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Civil Liberties
Palestinians have virtually no due process rights. They can be arrested-and never told why- by any soldier or policeman, and incarcerated for a year or more without trial. Since the intifada, prisoners have been denied access to lawyers and tried on ’security offenses’ in batches. The conviction rate is nearly 100%. During the intifada fifty-eight Palestinians have been expelled from the West Bank and Gaza for undisclosed ’security reasons’.
Even before the uprising, holding the finders in a “V” sign was viewed as ‘incitement’ (”V” for victory). A four-year-old appeared in a Jerusalem court for this ‘crime’ in July 1989. Now children can be arrested for having dirty hands -’proof ‘ that they had thrown a stone, and shot for keeping their faces covered or running away when ordered to stop by soldiers.
The army censors art by destroying paintings which include the colors of the Palestinian flag, and newspapers by reviewing copy on a daily basis and frequently imprisoning journalists. More than 1800 books are explicitly banned, including all works that “address, instill or foster Palestinian-Arab national feelings and national heritage.”