Reference: 

Date: 8 December 2015

Press release

The Palestinian political split continues to burden people who already suffer from the Israeli occupation. Recently, a decision has been made in Gaza to allocate public land to employees who were hired by the Gaza government in the past eight years in the form of 'housing associations'. This decision is being justified as a solution to these employees who have not received salaries for years now due to the persisting intra-Palestinian political split and the lack of a solution to their problem. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan) sees this decision as a step that will aggravate the problems arising from the split with serious effects on the lives of Palestinians and their human rights.

Al Mezan therefore calls for serious steps to be taken to put an end to the political split and address its various problematic profiles, including the crisis of the civil servants' salaries in Gaza, which must be dealt with in accordance with the law. These employees continue to serve without receiving salaries for a long time and their families are vulnerable to poverty and disadvantage, especially under the Israeli continuous closure/blockade of Gaza. Moreover, within a deteriorating economic situation as a result of the continuing siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel, Gaza employees have continued to provide services to the public without receiving a salary. The residents of Gaza are being further burdened by the authorities' attempts to increase domestic revenue by imposing new taxes and service fees on the population; the weight lies particularly heavy on those in the lowest socioeconomic bracket.

Al Mezan reviewed a new order by the General Administration of Income Tax at the Ministry of Finance on 18 November 2015, which imposes a new tax on fruit and vegetables and on livestock imports.

Al Mezan has also reviewed a new Act issued by part of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in Gaza on 29 November 2015, concerning the allocation of public lands to housing projects. The legislation stipulates that the Land Authority must determine criteria to allocate land to citizens and employees in Gaza; specifically individuals hired as civil servants by the Gaza government since the start of the intra-Palestinian political split in 2007 and are owed the value of years' worth of their salaries to the treasury. The value of their salaries would be calculated as of 31 December 2015, and the amount could now be paid in the form of public land. An exemption of 20% of the actual value of the allocated land is also granted to these individuals; i.e. only to those persons who are granted land and are civil servants.

This Act is in contravention with a previous order (Order number 9/2007) by the Council of Ministers, issued on 14 February 2007, which prohibits allocations of any public land for public or private interest except when such allocation is sanctioned by a decision by the Council of Ministers. It is worth noting that the committee that proposed the above-mentioned Act to permit allocating public land to the PLC in Gaza, was formed by an Act issued by the 'Change and Reform Bloc' at the PLC; a bloc whose members are elected PLC members from Hamas Movement.

Al Mezan expresses deep concern by the continuous attempts to abuse legislation in the service of the internal split, which is essentially a political conflict. The parties to the split must stop using the law to serve their political interests. Such actions will only deepen the political split and erect greater barriers before the efforts to end it and tackle the disastrous humanitarian and human rights implications it has created in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

Al Mezan emphasizes that the measures taken by the PLC and government bodies in the Gaza Strip are unnecessary reactionary actions to an extremely complex reality, and are desperate attempts to solve the financial crisis faced by the government bodies in Gaza, especially since the Government of National Consensus (GNC) in May 2014. The legislations and orders issued by the PLC in Gaza or President Mahmoud Abbas cannot be considered as strictly necessary, which render them unconstitutional. They will only deepen the crisis instead of helping to ameliorate it.

The Palestinian political split continues to hinder democratic processes for a population that endures continuing violations by the Israeli prolonged occupation and closure/blockade, and a changing regional landscape.  Every Palestinian official must push towards an end to this split; restore the status of democratic process; take the necessary measures to end the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the oPt in general and in the Gaza Strip in particular, and work towards strengthening the strategic position of Palestine internationally. Mending the political split will, in particular, strengthen international humanitarian law and international human rights law processes to confront the continued Israeli violations that strive to perpetuate the Israeli occupation.

In light of the above, Al Mezan calls for the revocation of all legislations and/or decrees that were issued by the authorities in Gaza and the West Bank and that do not represent an urgent necessity. Al Mezan calls for taking immediate steps to end the divide, pay Gaza employees their salaries, and revoke legislation that re-allocates public land and the new taxes and fees. Al Mezan also calls for authority to be transferred to the GNC and for the Leadership Framework, which was agreed upon by all Palestinian factions, to convene and start to prepare for general elections and to restore the constitutional legitimacy of the Palestinian political system.

END