WE SAY NO TO EXPULSION

Over 300 scholars from around the world sign a petition against the expulsion of the Palestinian residents from the South Hebron mountains.

The petition was published on Monday, June 10th, 2002 in "Ha'aretz" daily newspaper, both in the Hebrew and English editions.
Click to enlarge:

The advertisement elicited a lot of attention. Other than the usual hate calls, many people called and requested more information about the case and asked how to support the campaign. Several media outlets also expressed interest, including CBS in the US, BBC, and Australian and Spanish new-services.

Since we decided to go for a full-page ad (due to the amount of names), we need some additional financial support. For those of you who have not sent money and can afford to help financially, please send a $25 check (or the equivalent) payable to Ta’ayush c/o either:

Liz Rottenberg,
1210 St. Paul St. apt. 2F
Baltimore MD, 21202


or

Dr. Neve Gordon
Department of Politics
Ben-Gurion University
Beer-Sheva, Israel


Regarding the case itself: Palestinian Collaborators Used Against Cave-Dwellers.
About thirty hours before the court was set to convene (and after the advertisement went to print), the state prosecutor submitted his response to the Palestinians’ appeal. Unfortunately, our suspicions turned out to be accurate. The State was willing to allow 30 families to stay in their homes, but demanded that the rest be expelled, specifically mentioning 38 out of 200 families who are represented in this appeal.

In the prosecutor’s response, he exposed the State’s mode of action regarding this case. According to the prosecutor, Israel used its most recent military offensive -- dubbed “Defensive Shield” -- to build its case against the Palestinian cave-dwellers. During the re-occupation of Yatta, the biggest town in the South Hebron region, the Israeli military accompanied by the Civil Administration and Secret Services (Shabak) took three Palestinians collaborators into town and asked them to identify houses that allegedly belong to the Palestinian cave-dwellers.

These collaborators pointed to certain houses, of which the Civil Administration proceeded to photograph. Because the Palestinian collaborators could not be brought to the downtown area, they were also flown (with a helicopter or small plane) over the town and instructed to point out additional houses, which -- according to the collaborators -- belong to the cave-dwellers. They proceeded to photograph these houses as well and submitted them to the court as evidence that the Palestinian appellants actually have other homes.

The State is unwilling -- for “security reasons” -- to identify these collaborators and have indicated that they cannot be questioned by the appellants’ attorneys in court. The Civil Administration did not enter any of the mentioned houses in order to verify whether or not people actually live in them and to identify these people.

While all the cave-dwellers live in the mountainous regions and not in Yatta, it is important to underscore the State’s twisted logic. It is sufficient, according to the State, to “prove” that a Palestinian owns property in Yatta in order to expel his/her family from their homes in the mountainous region.

Having received the State’s response only thirty hours before the court was to convene, the Palestinian families’ lawyers -- attorney Manal Hazzan from the Association of Civil Rights in Israel and human rights attorney Shlomo Leker -- decided to ask for a postponement. The only evidence connecting the cave-dwellers with the houses in Yatta is the claim made by the collaborators. Hazzan and Leker decided that they want to go to Yatta and visit these houses in order to see whom they belong to and to take affidavits from their owners.

Previously, the Court decided that two arbitrators (one with military background and the other an anthropologist) were to be appointed, and their job would be to determine how long the cave-dwellers have been living in their homes. The State did not abide by this decision, claiming that it does not have money to finance arbitrators. It does, apparently, have the money to capture Yatta, to bring in forces to accompany three collaborators, and when they can’t reach all of the houses, to use an airplane to fly them over the town, using expensive camera equipment to take aerial photographs.

The lawyers representing the Palestinians appellants decided that they needed more time to prepare their response and asked for a postponement. Although the hearing did not take place, we think that the advertised petition was extremely important, because it brought the plight of these cave-dwellers to the public’s attention. Just as important, it made an unequivocal statement denouncing all plans to expel Palestinians from their land. In a growing political climate that has rendered legitimate the idea of “transferring” Palestinians within Israeli public discourse, we must constantly speak out against this crime.

We intend to continue the campaign against expulsion and the coalition -- Ta'ayush- Arab Jewish Partnership, Rabbis for Human Rights, The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and The Alternative Information Center -- would like to thank you again for your support.

Neve Gordon
Ta'ayush

LINKS

Ta'ayush - Arab-Jewish Partnership

More information on the expultion of the Palestinian residents from South Hebron mountains.