"Israel`s" racist "environmental" laws and the hyssop pickers

source: Haaretz, 29-9- 2005.
By Akiva Eldar,‏‏‏
summary: Whoever said there is no law and order in Judea and that in Samaria (West Bank) everyone does as he sees fit? Ask the Palestinian woman who arrived at the checkpoint on her way to the market, carrying her modest wares on her head, a large bunch of hyssop, (za`atar) which she had gathered from a field in the heat of the day. The "Israeli" Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPPA) ranger`s sharp eyes followed the woman.‏‏‏
Arguments and explanations were to no avail. Even the old woman`s tears did not distract the "Israeli" agent of the law from his mission. The merchandise was confiscated and the offender was sent home. Perhaps she thought, silly woman, that the checkpoints were intended only for security inspections, to stop resistance activists carrying explosive belts on their way to the Carmel market, not women carrying herbs.‏‏‏
Volunteers from Machsom Watch, which monitors soldiers` actions at the checkpoints, have in recent months photographed several shocking encounters between elderly Palestinian women and "Israeli" rangers and officials from the Nature and National Parks Protection department of the Civil (Settlers) Administration, who confiscated bunches of hyssop and sage from them.‏‏‏
The story reached attorney Michael Sfard. "I hope you realize that anyone who can allow himself to eat at a restaurant doesn`t gather sprigs from the hilltops," Sfard wrote to the legal adviser of the West Bank region, and accused the INNPPA of actions intended to make the already difficult lives of those who pass through the checkpoints even harder.‏‏‏
His comments angered Ariel Yosefi, of the civil (Settlement) and economic department in the office of the legal adviser of the West Bank region. He wrote to Sfard that the hyssop and sage plants have been declared protected species "in the entire area of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)." In other words, "Israel" controls the flora and fauna in Area A as well, which according to the Oslo Accords, was released from "Israeli" military and Settlers occupation. Yosefi vigorously rejected Sfard`s arguments and claimed that "enforcing the order regarding nature protection is carried out without discrimination or distinguishing between Jews, Muslims or Christians."‏‏‏
He even saw fit to report that "Israel" "at one time worked to establish plots for the cultivation of herbs in the vicinity of Jenin."‏‏‏
Sfard writes that given the poor quality of enforcement of nature protection laws among Jews (Zionist Settlers) in the West Bank, who build permanent structures without permits and pave illegal roads unhindered, the efficient action against the Palestinian hyssop gatherers raises suspicions of selective law enforcement. In response to a question from Haaretz, the INNPPA spokesman said that unlike the regulations for protecting nature, the regulations for preserving open spaces do not apply in the West Bank. In other words, a Palestinian woman who picked a bunch of hyssop sprigs in a field is likely to be punished. A Jewish resident, who uprooted an entire field to build an illegal outpost, will get free water for the grass.‏‏‏