The regime of permits which, according to Israel, was created for security reasons, has created a destructive apparatus that harms thousands of Palestinians, most of whom aren’t involved in the struggle against Israel and with respect to whom the army and the Shabak have no security concerns.  This regime disproportionately and unreasonably violates human rights and constitutes collective punishment only of all the Palestinians who must have access to the seam zone.     Israeli citizens may, of course, move freely through the seam zone even if they have no connection at all to the area.  The “permits regime” has intentionally become a complex network of procedures constructed from an assortment of orders and regulations.  Despite the principle underlying Israeli and international law, that a person has the right to be present everywhere in his own country, except under exceptional circumstances, the fundamental assumption of the permits regime is the reverse:  Palestinians are not supposed to be in the “seam zone” except in circumstances which the army deems “necessary.”  Thus, step by step, quietly, noiselessly, the theft of Palestinian land in the seam zone is accomplished – the ultimate goal of all the seam zone regulations.

Here is a summary of our discussion with staff of the Palestinian liaison office and the Deir el-Ghusun municipality (on 19.7.17):

During the past four months, since the strike ended, the process of issuing permits to farmers whose lands are in the seam zone has been made significantly more burdensome.  The DCLs refuse to renew permits even for those who had previously held them, and applicants are required to present a variety of documents, including those they had already submitted in the past.

The area of the seam zone in the Tulkarm region comprises some 30,000 dunums bordering the villages of Akaba, Qafin, Zeita, Athil, Deir el-Ghusun, Shweika, Far’oun, A ras, Jubara, Kafr Zur.  The area has seven agricultural checkpoints:  Qafin, Aqaba, Zeita, Athil, Deir el-Ghusun, Far’oun, Sla’it.

Following the issuance of the new set of regulations in February, 2017, it was decided to make it much more difficult for landowners, members of their family and hired workers to obtain permits.  In the past, landowners and member of their family were issued permits valid for one or two years.  Now, in order to prevent landowners from accessing their plots, it was decided to issues permits for specified, limited periods of time, and they are issued based on the size of the plot and the type of crop.  The Palestinians refused to accept these limitations, and went on strike.  The Civil Administration claimed the permits are being used for purposes other than those for which they were issued, such as occasional work beyond the seam zone.  The strike continued until the end of March, when a meeting was held with the head of the Civil Administration, Brigadier General Ahvat Ben Hur, and according to the Palestinians, the following agreement was reached:

–Permits would be issued to the landowner, his wife, his children and their spouses

–Since February, 2017, the Palestinian liaison office transmitted 2030 applications for permits to the Israeli DCL (some prior to the strike in February and some after it ended at the beginning of April, 2017), but as of mid-June no response had been received from the Israeli DCL in Tulkarm.

–In mid-June, a few days before the Eid-el-Fitr holiday, the Israeli DCL in Tulkarm returned all the applications to the Palestinian liaison office with a demand to resubmit them using a form whose only difference from the previous one was the addition of Item no. 15, stating that shepherds may obtain grazing permits for their land in the seam zone (on condition, of course, that the sheepfold where the animals are kept isn’t located more than two and a half kilometers from the grazing land – we wonder who came up with that innovative idea!).  The forms, accompanied by all the required documents, were resubmitted.  Out of more than 400 corrected applications for permits that were submitted, only 30 permits were issued.  – 20 landowners received two-year permits, but seven of the permits didn’t specify the number of the agricultural checkpoint so they had to be returned for correction (we saw that ourselves).  The rest received 25-day permits for “personal needs.”

–During the past five days (prior to the 23rd), the Israeli DCL returned 178 applications for various reasons, including: the farmer doesn’t have land in the seam zone; additional documents were required, and only then will they be handled by the Israeli DCL.  On 5.7.17, 76 refusals were received, and 88 more on 9.7.17.  On 22.7.17 a few hundred additional applications were returned.  The refusals, therefore, were wholesale, a terrible blow to the landowners.

–The Israeli DCL has recently required submission of the original documents, that is, only the land registry (“tabu”) document with the landowner’s name, and not a certificate of inheritance.  The demand compelling Palestinians to divide parcels violates property rights.  The registration process in the land registry is complex, expensive and requires a great deal of time, and time is of the essence when land isn’t being cultivated.

–The plots in the seam zone have been property of the families for generations, have gone through a number of inheritance procedures, and as a result some of the plots in the seam zone are small.  It is customary for one family member to take responsibility for cultivating all of the family’s land.  In the past this fact was recognized, and the family was issued the relevant permits.  Recently this arrangement stopped, replaced by permits for “personal needs,” valid for 25-30 days, issued to owners of plots smaller than one-third dunum.  The effect is to prevent cultivation of the family’s plots throughout the year.

