Accessing the Archives Israeli Case Law of Access to the Archives International Principles Israel State Archives: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back Concealing Archival Material from 1948: The case of the Riftin report Concealed for 73 years, the Riftin report is finally published in full Suspicions of war crimes in 1948: “If these acts are covered up – the blame lies with the entire government” National Security or Public Image? The Case of the Jaffa Ghetto Classified minutes of cabinet meeting held in July 1948 revealed 1967/8: first year of Occupation Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meetings, June 1967 – June 1968: the complete transcripts. Part 2 A mass grave in Plot 5 Erasure of the Green Line “This was where all the humanism ended, in front of my window”: Discussions in Kibbutz Nachashon after the depopulation and destruction of neighboring Palestinian villages during the 1967 war Displacement in the Heights: How the Population of the Golan Heights Vanished in 1967 The Hebron settlement: “We are not discussing the spiritual side today; we are discussing the practical side.” Israel shoots propaganda film. Golan Heights residents flee Under the Guise of Security Research for Teddy The Committee of Directors-General: meeting minutes, 1967-1977 Capital of the West Bank These tasks cannot be carried out by usual means Memorandum – Visit to the office of the military governor of the Gaza Strip Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meetings, June 1967 – June 1968: the complete transcripts. Part 3 Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meetings, June 1967 – June 1968: the complete transcripts. Part 1 Linguistic move Deportation policy approved despite warning it violates 4th Geneva Convention MAG briefing on the legal and juridical problems in the territories of the military government Report of the Military Prosecutor in Gaza and North Sinai, July-August 1967 The Comay-Meron Cable reveals reasons for Israeli position on applicability of 4th Geneva Convention The Death Penalty in the Occupied Territories: the Coordination Committee designs a policy Researching the occupation IDF General HQ on future of the Territories: “a conversation with no conclusion” Re: West Bank residents’ thoughts and opinions regarding the future Seven Options for the Future of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip “There Would Be No End”: The Killing of PWD Workers by Border Police officers “The committee wishes to particularly emphasize that time is of cardinal importance” “Re: Geneva Convention – Blasting Homes and Deportation” “It should be described as an act of Municipal Fusion, rather than annexation” “Cautionary remarks with respect to the use of certain terms” “Rule and law in the Occupied Territory of Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai” “There is the question of the Arabs and the question of the Jews”: Government discussion on the future of the West Bank, August 20 1967 1967/8: The Occupation’s First Year About the dangers of annexing the West Bank: Eliyahu Sasson’s Letters After the annexation: East Jerusalem problems awaiting resolution Agenda: exchanging views on the Administered Territories Gaza & Sinai 1956/7 Gaza Report. November 1956 – March 1957 The State of Israel and the Laws of Occupation: the Beginning Intelligence and resistance during Gaza’s first Israeli Occupation What happened in Gaza in 1956? When the archives are silent, stories do the talking Palestinian citizens in Israel Big Brother in the Teachers’ Lounge: “We have found out from various sources that the above are communists.” Israeli Arabs – Situation Assessment and Projection Kafr Qasim Massacre: Document Library “The premise with regards to Arabs in Israel: a security problem” The Khirbet Jalameh affair: “The eviction, carried out without use of force, had no legal expression.” Palestinian citizens of Israel during a second round: Unfounded assessment National Security or Public Image? The Case of the Jaffa Ghetto “The main change is external-psychological that gives a feeling of equality” “According to an order he received – [he] is about to blow up the village of Iqrit” Independence Day as a Loyalty Gauge Fast-tracking the Judaization of the Galilee: “Land reserves for the next 40 years for settlement activity” This is Plan Mole: Following the newly declassified records from the Kafr Qasim Massacre trial “Re: Display of Palestinian flag at the Jaffa School in Gaza” Police Orders for Land Day – Preparations and Information Gathering Re: Nationalist actions and statements by students and teachers Preparations for the first Land Day, 1976: Transcripts of consultation meetings convened by Prime Minister Rabin Intelligence brief from 1948 hidden for decades indicates Jewish fighters’ actions were the major cause of Arab displacement, not calls from Arab leadership Refusing to reach an agreement “Though some incidents in which military commanders collect architectural relics from historical sites do occur, it is difficult to prevent this” “We are still interested in remaining under the Military Rule” “A complex, delicate problem” “An intricate issue”: Censorship of Arabic language prose and poetry in Israel Our interest is to preserve Israel as a Jewish state. When we say ‘security,’ that is what’s meant” “The abandoned villages remain standing, but they hardly have a soul in them […] this emptiness is a vulnerability in terms of the return of Arab refugees” “The