From: srose@mizar.usc.edu (Steve Rose)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Israel's deportation of over 400 Palestinians
Date: 18 Dec 1992 09:43:35 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: mizar.usc.edu
Keywords: human rights civil rights Israel Palestinians

Israel's deportation of over 400 Palestinians is wrong, for at least three
reasons.  1. It is illegal (according to Israeli, as well as international
law).  2. It is only the most recent example of a sick policy of 
collective punishment.  3. It may well destroy what is left of the 
peace process.

1. According to the Los Angeles Times (Friday, December 18, 1992, p A18),
"Lawyers for the Palestinians argued that not only did the deportations
violate basic human rights but that the government was also violating
Israeli law, which assures a deportee the right of appeal to military
and civilian tribunals." and...
"Rabin said that the usual legal prcedures were bypassed because they have
proved to be too slow."

We all have reason to be concerned when those in power bypass the "usual
legal procedures" because they are "too slow".  That is the road to
authoritarianism.  "Minor legal details" like due process of law, rights
of free speech etc. are there to protect us from abuses of government.
By allowing these rights to be bypassed for reasons of convenience 
(or other even less honorable reasons) we take a big step toward 
allowing governments to take these rights away from all of us.

2. Israel has a long history of inflicting collective punishments for
individual crimes.  I believe that killings, whether of Israeli soldiers in
the occupied territories or of Palestinian youths opposing the occupation,
are to be deplored.  However, when a government, as its formal policy, 
reacts by punishing - not those found responsible, but others who are
innocent except for the "crime" of being a Palestinian, or being an
Islamic Fundamentalist - that is also deplorable.

According to the same article in the Los Angeles Times, Prime Minister
Rabin is quoted as saying that the expulsion was the "most humane" option.
"Don't forget the alternatives - the death penalty, demoslishing houses,
mass arrests." he goes on to state.

That Prime Minister Rabin would consider these as alternatives is evidence
enough that these types of punishments are given common consideration by
Israel.  Demolishing houses of innocent people in a community where other
alleged crimes have occured has, for years, been a common practice of the
Israeli occupation.  Other practices - mass arrests, beatings etc.
have also been common.

3. The deportations will certainly cause harm to, if not totally destroy,
what is left of the peace process.  The Rabin government came to power
with a pledge to participate in this process.  They have had a mighty
funny way of showing their commitment to making peace.

I believe that it is clear that the Palestinian extremists responsible for
the recent killings had, as their intention, the destruction of the peace
process.  Israel, by its action of expelling over 400 Palestinians, should
make those on both sides committed to destroying the possibilities of peace
very happy indeed.


Steve Rose



Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast