‘Up to 20 Years’ – Israel Passes Law to Deport Relatives of Palestinians Involved in Attacks 

The Israeli parliament (Knesset). (Photo: By U.S. Embassy Jerusalem - DAZ_0762PS, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131480378)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The controversial law stipulates that deportees would be sent either to the Gaza Strip or other destinations.

Israel’s parliament (the Knesset) has passed a controversial new law that allows the deportation of family members of Palestinians involved in attacks, including Israeli citizens, to the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.

The bill was approved in the second and third readings by 61-41 votes, making it an effective law.

The legislation, sponsored by Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky, is widely seen to be targeting Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of the occupied East Jerusalem.

According to The Times of Israel, the legislation “gives the interior minister the power to expel a first-degree relative of someone who carried out an attack if he or she had advance knowledge and either: (a) failed to report the matter to the police or (b) expressed support or identification with an act of terrorism or published words of praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organization.”

Gaza or Other Locations

The paper said that both the Justice Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office have raised concerns about the legislation, “which stipulates that those being expelled would be sent either to the Gaza Strip or other destinations.”

The deportation for a person who holds Israeli citizenship may range between 7-15 years, and between 10-20 years for a person who holds a legal residence permit.

The law stipulates that a suspect will have the right to present a defense to the interior minister who will then have 14 days to make a decision and sign a deportation order.

Law Against Teachers

On Tuesday, the Israeli Knesset passed another law allowing the sacking of Arab teachers who show support for attacks against Israelis, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The legislation “grants the director-general of the Education Ministry the authority to fire, without prior notice, teachers who have either been convicted of a security or terror offense, or have ‘published a direct call to carry out an act of terrorism or published words of praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism [or] support for or identification with it’,” the Times of Israel reported.

The law also allows the ministry “to cut or reduce funding for schools in which such expressions have been found.” That is if it has been concluded that “the management of the educational institution knew or should have known about their existence.”

(PC, Anadolu)

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