When commenting on his new book “Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid” in 2006 on MSNB’s “Hardball”, former president Jimmy Carter stated, “The persecution of the Palestinians now under the occupying territories (Israel) is one of the worst examples of human rights deprivation that I know.” The policies carried out by the state of Israel in relation to Palestinians needs to be addressed. Through practices of controlling Palestinians’ accessibility to homes and property, denying accessibility to legal defense for the common Palestinian detainee, and not allowing the vocalization of Palestinian opposition, Israel has deprived the Palestinian people of the rights the Israeli people have access to.

Before diving into the policies disadvantaging the Palestinian people in Israel, a bit of history needs to be covered. Israel’s Genesis begins after World War II in 1948. The creation of this state was debated in how it was to be formed; whether it should be two separate states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, or if it should be one single state with land granted to both groups. As we know the latter was the choice of the United Nations and since the creation of the state conflict has been commonplace. This article will not address these conflicts or the threats of terrorism from groups like the Hezbollah and Hamas or the legitimacy of the state of Israel, but rather will serve to enlighten on the loss of rights of the Palestinians in Israel.

Property rights grant people the ability to live in civility with one another without the uncertainty of ambiguous living conditions. In Israel the Palestinian people suffer poor treatment in respect to these rights from the Israeli state. The Israeli government continues to make building permits difficult if not impossible to ascertain for the Palestinian people in the West Bank. In 2015 hundreds of Palestinian homes on the West Bank were decimated for not having these permits leaving a great number of Palestinians without homes. The Palestinians have continued to lose property throughout the years since 1948 and even homes in Israel with Palestinians living there have been removed because they were not built with these unattainable permits (AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 2016). Without availability to the permits the Israeli government gives, the Palestinian people will continue to lose more and more land making them second class citizens to the Israeli populace. Property rights should be granted to all members of a nation and not just to who the state decides.

Prison systems in nations have the ability to be quasi selective in who goes to prison with higher frequency and this happens often in Israel to Palestinian people. Beyond just detainment for these people, legal defense is often denied. Between 2005 and 2007, a vast majority of prisoners taken from the West Bank were denied access to any legal defense. Irit Ballas, a lawyer who has gathered data on this injustices, proclaims, “The information we receive from our lawyers tells us that the incommunicado detention has not decreased” (Carbojosa). By increasing the amount of Palestinian detainees while also removing availability to legal defense, the Palestinian people have lost rights intrinsic to all people in a democratic state. Rights like these are enjoyed by the Israelites and taken away from the Palestinian population further illustrating the deprivation of liberties for the Palestinian people in Israel.

The Israeli government works to build up the Israeli narrative while bringing down the Palestinian one. New laws in Israel have been created to more harshly punish deserters from the army and anyone who aids someone in the act of desertion. This law may not seem involved with the Palestinian ways of life but some politicians say it is an attack on freedom of expression in a greater way. The Palestinians who join the army do so willingly but the laws do not allow for freedom of speech on the topic. As Aida Touma-Suleiman, a member of the Arab Joint List, said, “The main goals of this law are on the one hand to create an illusion that those who are volunteering for the Israeli army are under real threat from their own community, and on the other hand, to criminalize those who are criticizing and having a political debate with those people" (Wilson 2016). Not allowing members of the populace to speak on issues takes away civil liberties from constituents of the Israeli state and in this case disproportionately against the Palestinians because they have a much greater reason to not let their family members join the army of a state who takes away their freedoms. Legislation such as this shows again how the Israeli state disproportionately hurts the Palestinians in Israel.

By taking away accessibility to property rights, removing the possibility of legal representation, and not allowing the voices of individuals to be heard on specific topics, the Israeli government has taken away freedoms from the Palestinian people commonly usurped by the Israeli populous. With such injustices happening we should fight against the narrative of the Palestinian people just being a group that stands in Israel’s way and rather look them as individuals attempting to share in the same freedoms the Israelis have.

Work Cited

King, Collen (2006). “Hardball”

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (2016). ISRAEL AND OCCUPIED PALESTIAN TERRITORIES. Retrieved from: https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/report-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/

Corbojosa, Ann (2010). Israel authorities deny Palestinian prisoner’s access to lawyers. theguardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/28/israel-denies-lawyers-palestinian-prisoners

Wilson, Nigel (2016). Israel ‘narrowing the space for freedom of expression’. ALJAZEERA. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/28/israel-denies-lawyers-palestinian-prisoners