–The Israeli DCL in Tulkarm began dealing with the applications only in the past two weeks – and during the first week only 70 permits were received for the entire area, the first permits since February.  Thirty were for “personal needs” and four more were for employees.  Either no response was received to any of the other applications, or they were denied. 

–Under the British Mandate, and during Jordanian rule, Palestinians would register only a portion of their land in order to avoid paying taxes.  As a result, only some of the family’s land is registered in the tabu.  The villagers are aware of this, and know the true extent and boundaries of each family’s land.

–The farmers hired surveyors to establish the boundaries of the plots, which Israel used as an excuse to declare those lands Malia, and didn’t recognize them as belonging to the families who owned them.  Today Israel recognizes family ownership only of 25 percent of the unregistered lands.

 –Farmers in Zeita and in Nazlat Issa (near Baqa’ al Sharqiya) who’ve been cultivating their lands since the separation fence was erected, and had permits since 2003, were told their lands are not in the seam zone.  Now they must survey them again to prove they are in fact beyond the fence, which costs 50 dinars per dunum (we have a copy of the refusal of the permit application).

–In Qafin and Zeita workers are denied permits, even though until today permits were issued to hired workers where the land to be cultivated is extensive and family members can’t work it all, or their applications for permits were denied.

–In Athil and Deir el-Ghusun, hired workers are granted permits because there are greenhouses, whose need for workers is recognized.  The Israeli DCL conditions issuance of the permits on a visit to the location because it is claimed the workers take advantage of the permits to find work in Israel.  Only one farmer received a permit for 4 of the 7 workers he requested, and only after many difficulties.

–We also heard of serious problems with the provision of electricity and water, which also has a destructive effect on agriculture, and on the daily life of the Palestinians in the area.  B. recounts that during the hot days only two hours of electricity is supplied throughout the village, each neighborhood receiving it at a different time.  During summer days that are less hot, electricity is on for an hour and off for an hour.

Individual cases:

–A farmer who submitted an application for a permit and attached a tabu document had it returned to him because it was claimed it hadn’t been attached.  The coordinator of applications in the Deir el-Ghusun municipality told us it had been attached.  Apparently someone detached it from the other documents, and now he’ll have to start the process again…but who cares?

–Another farmer was told the document wasn’t clear enough and was asked to provide new copies.

–The owner of a one-dunum plot with greenhouses who is in possession of a permit valid for two years submitted an application for his son, whose permit expired some three months ago (he has a copy).  The farmer has already submitted the application twice – the first time it was returned three weeks ago by the Israeli DCL with a demand to submit it using the new form.  He did so but it was returned with the demand to submit the father’s original tabu document since, unlike in the past, the Israelis don’t accept the family’s inheritance certificate from the grandfather that was attached to the application.  Today an original tabu document is required, issued at the offices of the Civil Administration in Kedumim, and the waiting time for that document is about six months.

–A farmer from Athil has for many years leased 18 dunums and erected greenhouses in which he grows vegetables and spices.  The Civil Administration recognizes only 9 of the 18 dunums he leases.  The farmer applied for permits for himself, his wife and seven children, as he did in the past.  We’ve been following up his application for three months, including correspondence and conversations with DCL representatives.  During the past four weeks the farmer went three times a week to the Israeli DCL, and each time submitted the original documents.  Each time he was told the matter is being dealt with and that he should go the following day to the Palestinian DCL to receive the permits, but he has never received them.  Last Sunday, July 16, he again went to the DCL to find out what happened to the permits, and was told by A.S., the head of the Tulkarm DCL, that he must provide a new lease agreement, even though the one he has is valid for five more months, in order for him and his relatives to receive permits.  The farmer renewed the lease agreement and paid NIS 6000, and resubmitted his application.  He’s now waiting for an answer… But the craziness of the occupation’s bureaucracy helped him.  He’s elderly, over 55, and so he and his wife reach the greenhouses, access to which through the agricultural gate is prohibited, through the Eliyahu gate – directly into Israel, and from there via an expensive taxi ride to his forbidden greenhouses trapped in the seam zone!!  For now, at least, he’s allowed in the afternoon to return through the Deir el-Ghusun checkpoint.  The wonders of the occupation!!  The state of Israel, all its sites, and the sea, is open to him, but access to his greenhouses requires coordination.  His sons, of course, are not allowed to enter the seam zone.  Two elderly persons are trying somehow to hold on to their greenhouses and provide for their family – with great difficulty.

–And the icing on the cake:  A young farmer got a haircut in the latest style.  He wasn’t allowed through the checkpoint – because of his appearance.  The soldier at the checkpoint didn’t like his haircut.  The farmer had NIS 600 in his wallet, the soldier thought the man’s clothes were too clean.  His conclusion:  The “criminal” had worked in Israel.  Was there proof?  Who’s to decide – the soldier at the checkpoint?