What ever you think you know and understand about the situation for ordinary people in Palestine is magnified a thousand times when you volunteer here. Nothing compares to interacting with people on a daily basis on the way to your work place and travelling around gives you an opportunity to see the problems at first hand .Being here solely as a tourist can be a very false experience as the aspects of an apartheid situation can become. normalised as time passes.
I took the human rights internship for a week .It was quite intensive and emotionally taxing at times .We covered the legal system from the court point of view and prisoner’s welfare. We learnt about the housing situation and the problems with evictions. We visited schools , rehabilitation centres and community development projects for children in the refugee camps etc. After school clubs in the absence of open spaces to play in football fields etc.
Legal System in Palestine
There are 3 areas in Palestine, Area A which includes Hebron and us supposed to be under the Control of the Palestinian Authority. Area b which is administered by PA except regarding security issues. Area C, completely under the control of the Israeli Army and is all the areas outside the main cities
While areas B are supposed to be jointly run by the PA and Israel, Israel has a strong g influence on implementation of laws here as these areas are also occupied by Israeli forces which is in contravention of the Oslo Accord. There has been no National Elections since 2006 it is widely believed that Israel do not want elections as the current relationship between the PA and Israeli government works in their favour .The Palestinian laws are based on Jordanian laws which date back to 1920
While there are Palestinian Courts they generally hear civil and criminal cases that do not involve what the Israelis army define as security which would seem to be an ever changing concept. Cases that involve children throwing stones at the army for example are heard in military courts .Although the legal age of responsibility is 12yrs children as young as ten are often lifted off the street for spurious reasons and detained for long periods of time awaiting trial or fines to be paid for by their Parents.
The ministry for prisoners was created in 1998 it looks after the welfare of prisoners families , heath insurance, defence of prisoners .The ministry is funded by local taxes . Prior to the Oslo Accord there were 24 prisoners today there is 5,000 ,300 of whom have been in jail over 20yrs within this group 33 are female .700 are in administrative detention which means they have not been formally charged with an offence and are held indefinitely with reports of torture there has been 40 examples of torture after court .75 prisoners died under interrogation or due to bad heath due to sanitary conditions in the prison of this 75 there remains 9 bodies that have not been returned to the families for burial .10 of these prisoners are under 18yrs and one girl is under 15yrs .Lawyers visit the children More then half of the Palestinian Authority is in jail.
House Evictions
In 1983 Israel took ownership of all the houses that were owed by Palestinians which were vacated by previous owners either because the families had left due to the conflict or were not occupied as the owners were living in another area .This was done under a law that was introduced in relation to vacant property dating back to 1948/52.
The current house evictions take place under various circumstances. The houses are on Military land and pose a security risk. The house is near a settlement and therefore poses a security risk Or any other reason no permit to build etc. At this meeting with a local Lawyer it was felt that the Israeli Courts do not listen to Palestinian Lawyers and this view was echoed at various other meetings
It was also thought that the PA authority does nothing to bring the issues of Human Rights to the European Court because they are afraid of losing funding from America however at a meeting with the prison authorities we learn t that work is currently under way by the authority to put pressure on the HAGUE to examine the human rights situation in Palestine.
On my last day we visited the Aruba Refugee Camp I think this was the most difficult day for me .We met with mothers who ran an after school programme that offered the children opportunities to be creative and socialise in a safe place . The Aruba Camp was opened in 1948 when people were driven out of the surrounding villages and informed that they could return after the war was over thus never happened and today the camp has developed with its own shops schools and a University .The camp is surrounded army lookout posts and soldiers who patrol the exits .
Not alone do parents have the issues of trying to rear their children in a deprived area but they also fear for their children’s lives as tear gas and shootings by soldiers is a regular event .Mothers talked about the fear of having thier children lifted off the street by the army and remaining in detention fir long periods of time .we spoke to teachers who described shootings by the Israeli Army as common place some talked about the loss of members of their family . Everyone was welcoming and asked if we could spread the word about what is happening .Throughout the time I was here I did not feel unsafe despite the warnings in Jerusalem about coming to the West Bank.
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To apply to any of our programs: Please send an email to Mr. Tamimi at info@gopalestine.org. Please type the name of the chosen program in the subject line. We will then contact you back!