Adnan Ghazih, the courageous Palestinian governor of Jerusalem has been arrested again by the Israelis on the 5th April. Since taking office in August 2018, Adnan Ghazih has been arrested or detained by the Israelis 13 times.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, appointed Adnan Ghazih as he is a popular figure among the inhabitants of East Jerusalem as Governor. Ghazih is responsible to oversee and coordinate the activities of the Palestinian Authority.
What is the Palestinian Authority?
Following a series of agreements between the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) and Israel the Palestinian Authority was created through the Oslo Accords in 1993. The Palestinian Authority was created as an interim government, while it was naively thought that the two parties will come into an agreement to end the conflict. According to the Oslo Accords, the final resolution should have come by 1999 but again Israel scuppered all negotiations. But on the other hand, the P.A is treated as a lifetime government thus alienating the Palestinian population, specially the younger generation. The P.A was given only partial administrative and security responsibility over the areas withing the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The two mentioned regimes are divided into ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ areas. In area ‘A’, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has full civil administrative responsibility, that is, running schools, health services, courts, municipalities and security. In area ‘B’, the responsibility for security is shared by the Israelis and the P.A.
In area ‘C’, the Israeli military government exercises both civil administrative and security functions. The P.A lacks authority over the Israelis and Israeli-Jew settlements (which are illegal under international law), borders, airspace, water, and a variety of other spheres.
But it is apposite to know and note that the Israelis have the power to review and veto any P.A legislation. So why are the Israelis scared of the governor of Jerusalem? Why is Israeli targeting Adnan Ghazih?
According to his lawyer, Rami Othman, it is due to his activities linked with the Coronavirus outbreak. It is good to recall that Israel has occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 six-day war and later, despite world opinion against that move, annexed East Jerusalem. It is a move which has never been recognized by the world community except Trump.
Why arrest a governor who holds any power nor does he have any financial muscle to change the lives of the Palestinians. The simple answer is that the Israelis are fearsome of Adnan Ghazih emerging as a radical leader of the Palestinians.
The Israeli’s police spokesperson Micky Rosenfield told AFP news agency that ‘Adnan Ghazih was arrested for Palestinian activity which is illegal. Never think for a nano of second that the Israelis will stop persecuting the Palestinians for a while because of the Covid-19 or of the Easter Holidays.
On Friday the fourth of April, the Israelis also arrested the Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs for allegedly violating an Israeli ban on Palestinian political activities in East Jerusalem. Where do you think the Palestinian minister was arrested? Fadi-Al-Hidmi was arrested when he was at his home in the vicinity of Suwana near the Mount of Olives. The Israelis don’t want the world to know that as a result of calculated neglect and with the ban on the Palestinian Authority, the toll among the Palestinians will be very high if Covid-19 start to infect the Palestinians.
The Palestinians in East Jerusalem are deprived of basic medical equipments. Could you imagine that there are only 72 beds set aside in just three hospitals for Covid-19 ! Wali Namour, the secretary-general of the Palestinian hospitals network in East Jerusalem said:
« There is a big shortage of surgical masks, hand sanitizer, gloves and self-protection. None of the medical staffs in East Jerusalem is qualified to deal with the Coronavirus ».
Never forget that President Trump cut 25 million dollars aid for East Jerusalem hospitals in September 2018 with the lame excuse that the funds « will go to high-priority elsewhere ».
Is the arrest of Adnan Ghazih to stop latter from drumming support for the Palestinians living in the Eastern part of the Holy city? Maybe it is because the Palestinian Governor of East Jerusalem has been supporting 81 local Palestinian NGOs to fill the vacuum…
And do you know that the Israeli Health Ministry website only provided Coronavirus updates in Hebrew and not in Arab?
We all know that the Palestinians account for 20 % of Israel’s total population…
The Governor has been too vocal… The Governor asked for a relocation of the Israeli’s military rule to allow Palestinians to get access to basic health service…
For the Israeli, the Governor is talking too much… The Governor is a danger to Israel…
Even in times of Coronavirus (Other name Covid-19), the Israelis will not relax their dirty apartheid laws and regulations…
I fear, really fear for the safety and health of the Palestinians…
May God shield them !
RAMA VALAYDEN
