Haaretz - The State of Israel versus the hyssop pickers

[Englander]

By Akiva Eldar

Whoever said there is no law and order in Judea and that in Samaria everyone does as he sees fit? Ask the Palestinian woman who arrived at the checkpoint on her way to the market, carrying her modest wares on her head, a large bunch of hyssop, (za'atar) which she had gathered from a field in the heat of the day. The Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPPA) ranger's sharp eyes followed the woman. Arguments and explanations were to no avail. Even the old woman's tears did not distract the Israeli agent of the law from his mission. The merchandise was confiscated and the offender was sent home. Perhaps she thought, silly woman, that the checkpoints were intended only for security inspections, to stop terrorists carrying explosive belts on their way to the Carmel market, not women carrying herbs.

Volunteers from Machsom Watch, which monitors soldiers' actions at the checkpoints, have in recent months photographed several shocking encounters between elderly Palestinian women and Israeli rangers and officials from the Nature and National Parks Protection department of the Civil Administration, who confiscated bunches of hyssop and sage from them. The story reached attorney Michael Sfard. "I hope you realize that anyone who can allow himself to eat at a restaurant doesn't gather sprigs from the hilltops," Sfard wrote to the legal adviser of the Judea and Samaria region, and accused the INNPPA of actions intended to make the already difficult lives of those who pass through the checkpoints even harder.

His comments angered Ariel Yosefi, of the civil and economic department in the office of the legal adviser of the Judea and Samaria region. He wrote to Sfard that the hyssop and sage plants have been declared protected species "in the entire area of Judea and Samaria." In other words, Israel controls the flora and fauna in Area A as well, which according to the Oslo Accords, was released from Israeli military and civil occupation. Yosefi vigorously rejected Sfard's arguments and claimed that "enforcing the order regarding nature protection is carried out without discrimination or distinguishing between Jews, Muslims or Christians." He even saw fit to report that Israel "at one time worked to establish plots for the cultivation of herbs in the vicinity of Jenin."

Sfard writes that given the poor quality of enforcement of nature protection laws among Jews in the West Bank, who build permanent structures without permits and pave illegal roads unhindered, the efficient action against the Palestinian hyssop gatherers raises suspicions of selective law enforcement. In response to a question from Haaretz, the INNPPA spokesman said that unlike the regulations for protecting nature, the regulations for preserving open spaces do not apply in the West Bank. In other words, a Palestinian woman who picked a bunch of hyssop sprigs in a field is likely to be punished. A Jewish resident who uprooted an entire field to build an illegal outpost, will get free water for the grass.

Link;
Haaretz

[Jim Sagle]

1. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

:boring:

On a 1-100 scale of atrocity this rates about 1/16th.

[Englander]

2. Here's the context -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x102046

--In between, Levine also writes policy-security papers and is working on a book about strategic issues. In a paper submitted three years ago, he suggested a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In a conversation with Haaretz at the end of last week, he spoke about his principles. At a cafe on the main road from Tel Aviv to his home in Caesarea, Levine said he could not recall whether he actually talked about Israeli terror in the territories. But he is ready to say that control over another people leads to corruption and that corruption ensures defeat, and that the only question is whether the defeat will come in another two years, five years, or twenty years. These are the basic assumptions upon which his plan is built. Levine cited as an example of corruption a report two days earlier in Haaretz about the confiscation of za'atar (hyssop) plants from elderly Palestinian women at IDF checkpoints. "How did we reach this point that a company commander or squad commander obeys such a command and remains silent? Only an army of bastards does such things."--

He's a Major General (ret.), y'know. But hey, wtf does he know?

:eyes:

[pelsar]

3. he knows a lot.....

"But he is ready to say that control over another people leads to corruption"...its slowly sinking in.....

[mike_c]

4. so small injustices are OK?

:shrug:

[Jim Sagle]

5. No, but neither is selective indignation .

[mike_c]

6. how about selective oppression...?

In other words, a Palestinian woman who picked a bunch of hyssop sprigs in a field is likely to be punished. A Jewish resident who uprooted an entire field to build an illegal outpost, will get free water for the grass.

[Jim Sagle]

7. If it weren't Israel involved as the "oppressor", there would be zero

interest in this.

None of us would know a damn thing about it.