Prevention extension for two years without explanation!

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Observers: 
Shlomit Steinitz, Natanya Ginsburg
Apr-20-2021
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Morning

11.00- 12.15

The car park was full, maybe because of Ramadan. People kept entering the hall but immediately went through though they exited at a much slower pace.

 

In excellent Hebrew one man told us that his employer very much wanted him to come back to work and had twice gone to the Ministry of Labour to ask for him. He also said that there is a quota to each employer.

 

But he has only had   one vaccination and when we asked him which kind he replied, “How on earth do I know. For all I know they could have vaccinated me with water”. We were also told by one Palestinian that, although he had had one vaccination, he can only received the second one 12.7.2021!

 

Two men complained that they had had their period of prevention extended, one even before the first had expired. One of them, over 50, says he has never spent a day in jail. He  felt that someone who works with him had used undue influence against him but he has no idea why. Maybe one of the settlers.  Now his period of prevention has been extended for another two years.  He had exploded in the offices and said that he should either be allowed to speak to someone in charge or that they should arrest him and take him to jail. But this did not help him as he was told that this was a matter for the GSS and that the army could not help him.

 

In both cases we referred them to Sylvia and her team. As so often happens we advise them not to go to a lawyer but one of the two men  said he had paid one lawyer a sum of  20,000. Even though this could be exaggerated it shows how  desperate Palestinians are to be able to make a living, to move around more freely.  Shlomit explained that if it was necessary to take a lawyer there are lawyers who work with Sylvia and who can be trusted. The case could be taken to the High Court where the GSS has to give their reasons for slapping on a longer period of prevention . He said he had been three years at home not earning. How could he pay?  Shlomit explained that one pays  a fee of 1800 shekel to the court  which is returned if the appeal is recognized . This is so obviously another way of abuse of the Palestinians, to frustrate them, maybe to bring them to some act of violence which is then made a field day of in the press and media. How often are we told what drives Palestinians to attacks on Jews?

 

During the winter our office was outside and luckily the weather was usually kind to us. Maybe now however, as the hall is usually empty and certainly not as full as it was before the corona we will move back inside.