Press release: International community must act against policies of ethnic cleansing or the Palestinians will become a minority in their occupied homeland
14/04/2010
The Cairo Institute for Human Right Studies strenuously condemns and is gravely concerned about a military ordered issued by the Israeli occupation authorities six months ago that has just gone into effect. The order threatens the expulsion or prosecution of tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the West Bank by criminalizing their presence there.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the order going into effect today will threaten 70,000 Palestinians in the West Bank; the PA estimates that it could affect as many as 100,000.
Under the military order issued on October 13, 2009, many Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank could be prosecuted as infiltrators and, if convicted, face up to seven years in prison.
In particular, the order targets residents of the Gaza Strip who have lived in the West Bank for years for study, work, or family unification. The order also applies to Palestinians born abroad and Palestinians born in the West Bank who were not in residence when the territory was occupied in 1967. The broad and vague language of the order could also be interpreted as applying to residents of occupied Jerusalem currently residing in the West Bank, as well as Palestinians who have lost their legal right to live in the West Bank for various reasons.
CIHRS believes that this military order is a continuation of broader Israeli policies of ethnic cleansing and apartheid. It represents an additional crime in the continuing war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The military order further consolidates racist Israeli occupation policies such as the settlement enterprise, the construction of the separation wall, and the ongoing Judaization of occupied territory, which ultimately aim to alter the demographic nature of the occupied territories and turn the Palestinians into a minority in their own homeland.
CIHRS urges all relevant UN agencies and the international community to confront these racist policies decisively and prevent Israel from carrying out these plans. The continued international silence and collusion in these crimes threatens world peace and security and undermines all opportunities to bring stability and peace to this region of the world.
http://www.cihrs.org/English/NewsSystem/Articles/2600.aspx