Injustice leads to injustice and a sin leads to another. First, Israel murdered 1,346 Palestinians among whom were 276 children. Some of them were mere innocent passersby. And now, she is repudiating herself from the responsibility. The Intifada Law which is aimed at stifling the right of the Palestinians, victims of the Intifada, to receive some compensation from the state is going at an intense speed. Yitzhak Rabin started the initiative; Shimon Peres pushed it forward;  and now Minister of Justice, Tsahi HaNagbi, delivered for its ethical basis when he said that law has an absolute ethical power.

The Likud Party and some of the Labour stand in a uniquely unified demonstration around a law that legal experts think that it will not pass the test of the High (Supreme) Court. And soon, the Knesset will approve one of the most eloquent laws in its history.

During the period of Rabin and Peres, they talked about the principles of the law, even baseless [mutual cancellation of compensation rights between Palestinians and Israelis.]... and now, the Minister of Justice says that the purpose of the law is to protect the State Budget. So the goal is to save money at any price, and to hell with justice.

Attorney Generals and security representatives intimidated the Constitution Committee last week and warned them from a torrent of lawsuits that is about to knock the State treasury; a billion Shekel, according to some adjusters. Some attorneys who work as arbitrators in these cases spoke about inflated compensations for the victims. An eye loss costs between 80,000 - 280,000 Shekel ($23,000 - 80,000 US.) The economy will not last without some silky gloves to face spending.

Those who support the law described the Israeli courts as think-less, useless tools. They are pushing to legislate the law retroactively.

All the excuses were garnered for this law. It was said that the Intifada was an act of war. But in such a case, are we willing to deal with it in that way and treat its prisoners as prisoners of war? Are we willing to accept that?

The former Legal Advisor, Michael Ben Yaer,  who was one of the bravest and strongest opponents for the law, ... spoke last weekend against the lack of distinguishing between a police act under occupation and an an act of war. He said that "history will judge us one day for our acts in the territories and that this law will make this (historical) judgment stronger."  The Dean of the School of Law at the Hebrew University, Uriel Brooktcia, said that the the only justification left for the proponents of the law is the names of the victims which are Dahud, Ibrahim, and Yousef. If the names were David, Abraham, and Joseph, they would not have thought about legislating this law.

There are facts that need to be considered. The majority of the Intifada victims did not press lawsuits, and the majority of those will not do it.  The road between the refugee camp and the Israeli house of justice is too long and vexatious. Besides that, the majority of their cases may not be compensative as they have to prove that their injuries were the result of negligence and not out of the result of soldiers' self defense acts. So, the discussion is about those who did not jeopardize anyone's life......

From now on, there will be a law in the Central Courts, one in Netanya and another in Jerusalem to verify the origin of the complainants.  There will be a law for the Israeli residents and another for those of the territories.

Therefore, the law comes to shut down a human opportunity left for the besieged and occupied Palestinians. And it will close another window for our moral character. This State that invests 2.18 billion Shekel in rehabilitating Israeli soldiers is not willing to spend an additional few millions for Palestinian children and youths who were injured at no fault. The (Palestinian) blind youth Ashraf Ibrahim of Ein Shams, the family of the killed child Rafedeh Abu Laban of Al Adheshe, and the thirteen orphans of Mohmmad Ismail Abdin do deserve compensations. But Israel who does not show any willingness to discuss the compensations for the injustice of the year 1948, is attempting to repudiate herself from an ethical responsibility, one more time.

You, the (Palestinian) widows and orphans will have a special law for you. Is not that laughable for the legislators? top of page

One Week's Atrocities by the Israelis Against Palestinians

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Israel Refuses to Issue Residency Cards for Young Arabs in Jerusalem

Jerusalem. The Israeli Ministry of Interior have been refusing lately to issue IDs to thousands of Jerusalemite Arabs who reached the age of 16, as mandated by the Israeli law. Palestinian human right activists considered this as a violation of the Israeli laws, international laws, and the Oslo agreements which states that Israel cannot take unilateral steps in the Arab part of the city during the interim period of the settlement. Arabs think that the measure is consistent with the statement of the Jewish mayor of Jerusalem, Olmert, who said that he will remove the Camp of Steadfastness from the city. Human right activists think that the motive for these measure is to evict Arabs from the city. (AlHayat www.alhayat-j.com 02/27/98)

