Orphans Under Threat: May 26, 2008

Monday, May 26, 2008

Mr. Bulos : '' I can't trust the Israeli Military ''

In his meeting with the steering committee of saving orphans, Mr. Jawad Bulos, the Charity's Lawyer, gave the committee a briefing on the legal side of closing and confiscating the ICS facilities.

"The very first moment the charity received the closure orders I appealed to the Military Legal Advisor and asked him to arrange a meeting with me. The Advisor refused to meet me and later he responded rejecting our appeal. I was forced, then, to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court," said Bulos.

Again, the Israeli Supreme Court was not a better choice for Bulos than the Legal advisor. '' After five days of my appeal to the court, the court refused to issue a stop order (prohibition order) which is normal in such cases. I was informed later that the court will not discuss our appeal before October,'' added Mr. Bulos.

The expert man of courts is left confused. The Military is working on the ground, the court will not issue an order before October and the stop order is absent. Despite these facts, Bulos does not think that the Military may take further actions to embarrass the court or to create a new trend in the Israeli courts. Yet, '' I can not trust the Israeli Military,'' he remarked.
The expert lawyer, who seemed hopeless, tries to make use of his proficiency in negotiating. This time not in courts but with the Military officers. '' We met with them once. We discussed all details and ways of getting out of this tunnel. The Military officers seemed not interested,'' he thought. Bulos believes that a major part of the solution is political.

Jawad Bulos, a Greek Orthodox Palestinian Christian from Galilee, was born in 1956. He got his degree in Law from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1980. Since then, he has been defending Palestinians. Mr. Bulos has a reputation of being consistent , patient and expert.
You may write Mr. Bulos at: jawaddb@yahoo.com

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