
FILE – A Palestinian child throws stones at an Israeli army tank, much like the iconic image of Faris Odeh from October 2000, during the second Intifada. (Photo credit: Musa Al-Shaer/AFP)
Israel is set to implement new draconian laws on 5 September, which will force foreigners to declare any intimate relationships with Palestinians within the first 30 days of arrival.
The 97-page list of rules will limit outside contact with Palestinians, regulate the number of foreigners admitted to Palestinian universities, and place restrictions on foreigners working and living in Palestine.
The director of the Israeli non-governmental organization HaMoked, Jessica Montell, has criticized the new laws, arguing that “this is about the demographic engineering of Palestinian society and isolating Palestinian society from the outside world.”
“They make it much more difficult for people to come and work in Palestinian institutions, volunteer, invest, teach and study,” she added.
Initially, the bill was announced in February 2022 but was halted after complaints to Israel’s Supreme Court.
The new restrictions will force foreigners to declare their love relationship with a Palestinian to the Israeli Defense Ministry and in the case of marriage, foreigners are forced to leave after two years for a period of 6 months.
Foreigners who wish to visit the West Bank will no longer obtain a visa upon arrival, and will instead be forced to apply to the Israeli Defense Ministry 45 days in advance. This also includes volunteers and workers.
Members of the Palestinian diaspora will also no longer be able to visit their homes and families via Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Israel will also place new restrictions on universities, putting a quota of 150 student visas and 100 foreign lecturers.
Israel’s recent attempt to further complicate the lives of Palestinians has received sharp criticism on social media, with some users drawing similarities with Apartheid South Africa.
This sounds a lot like the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of apartheid South Africa
— Shahad Azim đ» (@shahadazim) September 3, 2022
However, Israel is not so isolated in its apartheid-type laws, as it finds regular support from other states and companies.
In a more recent case, workers of US tech giant Google have accused the company of censorship and punishment for opposing a $1.2 billion contract that provides Israel with more advanced AI tools to persecute Palestinians.
Earlier this year, Israeli media revealed that occupation troops are required to capture and enter the pictures and details of at least 50 Palestinians during their shift into the so-called âBlue Wolfâ facial recognition system.
âBlue Wolfâ works as a smartphone application and is described as the occupation armyâs secret âFacebook for Palestinians.â