Ramallah -
Yesterday evening, Monday, the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) approved a bill proposal to revoke citizenship and residency from Palestinian prisoners from inside the Green Line and from occupied Jerusalem, who are accused by the occupation authorities of carrying out operations against Israeli targets, and whose families receive financial compensation from the Palestinian National Authority.
The law - which was previously approved by a special committee - targets primarily the Palestinians of 1948 and Jerusalem who participate in operations targeting the Israeli occupation or receive allocations from the Palestinian Authority, including salaries paid to the families of prisoners.
Unanimous endorsement
And according to what the Israeli Parliament published on its website, the “Joint Committee” consisting of members of several Knesset committees unanimously approved, at the end of a series of deliberations, a proposal to “withdraw citizenship or residency for any terrorist activist who receives allowances after carrying out a terrorist operation.”
And this website quoted the head of the committee for the Likud party, Ofir Katz, as saying that the law - which was presented to the Knesset plenary on Monday evening, and 89 members (out of 120) voted for it in the first reading - enjoys the support of the security levels, the government coalition, and most of the opposition.
The Knesset had previously approved the preliminary reading of the law on January 11, according to which the Minister of Interior will be able to request the court to revoke citizenship for anyone who receives benefits from the Palestinian Authority, directly or indirectly.
In the event that it is not proven that the accused received benefits, the law provides for his deportation from Israel after serving his sentence.
The Israeli Minister of Defense approves the confiscation of hundreds of thousands of shekels from the two captives, Maher and Karim Younes, https://t.co/7i1gXY001r
- Al-Jarmaq News (@aljarmaqnet) January 26, 2023
When does the law become effective?
For his part, Rami Haidar, media spokesman for the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), says that the new law is "under discussion" and needs to go through several stages in order to become effective.
Haider added - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that it is easy to pass any draft law with the preliminary and first readings, but the second and third readings need more time.
He pointed out that the nationality withdrawal bill is supposed to be returned to the Knesset Constitution and Law Committee for approval for the second and third readings, and this may take about two weeks.
However, Adalah's spokesperson noted that this law may clash with the Supreme Court, which will not pass it, as it had previously issued a decision prohibiting the withdrawal of the nationality of any person who has the right of residency or citizenship.
He added: The law will be passed if the right-wing parties succeed in enacting the "overcoming" law, which makes the Knesset a higher authority than the Supreme Court, and it is one of the cases that moved the Israeli street to reject the law.
"The most dangerous thing in the law is that it constitutes a violation of the rights of Palestinian citizens, especially prisoners, and may be used to impose collective punishments and displace them," Haider says.
He added that the danger of displacement by "legal legislation" faces primarily residents of neighborhoods targeted for settlement in East Jerusalem, whose attempts to buy them or extort their owners have failed.
As for the legal action available to confront the law, he said that the Adalah Center may go to the Supreme Court in the event of failure to pass the "overcoming" law, but if this law is enacted, there is no room for any legal movement, and it remains to rely on popular and political pressure.
The "Knesset" votes today on a law to displace prisoners of Jerusalem and the occupied interior# Urgenthttps://t.co/aTrSL8ir7B
Quds Press |
Quds Press (@QudsPress) January 30, 2023
Unjust law
For his part, the head of the Jerusalem Prisoners' Families Committee, Amjad Abu Asab, says that the draft law is "unjust, adding to a series of unjust decisions and laws enacted by the Knesset and practiced by the occupation against the Palestinian people."
"The occupation is trying to demonize the file of Palestinian prisoners in particular, the families of the martyrs and the families of the wounded, in order to Judaize the land," he continued in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net.
He also said that the occupation authorities "practice killing, demolition, and deportation before legislation, and now target the livelihoods of people who have not committed a sin, who are children and families of prisoners."
He added that the new law "puts great pressure on the Palestinians of Jerusalem and Jerusalem, who are making every effort to preserve their presence in the city."
According to data from Addameer Prisoner Care and Human Rights Association, the number of detainees in Jerusalem is currently estimated at about 400, in addition to 100 from Palestinian cities controlled by Israel.
The Palestinian Authority, according to special legislation, disburses allowances for prisoners inside and outside prisons for those who have spent periods exceeding 5 years in prisons and have been released.
The Palestinian Authority pays monthly allowances to the families of more than 30,000 martyrs and wounded people inside Palestine, and about 23,000 outside it, according to previous data from the Foundation for the Families of Martyrs and Wounded.
And while the number of Jerusalem martyrs was estimated at about 170 between 2000 and 2020, no information is available on the number of martyrs within the territory of 48.
Hoopoe Network
Yedioth Ahronoth: “A special committee, led by Knesset Member Ofir Katz, agrees to put forward a bill depriving terrorists of citizenship or residency.
- Hodhod (@hodhod_pal) January 30, 2023
They go after the captives and their belongings
In turn, the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners Affairs, which handles the disbursement of the prisoners' allowances, considered the Israeli draft law as targeting the presence of the Palestinians of 1948, and collective punishment for the families of Palestinian detainees who made their own decisions.
The official of the media department in the authority, Hassan Abed Rabbo, told Al-Jazeera Net that the law "targets those who take allocations, and those who carry out operations by withdrawing their identities and residencies, deporting them from the interior and Jerusalem to the West Bank and Gaza, and even pursuing and confiscating their money."
Abed Rabbo said that Israel began implementing the law in practice before it was enacted, "They are chasing money and confiscating property, as happened with Karim and Maher Younes, from whom about half a million shekels (about $150 million) and a vehicle were confiscated."
He pointed out that the Palestinian Authority pays monthly allowances to every prisoner arrested for resisting the occupation, regardless of geography and place of residence, adding that "any violation of these rights will put their families in economic hardship, especially since the law is not limited to those accused of murder, but rather affects everyone who participates." in resistance."
According to the Palestinian official, the number of those who receive monthly allowances inside and outside prisons exceeds 12,000, including about 500 from Jerusalem and the interior.
He added that the occupation has been using collective punishment of demolition and deportation since 1967, without affecting the idea of resistance or preventing Palestinians from carrying out operations, and "those who offer their souls do not worry about anything else."
Regarding the actions of the Prisoners' Affairs Authority to confront Israeli law, Abed Rabbo said that the Palestinians have no choice but to move internationally to form a pressure front with the aim of boycotting the Knesset, which enacted a law that contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Palestinian Authority has previously been subjected to pressure due to the disbursement of allowances for prisoners, including the deduction of sums of tax money that Israel collects from external outlets on behalf of the Authority, equivalent to what the latter pays to the families of prisoners, estimated annually at about $170 million.
Hebrew Media: The Shin Bet supports the draft law to revoke citizenship, which mainly targets editors Maher and Karim Younis.
pic.twitter.com/ZlO6sgsaV4
- Bilad News (@biladpalestine) January 29, 2023
What are the consequences and risks of approving the preliminary reading of the law to withdraw citizenship from Palestinian prisoners in the 48 lands? https://t.co/egwfiGQDLc
- Al-Jarmaq News (@aljarmaqnet) January 11, 2023