Remember the signs in Nazi Germany saying “Jews not allowed” at the entrance to some shops?

Now, Salfit District Governor Abdallah Kamil has “issued a series of important decisions” — which brings the term “Jews not allowed” to mind.

It specifically “forbids” Palestinian businesses to “receive any settler” — i.e., Israelis/Jews. Whoever violates this rule risks closure of his business by the Palestinian Authority (PA) Security Forces:

1. It is completely forbidden to have commercial relations with the settlers, according to Law No. 4 of 2010. It is forbidden to receive any settler in our places of business. We have conveyed clear instructions to the relevant [PA] Security Forces to close any store that violates this decision and to put its owners on trial. 

2. All signs written in the Hebrew language placed in the various places of business and workshops must be removed within a week at the latest. The required legal procedures will be taken against those who do not fulfill this.

3. We emphasize once more that one must not carry out any action of selling lands, and specifically in Area C [i.e., land under full Israeli administration according to the Oslo Accords], without first receiving security permission from the district. [Emphasis added]

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 28, 2022]

These decisions in the Salfit district in the northwestern West Bank, have been made to hinder any kind of peace building between Palestinians and Israelis/Jews. Instead, the goal of Palestinian leaders is “to fight the settlement enterprise and the relations with the settlers in the district.” District Governor Kamil added that the Palestinian people “will not agree to any manner of coexistence or normalization with the settlers.” The PA routinely refers to all of Israel as “occupied Palestine,” and all Israelis as “settlers.”

Palestinian Media Watch has reported extensively on the third rule above. It is forbidden by PA law to sell land to “the enemy” — i.e., Israelis/Jews. The law has been reinforced by a religious ban — a fatwa — issued by the PA Supreme Fatwa Council, led by PA Grand Mufti and Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Hussein.

In addition to these rules being in force in the Salfit district, any trace of the existence of Israel has been erased in PA schools, and thus there are “no Israeli products and products from the settlements in the school kiosks.” This was apparently verified by none other than PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, who together with deputy ministers and directors-general of the Ministry of Education “examined the preparations and preparedness of the [PA] Ministry of Education for the start of the school year.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 29, 2022]

This is the real reason for lack of peace in the Middle East — and the true discrimination in the region.

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.

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