ISRAEL'S DEFENSE LAWS

                     IN THE OCCUPIED (WEST BANK) TERRITORIES

     The Israel Defense Laws are an extension of strict military security

regulations adopted by the British Palestine Mandate government in 1936,

following the Arab Revolt of that year. They were known as the Emergency

Regulations.

    But in 1940, the British extended the laws to control the Jewish population

which had stepped up its acts of terrorism against the Mandate authority and

the Arab population. Naturally, then, the most outspoken opponents of these

laws were the Zionists themselves, who saw in them sweeping anti-civil rights

powers during the later Mandate years.

    In Feb. 1946, the Jewish Lawyers Association strongly denounced the

Emergency Regulations.

    In 1947, the spokesman for the Jewish Agency at the time, Dr. Bernard

Joseph (who later was to become Dov Joseph, Israel's Minister of Justice until

1965) denounced the measures. Joseph charged: "Are we all to become the victims

of officially licensed terrorism, or will the freedom of individuals prevail?

Is the administration (British Mandate) to be allowed to interfere in the life

of each individual without any safeguard for us? There is nothing to prevent a

citizen from being imprisoned all his life without trial...there is no possible

appeal...What is more, there is no need for a man to actually commit an

offence."

    The Zionists themselves could not have made a better case against these

wickedly inhumane laws. Yet, in 1949, the State of Israel adopted these laws to

control the country's Arab `minority.' The laws were repealed in 1966 in

Israel.

    But, when the Israeli's invaded and occupied the West Bank, these laws were

established as the governing authority for the territories until this day.

    Here is a summary:

    The Defense Laws consist of 170 Articles divided into 15 Sections. Special

Israeli Military Courts were established to try those individuals cited as

having violated them.

    The laws give Israel's Minister of Defense the power to appoint military

commanders as governors of the occupied territories. The military governor has

the unbridled power to dispose of civilian rights as he deems necessary, on

the basis of national security.

    ARTICLE 11: Permits the Military Governor (MG) to detain anyone for any

reason, for an unlimited period of time without trial and without declaring

publicly the crime. The detainee is not permitted legal counsel or the right to

appeal.

    ARTICLE 112: Empowers the MG to expel any individual living in the

territories; and to prohibit the return of any individual into the country. No

reason is needed to justify the order. Similar to all the Articles, it cannot

be appealed or challenged in the Israeli legal system.

    ARTICLE 119: Empowers the MG to destroy the property of any individual for

any cause or reason. This article is often used for collective punishment. If

the MG suspects that a member of a family has participated in an act that the

MG defines as sedition, terrorism or a threat to national security, he has the

power to order the military to expel the family from their home and then

destroy the home, all with little more than a few minutes notice.

    ARTICLE 120: Empowers the MG to confiscate the property of any individual

suspected of involvement in any act deemed by the MG to be a threat to national

security, or a violation of the Defense Laws or any military law.

    ARTICLE 121: Empowers the residents of any village or municipality in the

occupied territories to provide food and shelter at their expense to members of

the occupation police or army.

    ARTICLE 124: Empowers the MG to impose a total or partial curfew on any

village or municipality for any reason without right of appeal.

    ARTICLE 125: Empowers the MG to declare any area of any size closed and to

restrict the movement in or out of the area.

    ARTICLE 126 and 132: Empowers the MG to restrict the movement of any person

or vehicle in a specified street or area for an indefinite length of time,

without the right of appeal.

    ARTICLE 137: Empowers the MG to control the movement, sale or possession of

arms in the occupied territories. Thus, you will see Zionist settlers carrying

machine guns, pistols and rifles as they walk any street. An Arab, on the

other hand, would be immediately arrested, since permission is rarely granted to

a non-Jew.

NOTES:

    Since 1967, the Israelis have refused to abide by the covenants of the

Geneva Convention in the occupied territories.

    The Israelis have used these laws to destroy thousands of homes as a means

of colelctive punishment, to punish the families of individuals "suspected" of

terrorist activities (individuals who need not be proven guilty of the crimes).

And, the Israelis have used the laws to destroy hundreds of Arab villages, to

confiscate Arab land for use by Jewish settlers, and to expel thousands of

Palestinian Arabs whose crimes have often times been little more than the

expression of an opinion.

    For many years, Jerusalem and Tiberias were "closed" using the laws.

Although Jews were permitted to violate this order, Arabs recognized by the

Military Police--in much the same way that the Nazis recognized Jews during

World War II--the Arabs were arrested. Arabs are required to carry special

identification cards, and to display special identification license plates on

their vehicles to facilitate this process of distinguishing racially between

Arab and Jew.

   The laws do permit an appeal directly to the Israeli defense minister, but

the appeals are rarely even entertained, and are returned to the jurisdiction

of the MG.

   Many times, Arabs are placed under house arrest for indefinite periods of

time. They are given the option of leaving the country as the only alternative.

The house arrests have lasted as long as four years!

   The Israelis have used the laws to prevent the Arabs from marking special

occasions, including the Israeli massacre of the residents of Kafr Qassim (an

action recognized by the Israeli Supreme Court as having been a crime against

humanity). And they have used the laws to close Arab newspapers, block free

speech, protests, demonstrations, expel popular political leaders and prevent

the Arab minority from organizing.