Constitutional

We're probably going to be hearing more shortly about the "new" palestinian consitution. It's a fascinating document. You can find the whole thing here.

The first thing you may notice is that the document says "draft" and that it's dated 14/2/01 (that's February 14, 2001 for those of us in the U.S. of A.). And this is still a work in progress, it seems. A few items sort of leapt out and caught my eye, however. Thought I'd share:

Article 3
The Palestinian people are a part of the Arab and Islamic nations.

Excuse me, but what does it mean, exactly, to be "part of the Arab and Islamic nations?" How does a non-Arab palestinian fit in to this rubric? Can there be such a thing? (The answer seems to be "no." See below.) And what about a non-Muslim palestinian? Aren't they called Christians?

Article 4
Palestine is an independent state with complete sovereignty that cannot be conceded. Its system shall be republican and its lands are unitary and indivisible.

But for now, we don't know exactly what those "lands" are. This raises some serious questions. More on that in a bit.

Article 5
Arabic shall be the official language.

Article 6
Islam shall be the official religion of the state. The monotheistic religions shall be respected.

Article 7
The principles of the Islamic Shari`a are a primary source for legislation. The legislative branch shall determine personal status law under the authority of the monotheistic religions according to their denominations, in keeping with the provisions of the constitution and the preservation of unity, stability, and advancement of the Palestinian people.

Article 8
Jerusalem shall be the capital of Palestine and its seat of government.

Yeah, ok, well we have some problems brewing here, it's clear. Arabic will be the language, Islam will be the official religion and religious law will rule the "republic." Oh, and needless to say, Jerusalem will be the capital. Moving right along . . .

Article 24
Palestinians shall equal before the law. They shall enjoy rights and incur duties equally without discrimination for any cause except those constitutionally legitimated

Article 25
Palestinian citizenship issecure and permanent for any Arab who lived in Palestine before May 1948. It is transmitted from father to child. It endures and is not cancelled by the passage of time. The law shall determine the ways of gaining and losing it and the rights and duties of multinational citizens.

Right about now, I'm wondering what kinds of discrimination are going to turn out to be "constitutionally legitimated." We'll see. But at least we now know the answer to the question on Article 3, above. Palestinian citizenship inures to members of the Arab race only, to be determined solely by paternity, forever and ever. Again, we're begging the question of what constitutes this "Palestine" in which such Arabs lived before May 1948, but it's beginning to look suspiciously as if the "unitary and indivisible" lands we read about earlier include Haifa and Tel Aviv.

Article 32
The right of the Palestinian refugee to return to his home and the original home of his ancestors is a natural right which cannot expire. Its exercise may not be delegated nor surrendered.

Incorporating the "right of return" into the constitution, eh? Not a problem, not a problem.

Article 33
Exiling Palestinians from their homeland or denying them the ability to return is prohibited. Neither may they be extradited to a foreign country except according to a treaty approved by the legislative branch.

Article 34
No Palestinian may be extradited for political crimes.

Article 35
No political refugee may be extradited.

Hmmm. I wonder what all that means. Ok, here's an interesting part.

Article 44
The freedom to practice religion and arrive to places of worship shall be guaranteed insofar as it does not disturb the public order or defame monotheistic religion. . . .

Article 47
Freedom of the press, printing, publishing, and media shall be protected by the constitution. It is not permitted to suspend them except by judicial decision in application of the law. It is not permitted to subject them to censorship. The law regulating these shall guarantee their integrity, the expression of different opinions, encourage scientific, artistic, and literary creativity, and guarantee the freedom of academic opinion.

Article 48
The constitution shall protect the confidentiality and freedom of correspondence and communication. They may not be infringed except in circumstances defined by law. . . .

Article 58
Education has freedom provided it does not disturb the public order and decency or offend the monotheistic religions. It is a right of every citizen and is supervised by the state. The state shall guarantee education until the secondary level. It is compulsory until the end of the tenth grade.

Article 59
Private education has freedom provided it does not violate the public order and public decency or offend the monotheistic religions. The law shall regulate the supervision of the state over its organization and curricula.

Those are some pretty democratic principles there. Freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of education, just as long as you don't "disturb the public order or defame monotheistic religion," and "except in circumstances defined by law," whatever those turn out to be. Bush must be kvelling. Not.

Well, this is getting a bit tedious and it's time to conclude posting for the week. Just one more for the road, my favorite.

Article 63
Women are the full sisters of m[en?]. They have rights and duties as guaranteed by the shari`a and established in law.

Wonderful, just wonderful. More on this at a later date, I'm sure. In the meantime,

Shabbat Shalom.