HRW: ‘Israel’ uses draconian military orders to repress Palestinian journalism and activism
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- A new report by Human Rights Watch revealed that the occupation state has been using extremely severe military orders against journalists and activists throughout the West Bank.
The 92-page report, “Born Without Civil Rights: Israel’s Use of Draconian Military Orders to Repress Palestinians in the West Bank,” revealed that the occupation state has used military orders against nonviolent political activity, including protesting, publishing material “having a political significance,” and joining groups “hostile” to Israel.
‘Israel’ has been depending on such orders to arrest large numbers of Palestinians for anti-occupation speech, activism, or political affiliations, or to outlaw political and other nongovernmental organizations; and shut down media outlets.
“Israel’s efforts to justify depriving Palestinians of basic civil rights protections for more than half a century based on the exigencies of its forever military occupation just don’t fly anymore,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. “Given Israel’s long-term control over Palestinians, it should at minimum allow them to exercise the same rights it grants its own citizens, regardless of the political arrangement in place.”
The report called on governments and international organizations concerned with the rights of Palestinians to “endorse a civil rights framework to highlight the impact of Israel’s restrictive military orders in the West Bank and press Israel to grant Palestinians full civil and other rights at least equal to what it grants Israeli citizens”.
According to international law, ‘Israel’, as the occupier is required to restore “public life” for the occupied Palestinian population.
Israel’s brutal military rule is applied to Palestinians, but not to the more than 400,000 Israeli settlers in the same territory.
“Nothing can justify today’s reality where in some places people on one side of the street enjoy civil rights, while those on the other side do not,” Whitson said.