Israel Cancels National Insurance From Jerusalemite Arabs

Jerusalem. Sources in the Oriental House in East Jerusalem said that the Israeli Ministry of Interior started a campaign of canceling the National Insurance (like Medicare) from Jerusalemite Arabs who for any reason do not live in the designated limits of Jerusalem. The policy does not apply to Jews. The policy is followed based on a governmental amendment of the National Health Insurance law which was taken on December 15, 1997. The effective date for implementing the new law was February 01, 1998. Azmi Abu Al Suoud of the Oriental House said that the new law means that "anyone who acquired the Israeli citizenship by birth but lives outside the city limits is not entitled to health or national insurance which are given to citizens of Israel who live in the country, settlements, or any part of the Jewish state." (Al-Ayyam www.al-ayyam.com 02/23/98)

Israel Refuses To Let Two Arab Patients Be Treated in Its Hospitals

Gaza. The Public Relations Department of the Israeli Ministry of Health refused to give permits to two Arab patients to be treated in private Israeli hospitals. Hasan Abu Nasir, 54; and Tayseer Al Mallahi, 43; were refused permits despite the fact that the hospitals accepted their admission. Nasir is suffering from malignant brain tumor and Mallahi is suffering from internal infection and bleeding in the abdomen area. Both patients are from Gaza and had admission dates in the Israeli hospitals. Because of the lack of medical equipment in the occupied territories, Israelis hospitals were the alternative for traveling to a foreign country. (AlAyyam www.al-ayyam.com 02/23/98), top of page

Unleashing The Israeli Injustice

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Military Government:- Colonialism in A New Style When Theft Is Conducted With An [Israeli] Court Order Israel Refuses to Issue Residency Cards for Young Arabs in Jerusalem Israel Cancels National Insurance From Jerusalemite Arabs Israel Refuses To Let Two Arab Patients Be Treated in Its Hospitals

 Military Government:- Colonialism in A New Style by:- Colonel Reserve Moshe AlAd (former Bethlehem and Jenin Military Governor)- Yediot Achronot, 02/24/98

Three decades passed on the continuing military government in the West Bank. What appeared in the beginning as a military action that resulted from a bright military victory has changed, by times, in to a social, political, and social core stone. Our failure to assess its life span is a strange creature.

We did not learn from the experiences of the British, Jordanian, and Egyptian who failed in imposing their control on the [Palestinian] Arabs. We tried to invent a colonialism with a new style. We besieged a city in the West Bank and we waited under the pressure to know the international community reaction through the CNN. We closed Gaza because of the deadly, difficult operations that came from it. We waited with anxiety for reports on children digging in the dumpsites looking for something to eat and about a reserve soldier who imposes curfew on a village in the morning, but comes back quick after his discharge in the afternoon to demonstrate on the entrance of the same village against the curfew he imposed. The army in the territories had an agitated character and after many years the military governor realized that it is humane more than necessary.... and while Israel was poking the eyes of the Palestinian children with rubber bullets, the Civil Administration [AKA Military Governor] erected in the territories an eye clinic to treat the same injuries.

It was said that the military governor and the collective punishment are two faces for the same coin. The Israeli Military Governor was facing very tough difficulties to impose non-collective punishments. And despite the fact that the policy and decision makers realized that imposing collective punishment is like discarding the new born with the birth water, we continued this approach and expanded it.

The style of the military government in the West Bank is a unique achievement for the Israeli army. The rubber and plastic bullets are aimed at causing an injury, but not a serious one: to rule without absolutism. The State has left in the hands of its military governors the unique recipe for control of the territories. For that reason, many ill, incurable phenomena were born like the continuos economic interrelationships between the territories and Israel and our inclination to prefer the cheap Arab labor.

Thus, the Israeli dictionary became rich with military vocabularies such as settlements, closure, Intifada, deportation, moderate physical pressure, administrative detention, Peace Now, Arabists, home demolition, Village Leagues,.......

