According to a
letter from the office of the head of the Civil Administration in the West Bank, received by HaMoked on December 2, 2010, security officials in the Occupied Territories established a new policy which requires Palestinians to submit applications in Hebrew only; otherwise they will not be handled. This comes in response to HaMoked's inquiry regarding the Civil Administration’s refusal to process a Palestinian woman's application to travel abroad. The Civil Administration’s response stated that the woman “was requested to fill out the application form in the Hebrew language, as part of Security Agency policy.”
To demonstrate this is not a matter of alleged maltreatment, the reply states also that “as for the technical feasibility of submitting the application in Hebrew, a Palestinian typing office operates in the reception area of the District Coordination Office [DCO], providing typing services to the residents.”
The “service” referred to by the officer for public inquiries of the Civil Administration (by whom this outrageous letter is signed) is a private initiative of Palestinian typists, equipped with typewriters, who wait outside the DCO offices and offer, for a fee, their services in filling out forms. The state’s reply fails to mention the involved cost.
In a letter dated December 12, 2010, to the head of the Civil Administration, HaMoked's attorney asserts that the demand to fill out applications in Hebrew is illegal, and HaMoked will consider legal action unless this policy is revoked.
