DID YOU KNOW THAT VINEGAR IS A KNOWN SECURITY THREAT?

Via DesertPeace

January 23, 2010 at 2:18 pm (Believe it or not, Extremism, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, zionist harassment)

Another ‘Believe it or not’…..

Vinegar is a Known Security Threat

Via Gisha, the IDF refuses to explain why some food items that aren’t security threats are con­sid­ered security threats and barred from Gaza while other food items that aren’t security threats and aren’t con­sid­ered security threats either are allowed into Gaza. Does this make any rational sort of “sense”? Of course not. It’s what happens when soldiers and bureau­crats who consider a pop­u­la­tion sub-human are given respon­si­bil­ity for tending to that population’s human needs. Max Ajl, by the way, is also still barred from Gaza, because jour­nal­ists, too, are con­sid­ered a “security threat.” Better to stall them for weeks in Cairo.

Thursday, January 21, 2010 – At a court hearing held today in the Tel Aviv District Court, the Court ordered the State of Israel to produce documents related to its Gaza access policy within 30 days or to explain why it refuses to do so. Gisha — Legal Center for Freedom of Movement filed the petition under the Freedom of Infor­ma­tion Act, asking the Ministry of Defense and the Coor­di­na­tor of Gov­ern­ment Activ­i­ties in the Ter­ri­to­ries (COGAT) to reveal their policies relating to the entry of food and other goods to the Gaza Strip. Among the documents requested was the so-called “Red Lines” document that pur­port­edly sets the nutri­tional minimum required for the sub­sis­tence of Gaza residents as a guideline for how much Israel can restrict supply.

The petition was filed following six months of attempts by Gisha – all of them unsuc­cess­ful – to find answers to the most basic questions from the author­i­ties – infor­ma­tion which they are obligated by law to reveal: what are the goods that are permitted or pro­hib­ited for entry into Gaza? What are the criteria for defining goods as “human­i­tar­ian”? And what are the pro­ce­dures that guide COGAT’s activ­i­ties? For example, it is unclear why Israel allows flour into Gaza but does not allow the transfer of vinegar or coriander. It is also unclear why Israel suddenly allowed diapers, mops, black pepper, and za’atar herb into Gaza two months ago, following inter­mit­tent bans. Nor is it clear how pre­vent­ing shoes and children’s toys from entering Gaza enhances Israel’s security. COGAT has refused to explain how it manages to meet “minimum human­i­tar­ian needs” while simul­ta­ne­ously and con­tin­u­ously refusing to define what this minimum consists of.

“It is not clear why the Coor­di­na­tor of Gov­ern­ment Activ­i­ties, a bureau­cratic clerk, insists on hiding infor­ma­tion,” Gisha’s Adv. Tamar Feldman said after the hearing. “If Israel believes that its policy on goods transfer to Gaza is justified, why not reveal it?”

The Court rejected the State’s argument that it need not reveal the “Red Lines” document, because it is an internal draft, and ordered the State to produce it or other cal­cu­la­tions within 30 days or to explain why it refuses to do so.

Source

River to Sea
 Uprooted Palestinian