12 dec 2010
Civil Administration wants Palestinians to submit requests in Hebrew only
A Palestinian woman hangs laundry outside her house in front of a section of the separation barrier in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank on May 4, 2010
Civil Administration chief suggests that the thousands of Palestinians seeking the services of the District Coordination and Liaison offices hire Palestinian 'typists' to assist them.
The Israeli Civil Administration operating in the West Bank is demanding that Palestinian residents submit requests in Hebrew only, the Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual said.
In a formal letter sent to the NGO by the office of the new chief of the administration, Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz, the government body suggests that the thousands of Palestinians seeking the services of the District Coordination and Liaison offices hire Palestinian "typists" to assist them. The typists being referred to are untrained Palestinians who position themselves next to the Civil Administration office with typewriters, offering to type up requests for a fee.
In a letter to Almoz, an attorney on the staff of Hamoked, Ido Blum, wrote that refusing to process requests written in Arabic sharply contradicts the duties of the military commander and the Civil Administration in occupied territories as defined by international law and acknowledged by Israeli court rulings.
Blum noted that even if the requests were filed within Israel, they would still need to be processed by law, as Arabic is an official language of the state. And, he argued, they must be processed all the more when written by Palestinians whose mother tongue and only official language is Arabic.
The forms in question are available in Arabic, but many of the officers and officials charged with handling the Palestinian population don't speak or read Arabic on a high-enough level to understand such documents.
Blum argued that the Civil Administration needs to provide appropriate training for its staff, and Hamoked warned that unless the situation is rectified, the organization would resort to legal channels.
Civil Administration chief suggests that the thousands of Palestinians seeking the services of the District Coordination and Liaison offices hire Palestinian 'typists' to assist them.
The Israeli Civil Administration operating in the West Bank is demanding that Palestinian residents submit requests in Hebrew only, the Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual said.
In a formal letter sent to the NGO by the office of the new chief of the administration, Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz, the government body suggests that the thousands of Palestinians seeking the services of the District Coordination and Liaison offices hire Palestinian "typists" to assist them. The typists being referred to are untrained Palestinians who position themselves next to the Civil Administration office with typewriters, offering to type up requests for a fee.
In a letter to Almoz, an attorney on the staff of Hamoked, Ido Blum, wrote that refusing to process requests written in Arabic sharply contradicts the duties of the military commander and the Civil Administration in occupied territories as defined by international law and acknowledged by Israeli court rulings.
Blum noted that even if the requests were filed within Israel, they would still need to be processed by law, as Arabic is an official language of the state. And, he argued, they must be processed all the more when written by Palestinians whose mother tongue and only official language is Arabic.
The forms in question are available in Arabic, but many of the officers and officials charged with handling the Palestinian population don't speak or read Arabic on a high-enough level to understand such documents.
Blum argued that the Civil Administration needs to provide appropriate training for its staff, and Hamoked warned that unless the situation is rectified, the organization would resort to legal channels.
18 nov 2010
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Soldier assaults B'Tselem worker on latter's land
Two Palestinian family members were beaten and arrested by an Israeli soldier in their own olive grove last November, following an unlawful detainment of their two teenage relatives. Filming for B'Tselem near Susiya in the southern Hebron Hills, 'Aliaa a-Nawaj'ah, 12, and her 14-year old brother Hamzah were leading their sheep on their own land when, according to 'Aliaa, around 7:30 AM, two soldiers arrived via an army jeep. The soldiers detained the siblings with plastic handcuffs before releasing them. Responding to the soldiers, family members of the siblings came to the farm and, according to B'Tselem: "Among them were Nasser a-Nawaj'ah, a B'Tselem field researcher, and Ahmad a-Nawaj'ah, who volunteers in B'Tselem's camera distribution project. |
The two soldiers saw Nasser filming the events, went over to him and pushed him, telling him that he was forbidden to be there. As noted, the land belongs to the Nawaj'ah family.
The soldiers did not show any order closing the area. Nasser clarified that the army allows the family to be in their own land and continued filming."
The soldiers did not show any order closing the area. Nasser clarified that the army allows the family to be in their own land and continued filming."
