Orphans Under Threat: Jun 12, 2008

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Palestinian Minister of Social Affairs Visits the Orphanages

The Palestinian Minister of Social Affairs, Dr. Mahmud Al-Habbash, visited Wednesday, June 11, the threatened orphanages in Hebron. Al-Habbash met with ICS seniors and had a briefing on the work of the Charity. He also visited the Hebron Boys' Orphanage and paid tribute to the high services and well organized facilities.

Dr. Al-Habbash said that the Palestinian President, Mr. Mahmud Abbas is highly interested in this problem. ''He keeps asking Mr. Fayyad about the Charities in Hebron,"said Dr. Al-Habbash.

The Minister said that the Palestinian Cabinet has formed a special committee to follow up with the Israeli measures against Islamic Charities.'' The Cabinet decided that the Minsters of Justice, Civil affairs and Social Affairs will be part of this committee,''added the minister.

''We don't work for Israel. This is against all the agreements between the PA and them. It is a violation of all Human Rights Agreements. We have informed all internationals about these illegal actions,'' Dr. Al-Habbash continues.

''The Islamic Charitable society is one of the biggest charities in Palestine. We have always supported it and we will never stop. If we had found something wrong in its work, we would have closed it years ago. The Israelis have no right to do that. The islamic charity needs to be thanked for the work it has been doing and we will encourage and support ,by all means, the work of this charity.''

Internationals Visiting the charity

Are Schools and Orphanages Under Threat?

Our Lawyer, Mr Jawad Bulus, An Israeli Arab, appealed to the Israeli military within the 14 day period they alloted with closure orders. On 30 th of March , Mr Bulus received the following..........

Attn: lawyer Jawad Bulus
Subject: Closure of the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron
Our Ref.: 2\6\00 – 2\4066 of 19\10\2005
2\6\000 – 2\6246 of 9 March 2008
Your Ref: of 3\3\08 and at our office on 9 March 2008 and 23 March 2008
By this we declare receiving your appeal of the above mentioned subject.
In your appeal, you explained the requests of the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) against the closure and confiscation orders of properties that were issued by the General of Command (GOC) In Judea and Samaria.
In the above mentioned appeal you stated the following:
a) The GOC has no authority to close or confiscate properties in A or B areas which are under the full responsibility Palestinian Authority (PA).
b) The ICS is not connected to Hamas.
According to what you explained, you asked the GOC to cancel the closure and confiscation orders that were issued against the facilities and properties of the ICS.
I do inform you in this regard that your appeal was proposed to the GOC who insisted to refuse it for the following reasons:

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28. As we mentioned earlier, we would like to inform you that the claims of your client of absence of authority in A and B areas were discussed several times before and they were rejected.
29. We would like to draw your attention, in this regard; to the military court order of appeal 2016 \ 07 (enclosed) which explains the point.
30. To sum up, it was proved that your client (ICS) has connections with Hamas, the illegal party, and due to this there is an everlasting danger on the safety of the public, the area and the state of Israel. The GOC, therefore, decided to refuse your appeal.
31. The GOC intends to work continuously to perform the closure and confiscation orders that he signed, to close and confiscate the properties of the ICS immediately. Moreover, the GOC checks the possibility of expanding his activities against the ICS in a more effective and wider way due to the criminal acts in serving Hamas.
32. There is no need to say that the continuing work of the ICS which includes the working facilities or providing any service through it is a very dangerous violation of the law in the area. The GOC intends to take all necessary measures to stop that.
33. According to all that I mentioned, I ask you to inform your client to immediately stop all its activities. Otherwise, they will be exposing themselves to severe measures in both criminal and administrative frames.
34. As for the schools, orphanages and kindergartens mentioned in your appeal, the GOC gives himself the complete right to take all necessary measures according to the law if they continue to work in these facilities.
35. As for any future arrangements, all appeals and requests should be directed through official parties in the Palestinian Authorities – Hebron Governor- or the Minister of Civil Affair in the PA who has direct contact with Israeli Civil Administration.
With respect
Hariel
Officer- Political Advisor