lives of ordinary Palestinians whose only crime is that their parents did not follow the proper bureaucratic procedures when they were born.

Without an ID card, Palestinians cannot travel around the West Bank as they will not be permitted to pass through any of the many hundreds of checkpoints throughout the area. The implications of this are many. The most obvious is that it makes it very difficult for people in this situation to find work and, even if they do, they may end up cut off from their families to maintain their jobs or might not be able to hold onto them.

The lack of an ID card also presents significant barriers to obtaining a normal education. There are significant bureaucratic obstacles in the Palestinian education system for those who have not been registered and, even for those who manage to finish high school, university education is nearly impossible.

One might reasonably ask why these folks don't simply get an ID card. How hard can it be, right?

It turns out to be very difficult indeed. Here's how B'Tselem describes the situation:

Since the occupation began in 1967, Israel has exercised almost total control over the Palestinian population registry and has sole power to determine who is a Palestinian resident. In this capacity, Israel could enable children whose parents did not register them - a tendency that is more prominent as regards daughters - to obtain ID cards by applying the simple and relatively rapid solution is known as "late registration." However, Israel refuses to authorize this procedure and insists, instead, on channeling these cases to the long and exhausting family unification procedure, which was created to enable a non-resident of the West Bank or Gaza Strip (generally spouses of residents of the Occupied Territories) to live there. Not only is the demand to apply for family unification ridiculous as regards people who have never lived apart from their families and have always resided in the West Bank, but the procedure cannot even be implemented, since Israel has frozen handling of all family unification requests over the last seven years. Furthermore, even if the freeze is removed, and the quota applied prior to the outbreak of the second intifada remains in effect, it would take dozens of years to arrange their status. B'Tselem has taken the testimonies of Palestinians without a legal status who began the family unification process when they were minors, who are now married with families, and have yet to receive a status.

We can debate the degree to which the many checkpoints Israel has set up serve a security purpose (they clearly serve some, but are so many necessary and how do we balance that need against Israel's obligation as the ultimate authority in the West Bank to ensure the rights of Palestinians?), but if there is a security purpose being served by this it escapes me. If there is one, why then is there such a cumbersome process in place for obtaining an ID card rather than no process at all?

I'll leave that question there for others to ponder, along with the question of why Israel does this at all. What is more important to recognize is the ways in which an occupation regime (and Israel is by no means special in this regard, rather this is just the nature of holding millions of people under occupation) can severely impact people's lives without much fanfare. Such bureaucratic disruption as this largely happens without much active intent on the part of the ruling power.

This is the sort of thing that doesn't get written about in newspapers. There is no violence, no terrorism. There is no issue of "collateral damage" or a question of excessive force. This is the occupation of bureaucracy. It's not a headline, but it can be just as devastating to an individual life. In some ways, it can be even more frustrating, as there is only a "system" to blame, no soldier or militant, no religious fanatic or radical extremist. There is just a book of rules and procedures and clerks who must follow them.

One can hope, and not without reason, that the publicizing of this issue will lead to its rectification. It wouldn't be the first time B'Tselem or other Israeli civil society groups have won such victories. But we do well to bear in mind that the problems in the West Bank are not only the result of overzealous soldiers, violent attacks on Israelis or fanatical settlers. There is also the day to day system of Israel ruling over millions of people who have no rights of citizenship. Such systemic problems are, under those circumstances, quite inevitable.

New Stuff: Miller, Avishai and J Street

plitnickm — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:47:18 -0500

In the realm of Israel-related politics, there is always a new group, and a steady stream of new books on the market. But there are some recent books and a new organization that folks should really be examining carefully.

Hamas: Throwing Gazans Into The Fire

plitnickm — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:25:55 -0500

When we talk about the way civilian populations are used as pawns, there is no better example than the people barely surviving in the Gaza Strip. Events this week showed just how little regard anyone, including their own ostensible leaders, has for their well-being.

The previous week, an attack at Nahal Oz, site of the crossing through which Israel supplies fuel to the Strip, had the predictable effect: Israel suspended fuel supplies for several days. It is inconceivable that the perpetrators were unaware that a cutoff would be the result. Hamas did not actually carry out that attack, but they fully supported it, calling it heroic.

From Jerusalem: Supporting Israel, Body and Soul

plitnickm — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:05:30 -0500

Israel needs more help from world Jewry than just ensuring it has enough guns to fight with. Sitting here in Jerusalem, it has never been so clear to me how badly Jews in the Diaspora have failed Israel. And the time to reverse that course and come to Israel's aid is growing very short.

For all my experience in study of the history and politics of Israel and the US-Israel relationship, to which I've devoted the past twenty-five years, every time I come here, it remains an emotional experience, one which never fails to clarify matters for me.