We are a country who knows how to prepare and get ready fast for the threats of war. We are a country that yearns for every small openings for peace. But we are a nation that is not ready, nor knowledgeable of controlling another nation. Never were we geared to be colonialists one day. Therefore, the tuition fees we paid were very high. The soldiers became almost reserves without them leaving the alleys of Nablus and Qalqiliah and without them being in another Israeli army. Every closure that was imposed on the West bank has touched the ethical values that we grew up with. The new Palestinian generation that grew up under our rule, the generation that built our homes and cooked our meals, have taught us with its cynical Hebrew that there is no governor without his people.

When Theft Is Conducted With An [Israeli] Court Order

It did happen that the Israeli "absentee property guardian" rejected the alienation of property in Jerusalem to an Arab who purchased the land from its legitimate owners in Beit Jala (the West Bank.) And there is a chance that the same thing may happen again in the future. But it is a serious precedent that an Israeli judge in Jerusalem allows the alienation of the same property to a bank owned primarily by Jewish fundamentalists under the pretense that the owners of the property are unknown. The seriousness of this judge's ruling took the case to the Israeli Central Court.

Hajj Isa Elayyan from Beit Safafa, an Arab Israeli citizen since Israel took over Beit Safafa in 1948; purchased a 10 dunum parcel of land in 1972 (a dunum is 835 sq. yard.) The land is located in the village of Beit Safafa (1948 area.) Elayyan purchased the land from AlAraj family who were living in Beit Jala (near Bethlehem, 1967 area.) When Elayyan attempted to register the land in his name, the Israeli authorities refused and told Elayyan that "since the original owners do not have the Jerusalemite - Israeli- identity, no transfer of ownership is allowed." The son, Waleed Elayyan, said that the Israeli "absentee property guardian" claimed that "since the original owners of the property were residents of the West Bank, they are considered as absentees and they, therefore, could not sell their land in Beit Safafa."

Elayyan's efforts to find a way in the Israeli courts and laws to transfer the property to him was futile. Though, he maintained the lot which is located opposite to the famous Canyon Mall in Beit Safafa through out the years.

In 1995, Elayyan discovered that a Jewish by the name of Saul Cohen managed to transfer the title of 2 dunums adjacent to Elayyan's lot, the other part of a larger lot owned by AlAraj family. The two dunum lot was also under the authority of the Israeli "absentee property guardian." "After verification, we realized that the 'absentee property guardian' allowed the transfer of the ownership to Cohen;" Elayyan said. Based on this, Elayyan decided to go to court against the Israeli "absentee property guardian" who allowed property transfer to Cohen but refused it for him. Elayyan's logic was that he and Cohen are both Israeli citizens and they should be treated equally under the Israeli laws.

But the disaster for Elayyan came after Judge Yael Tzor took with the advice of Cohen of selling the entire lot in the area (the 2 dunums of Cohen and the 10 dunums of Elayyan.) Cohen claimed that he did not know where his 2 dunums are located in the whole lot and that he wanted to erect a commercial project on the land that he owned.

According to Elayyan, Judge Tzor ordered the sale of the land and published a small ad in the court hall, but not in all main newspapers as mandated. Elayyan's land was sold to Bank Mizrachi at $500,000 US. After deducting unpaid property taxes of $350,000; Elayyan was left with $150,000 for his 10 dunums. According to Elayyan, the very same court of Tzor previously assessed his land at $3.5 million. So, Cohen managed to get a title for the 2 dunums in his name.

Elayyan thinks that the ruling of the Israeli Judge was very serious not only because it discriminated against Arabs and Jews but aslo because the Israeli Judge did not publish the auction note in newspapers and was satisfied with publishing it in the court hall.

Elayyan took the case further against Judge Tzor, the Israeli "absentee property guardian," and Saul Cohen to the Israeli Central Court. At this point, the Israeli "absentee property guardian" claims that the file of the land is "lost." The Central Court commenced its precedings last Tuesday and there seems to be no way of predicting its ruling.

Many Jews merely claim that they owned certain properties in East Jerusalem since the 20s and the 30s. And considering the counterfeiting and the illegal acts of land dealers as well as the abuse of the Israeli "absentee property guardian," it is rather difficult for the legitimate property owners to recover their properties or sell them. Despite the peace agreements with Jordan and the Palestinians, Israel has not canceled or changed the Absentee Property Law because thousands of Arabs will be able to recover [or be compensated for] their lost properties that Jews took over. (Al-Ayyam www.al-ayyam.com Feb. 17, 1998), top of page