Despite the positive perception of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, Israel is still violating Palestinians’ legal protections against collective punishment under international law. Violations of Palestinians’ human rights have not changed, even in Gaza where Palestinians are now free of Israeli settlements and internal checkpoints. Israel, argued Randa Siniora, General Director of the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, continues to practice cruel and illegal forms of collective punishment on the Palestinian civilian population.

Speaking at an 11 October 2005 briefing at the Washington, DC-based Palestine Center, Siniora discussed Al-Haq’s campaign against collective punishment, which began in January 2004 and focuses “not only on the Wall, but all its implications,” with special focus on East Jerusalem. Al-Haq is a leading Palestinian human rights organization which documents Israeli violations of the basic rights of people, pinpoints trends in human rights issues, launches campaigns based on its findings, provides legal aid to individuals, and does extensive legal research.

The International Committee of the Red Cross defines collective punishment as “penalties of any kind inflicted on persons or entire groups of persons, in defiance of the most elementary principles of humanity, for acts that those persons have not committed,” Siniora said. She noted that throughout the Occupied Territories, Israel collectively punishes Palestinians in five major ways, namely mass arrests, house demolitions, movement restrictions, property destruction and construction of the annexation Wall. She noted a United Nations declaration that states, “The impact, if not the intent, of the measures imposed by Israel has been the collective punishment of the [Palestinian] civilian population.”

Siniora made clear that Al-Haq believes Israel fully intends to punish Palestinian civilians. According to Siniora, 400 Palestinians have been arrested in the past week by Israel. For the most part, these arrests are en masse and arbitrary; in some cases, anyone within a certain age range is arrested.

Al-Haq defines housing demolitions as separate from property destruction. Housing demolitions are when a home is demolished because one family member is wanted by the Israelis, Siniora said. Property destruction lacks even this justification; the most common form of property destruction taking place now is the demolition of houses and other buildings which are “too close” to the annexation Wall.

Al-Haq also defines the Wall Israel has and is constructing in the Occupied Territories as an “annexation Wall,” not an “apartheid Wall” or “separation fence.” Siniora said the Wall’s sections are much more substantive than a simple fence; instead, they involve trenches, razor wire, motion detectors, military roads, and so forth. They reach six to nine meters near populated areas.

When completed, the Wall will be 670 km long, effectively annexing 10.1 percent of the West Bank into Israel, including the best agricultural land and the West Bank’s major aquifer. “This is creating facts on the ground to create new borders,” said Siniora. While gates exist in the Wall to allow farmers access to their fields, “these gates are completely controlled by the Israeli military.” They open and close at arbitrary times; also, accessing land on the other side involves a long, deliberately frustrating process to obtain proper permits. It is especially difficult to obtain permits for buying and selling land. She said this is extremely important because if land goes uncultivated for a period of three years, Israel defines it as “absentee property” and confiscates it. Siniora argued that if the intent of the Wall were purely to enhance Israel's security, “it would make more sense to build it on the 1967 border.” By building the Wall in such a way that it cuts farmers off from their land, Israel has shown its intent to annex that land.

The Wall also has huge impacts on Palestinians’ freedom of movement. A normal trip between Ramallah and Jerusalem is approximately 15 minutes. For Siniora, a resident of Jerusalem who commutes to work in Ramallah, the journey now takes over an hour and the return two, due to checkpoints. “We don’t have traffic jams,” said Siniora, “we have checkpoint jams.” Israel also has mobile checkpoints, which appear and disappear at arbitrary times. The result is that “villages are becoming totally disconnected from cities. In the whole Palestinian daily fabric of life, we see complete obstruction.” Social and family events have been severed. “What we’re talking about,” said Siniora, “is dividing the West Bank into small prisons.”

Another form of collective punishment and obstruction of Palestinians’ free movement is the Israeli military practice of placing Palestinian territory under curfew, whereby even journalists and medical personnel are unable to leave their houses for fear of snipers. Residents in the old city of Hebron spent over half of the last two years under curfew (370 days), due to the presence of 400 “extremist” settlers who live in their midst and can move around freely. Residents of other Palestinian cities have experienced similar restrictions.

Siniora said that although Israel is a signatory of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel’s High Court of Justice has dismissed their obligations under this law to date, often using “military necessity” as an excuse. However, she noted that the Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that collective punishment is not acceptable under any circumstances, even in the case of military conflict. Siniora emphasized that any state which has signed the Fourth Geneva Convention is obligated under the terms of that Convention to make sure that its standards are respected by other signatories. Thus, the international community has a legal responsibility to pressure Israel to respect its obligations.

Rewarding Israel for disengaging from Gaza overlooks what Israel is doing elsewhere in the Palestinian Territories, Siniora said. Al-Haq is worried that in the wake of Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip, the international community has warmed to the Sharon government despite its ongoing violations. It is therefore circulating a petition to urge governments around the world to take responsibility and ensure Israel’s respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention.

This "For the Record" summary is based on remarks delivered by Ms. Randa Siniora on 11 October 2005. The speaker’s views do not necessarily reflect those of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development or its educational program, The Palestine Center. This "For the Record" summary may be used without permission but with proper attribution to The Palestine Center.