'If, and as long as between the Jordan and the Sea there is only one political entity, named Israel, it will end up being either non-Jewish or non-democratic. If the Palestinians vote in elections it is a binational state and if they don't vote it is an apartheid state.' -- Israel's defence minister Ehud Barak, at Israel's annual Herzliya security conference, February 2010.Haaretz: A new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years. When the order comes into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders...
The order's language is both general and ambiguous... unclear over whether the permits referred to are those currently in force, or... new permits that military commanders might issue in the future. The provisions are also unclear about the status of bearers of West Bank residency cards, and disregards the existence of the Palestinian Authority and the agreements Israel signed with it and the PLO...
The fear that Palestinians with Gaza addresses will be the first to be targeted by this order is based on measures that Israel has taken in recent years to curtail their right to live, work, study or even visit the West Bank. These measures violated the Oslo Accords...
Currently, Palestinians need special permits to enter areas near the separation fence, even if their homes are there, and Palestinians have long been barred from the Jordan Valley without special authorization... Another group expected to be particularly harmed by the new rules are Palestinians who moved to the West Bank under family reunification programs...
The new regulations are particularly sweeping, allowing for criminal measures and the mass expulsion of people from their homes... The IDF Spokesman's Office said... 'The IDF is ready to implement the order, which is not intended to apply to Israelis.'
Related:
Tony Karon, The National: The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert warned in November 2007 that without a two-state solution, Israel would 'face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights,' which it would be unable to win.
Henry Siegman, The Nation: Israel has crossed the threshold from 'the only democracy in the Middle East' to the only apartheid regime in the Western world.
Image: Jewish settler tosses wine at a Palestinian woman on Shuhada Street, in Hebron, the West Bank; source here.
