Millions of Palestinians
around the world are forbidden from visiting or living in their country due
to Israeli restrictions and laws
that discriminate against non-Jews.
Israel routinely lies about what it does...
The Israeli occupation forces
later claimed to have removed 44 of the hundreds of obstacles in fulfillment
of Olmert's pledge. In fact, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on
January 22, the Israeli army "admitted on Sunday that the 44 dirt obstacles it
said had been removed from around West Bank villages did not actually exist."
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| The second page of the Israeli presentation obtained by
the Electronic Intifada |
President Jimmy Carter angered Israel and its friends by
describing "the abominable oppression and persecution in the occupied
Palestinian territories, with a rigid system of required passes and strict
segregation between Palestine's citizens and Jewish settlers in the West
Bank."
Now, The Electronic Intifada has obtained an Israeli Ministry of Defense
Powerpoint presentation which provides a frightening glimpse into the mindset
of the bureaucracy of apartheid.
The first page of the document bears the name "Coordination of Government
Activities in the Territories" as well as the acronym "COGAT" at the bottom of
each page. These appear to refer to the unit of the Israeli army that enforces
the occupation against the Palestinian civilian population.
The top of the first slide also bears the names and insignia of the "State of
Israel" and the "Ministry of Defense." Dated January 12, the presentation is
titled "Key Measures for easing the daily lives of the Palestinian
Population."
Far from that, the document provides detail of the regime of severe movement
restrictions, bureaucratic ethnic cleansing and political manipulation and
fostering of collaborators that Israel operates in the the occupied West Bank
and Gaza Strip.
The document, in English, appears to be genuine. While its exact purpose or
audience is not known, it may have been designed to impress foreign diplomats
with Israel's generosity to the Palestinians.
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| The fourth page of the presentation |
Among the policies the document outlines are:
Efforts to "empower Abu-Mazen" (Palestinian Authority
chairman Mahmoud Abbas) by facilitating entry of "security equipment for the
Presidential Guard" donated by foreign countries. (The United States
recently announced that it would provide millions of dollars of weapons and
equipment to this unit which serves as a personal militia for Abbas and his
Fatah faction who seek to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas
government).
Providing special privileges for "the movement of VIPs and
senior Palestinians" and others allies of Abbas, including "facilitating
movement without security checks." These special privileges, not
available to millions of Palestinians are intended for "Strengthening
Abu-Mazen," presumably at the expense of the democratically-elected Hamas-led
cabinet and legislative council dozens of whose members, far from enjoying VIP
treatment, have been kidnapped and are being held without charge or trial by
Israeli occupation forces.
Special permits for 505 Palestinian "businessmen,"
allowing them to be exempt from the pass laws that forbid overnight stays by
Palestinians in Israel. They will also be subject to fewer security checks.
This privileged class may also benefit from the "Possible return of $60
Million from the frozen tax money to the private sector, subject to
identification of the businessman, and the formation of a working mechanism."
This could possibly indicate that Israel, in
collusion with Abbas, seeks to misappropriate Palestinian public assets it has
illegally seized, bypassing the Palestinian Authority Finance Ministry and
redistributing them to Abbas cronies.
With frightening precision, allowing "42,899" Palestinian
laborers to work "in Israel and the settlements" and exempting 2,000 Palestinian
agricultural laborers from the pass laws so that "overnight stay in Israel" is
"permitted." Of these workers, a mere 1,600 would be permitted to enter occupied
East Jerusalem, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank.
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| The eighth page of the presentation |
Millions of
Palestinians around the world are forbidden from visiting or living in their
country due to Israeli restrictions and laws that discriminate against
non-Jews. A privileged few Palestinians have been able
to do so, however, by virtue of their citizenship in the United States or
European countries, whose citizens are generally allowed to enter Israel
without visas as tourists. Even this precarious existence has
recently been threatened by the new Israeli practice of denying them re-entry
if they leave the country for any reason. While the document claims these
restrictions will be eased, it also confirms the policy of prohibiting
ordinary family life for Palestinians. Palestinians (always referred to as
"foreign nationals") with foreign passports, even those with spouses and
families Israel does recognize as residents, will be limited to a total
cumulative stay not exceeding 27 months in their country. No other country
calling itself a democracy systematically treats indigenous people as
foreigners and deports them in this manner breaking apart families in the
process.
Finally, the document lists a number of catergories of "humanitarian" workers
who will be given some leeway from the strict pass laws. These include 1,450
religious personnel, 1,300 hospital employees, 300 hotel workers, and lawyers,
teachers and residents of an enclave in occupied East Jerusalem that has been
besieged by settlers and the apartheid wall.
Amidst a system of ruthless and obsessive control such as the one Israel
operates against Palestinians, not even this token 'easing' designed purely
for public relations can be taken for granted; Israel routinely lies
about what it does. For example, during a summit meeting with Mahmoud
Abbas in December, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert promised to remove
dozens of checkpoints and obstacles impeding the movement of Palestinians
inside the occupied West Bank. The Israeli occupation forces later
claimed to have removed 44 of the hundreds of obstacles in fulfillment of
Olmert's pledge. In fact, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on
January 22, the Israeli army "admitted on Sunday that the 44 dirt obstacles it
said had been removed from around West Bank villages did not actually exist."
What does exist, and is plain for all the world to see, is a horrifying regime
of totalitarian control of millions of Palestinians who remain prisoners of
Israel's racist system and the army and settler militias that enforce it.