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The Case of the Old City of Hebron Forced Population Transfer

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The Case of the Old City of Hebron Forced Population Transfer FORCED POPULATION TRANSFER: The Case of the Old City of Hebron FORCED POPULATION TRANSFER THE CASE OF OLD CITY OF HEBRON This Series of Working Papers on Forced Population Transfer constitutes a digestible overview of the forced displacement of Palestinians as a historic, yet ongoing process, which detrimentally affects the daily life of Palestinians and threatens their national existence. This case study provides a unique addition to the Series as it will BADIL explore the interrelation and interaction بـديـــــل Resource Center of each of the policies in one specific المركز الفلسطيني for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights location, Hebron’s Old City. BADIL hopes لمصـادر حقـــوق المواطنـة والـالجئيـن August 2016 to produce additional case studies with the aim of supplementing the Forced BADIL Population Transfer Series by illustrating بـديـــــل Resource Center the implementation of the nine policies املركز الفلسطيني for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights .throughout Mandate Palestine ملصـادر حقـــوق املواطنـة والـالجئيـن August 2016 Editor: Nidal Alazza Research team: Amaya al-Orzza, Ezees Silwady, Artemis Kubala, Ahmad Lahham, Halimeh al-Ubeidiya and Haya Abu Shkhaidem Copy-edit: Shaina Rose Low and Rachel Hallowell Design and Layout: Fidaa Ikhlayel and Atallah Salem ISBN: 978-9950-339-53-8 All rights reserved © BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights Forced Population Transfer: The Case of the Old City of Hebron August 2016 Credit and Notations Many thanks to all who have supported BADIL Resource Center throughout this research project and in particular to all interview partners who provided the foundation for this publication. Any quotation of up to 500 words may be used without permission provided that full attribution is given. Longer quotations, entire chapters or sections of this study may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature, without the express written permission of BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights Karkafa St. PO Box 728, Bethlehem, West Bank; Palestine Tel.: +970-2-277-7086; Fax: +970-2-274-7346 Website: www.badil.org BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights is an independent, human rights non-profit organization working to protect and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Our vision, mission, programs and relationships are defined by our Palestinian identity and the principles of international humanitarian and human rights law. We seek to advance the individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people on this basis. Table of Contents Executive Summary - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 Introduction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 Legal Framework - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10 Methodology - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12 Main Findings - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13 Recommendations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 Hebron: Historical Overview - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17 British Mandate - First Intifada - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18 The Oslo Accords and Their Aftermath - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 The Situation Following 1 October 2015 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 26 Manifestation of the Policies in Hebron’s Old City - - - - - - - - - 29 1. Installment of a Permit Regime - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 29 2. Discriminatory Zoning and Planning - - - - - - - - - - - - - 36 3. Denial of Access to Natural Resources and Services - - - 41 4. Oppression of Resistance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 48 5. Non-state Actions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 57 6. Segregation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 69 7. Denial of Residency - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 74 8. Property Confiscation and Denial of Use - - - - - - - - - - 78 9. Denial of Reparations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 85 The Old City in Photo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 91 Executive Summary Consideration of Israel’s policies in Hebron’s Old City reveals a system that infiltrates every aspect of daily life for Palestinian residents. Violating international humanitarian and human rights law, a comprehensive Israeli regime creates a coercive environment that triggers forcible transfer of Palestinians living in the Old City. Since the establishment of Israeli colonies in the Old City in the 1970s, Israel has not only added to its range of oppressive policies, but also has, in a number of cases, intensified these policies so severely that the existence of Palestinians in the Old City becomes impossible. Israel restricts many Palestinian rights, including free movement and access to property, while strengthening military protection of the colonizers, which in turn emboldens them to harass, abuse and attack the Palestinian population. Numerous Israeli military orders, under the guise of ‘security,’ have resulted in the closure of hundreds of businesses and the forcible transfer of a considerable number of Palestinians who were residents of the Old City, leaving the remaining Palestinian population at risk of forcible transfer. The Israeli authorities, in conjunction with colonizers in the Old City, facilitate the establishment and expansion of colonies and outposts in the city mainly by using land that was originally seized for alleged military purposes, appropriating properties owned or rented by Jews before 1948 and purchasing properties through dubious transactions. The colonization process works together with Israeli restrictions on Palestinians’ movement, property confiscation, denial of use and colonizer attacks, resulting in the creation of a coercive environment that triggers the forcible transfer of Palestinians living in the Old City. BADIL has identified and categorized nine Israeli policies taking place in the Old City, which are detailed in this working paper. First, the denial of residency takes place when Israel denies Palestinians in the Old City the right to choose residency or to maintain residency in certain neighborhoods of the city. The permit regime exacerbated by conditions outlined in the 1997 Protocol Concerning the Redeployment of Hebron and the presence of colonies interferes with multiple facets of Palestinian life. Property confiscation and denial of use in the Old City is manifested in significant restrictions, ’seizure 5 for military purposes,‘ expropriation orders and the creation of colonial outposts. Discriminatory zoning and planning is utilized to create colonies and bring new colonizers to the Old City. Segregation occurs on both spatial and legal levels, separating Palestinians from the colonizers and from each other. Israel denies Palestinians access to natural resources and services in Hebron’s Old City by depriving them of their right to their heritage, history and culture. Denial of access to services leaves Palestinians in a very vulnerable and perilous situation. Those Palestinians who were forcibly displaced, either inside the West Bank or abroad, are denied their right to reparations. The mere presence of Israeli soldiers in the city acts as a strong deterrent for Palestinian resilience and resistance. Lastly, non-state actions with the complicity of the Israeli regime and the army in the Old City are mostly committed by the colonizers which often result in physical injuries, constant insecurity, psychosocial distress, loss of livelihoods and a state of fear. In addition, most Palestinians cannot find legal recourse to protect their individual or collective rights, including property rights and their freedom of movement through the Israeli judicial system. Complaints filed by Palestinians to the occupying power are usually dismissed outright. The few cases which do make it to Israeli court are usually dismissed without indictment. This situation significantly limits and may render impossible any possibility of ensuring Palestinian residents’ rights in the Old City. The coercive environment created by these policies results in gross and repetitive human rights violations and, when forcible transfer occurs, war crimes. The combination of both crimes, forcible transfer and colonization in the Old City and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory, should elicit the activation of third party states’ obligations to hold Israel accountable. 6 Introduction BADIL’s series on Forced Population Transfer: The Case of Palestine aims to provide an overview of the range of policies Israel employs to affect both the forcible transfer of Palestinians within the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), and the unlawful forced displacement of Palestinians inside Israel.1 Israel employs a multitude of illegal and discriminatory policies, practices and means through which it seeks to control all aspects of Palestinian life, and ultimately change the demographic composition of the country. BADIL has identified at least nine individual policies aimed at forcibly transferring the Palestinian population: denial of residency, installment of a permit regime, land confiscation and denial of use, discriminatory zoning and planning, segregation,
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