government [knows] which demonstration is acceptable and which is not acceptable” Mixed Cities: A history of segregation and inequality “It is better to have special areas for Jews and areas for Arabs” “It is Proposed to Relocate the Arab Tribes in Order to Free the Areas They Occupy” Arab Satellite Parties – Another Means of Control Settlements Failed attempts at law enforcement Insurance against political risk: Settlements and the Yanai governmental insurance corporation Rafah Salient expulsion: declassified 1969 cable presents plan Under the Guise of Security Settlements – yes. Unapproved settlements – no The Hebron settlement: “We are not discussing the spiritual side today; we are discussing the practical side.” Afforestation – a tool for landgrab “Initially, the seizure is for security purposes” Unavoidable Necessity: Lands of Aqraba, Lands of Gitit “The fiction of replacing the means with the end may backfire” Israeli government knew building settlements on lands allegedly seized for military needs was unlawful, Document Reveals A Private Initiative: the affair of Elkana D and the death of Ibrahim Al-Aqra A story of two roads and “disrupted lives” Archived documents uncovered by Akevot filed to High Court in petition on settlement jurisdiction allocation Israeli Policy in the Occupied Territories The Death Penalty in the Occupied Territories: the Coordination Committee designs a policy The events of October 7 are not the result of the Disengagement Plan “Re: Display of Palestinian flag at the Jaffa School in Gaza” Erasure of the Green Line Afforestation – a tool for landgrab Operation Patient: The Hidden Story of the Initiative to Deport Palestinian Prisoners to Jordan Exiled in Sinai: The story of the Nekhel and Abu Zenima detention facilities Shin Bet recommendations for actions in the Occupied Territories Settlements – yes. Unapproved settlements – no The man behind the “enlightened occupation” The shape of the occupation to come: Israeli preparations for controlling the occupied territories The Umbricht Brief: Israel and the 4th Geneva Convention Insurance against political risk: Settlements and the Yanai governmental insurance corporation The Committee of Directors-General: meeting minutes, 1967-1977 Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meetings, June 1967 – June 1968: the complete transcripts. Part 3 Firing Zone 918: a 1967 legal opinion presented to the High Court Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meetings, June 1967 – June 1968: the complete transcripts. Part 1 “Initially, the seizure is for security purposes” “Are the Golan Heights now a part of Israel?” “The committee wishes to particularly emphasize that time is of cardinal importance” “The fiction of replacing the means with the end may backfire” Israeli government knew building settlements on lands allegedly seized for military needs was unlawful, Document Reveals Abandoned babies from Sinai sent abroad for adoption Appropriate tools: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Amnesty’s Israel Section, 1969-1977 Archived documents uncovered by Akevot filed to High Court in petition on settlement jurisdiction allocation Human rights and International Law Freedom of Speech Big Brother in the Teachers’ Lounge: “We have found out from various sources that the above are communists.” “The matter herein concerns the competency of a governmental authority to prohibit broadcasting something due to its content and the idea it encapsulates” MAG briefing on the legal and juridical problems in the territories of the military government The Comay-Meron Cable reveals reasons for Israeli position on applicability of 4th Geneva Convention Deportation policy approved despite warning it violates 4th Geneva Convention The State of Israel and the Laws of Occupation: the Beginning Firing Zone 918: a 1967 legal opinion presented to the High Court The Umbricht Brief: Israel and the 4th Geneva Convention Investigating Torture Allegations – “important for the Shin Bet and important for the rule of law” Exiled in Sinai: The story of the Nekhel and Abu Zenima detention facilities Operation Patient: The Hidden Story of the Initiative to Deport Palestinian Prisoners to Jordan “The Geneva Convention – deep trouble” “Are the Golan Heights now a part of Israel?” “Re: Geneva Convention – Blasting Homes and Deportation” “The matter herein concerns the competency of a governmental authority to prohibit broadcasting something due to its content and the idea it encapsulates” Israeli government knew building settlements on lands allegedly seized for military needs was unlawful, Document Reveals Abandoned babies from Sinai sent abroad for adoption Appropriate tools: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Amnesty’s Israel Section, 1969-1977 Bedouins Expulsion from Rafah Salient : The Declassified Report of the Commission of Inquiry Rafah Salient expulsion: declassified 1969 cable presents plan Military Intelligence, The Sarahin Bedouins and the expulsion from Mount Negev: Military Governor’s Brief Hast thou dispossessed, and also taken possession? How the grain of the al-Hozayel tribe ended up in the hands of the former Military Governor The Bedouin Siyag plan: “Facilitating control on the ground” and “creating enclaves to break contiguity.” The Protest of Bedouins Following Land Settlement in the Negev Aims and Means - the podcast Israel shoots propaganda film. Golan Heights residents flee Exiled in Sinai: The story of the Nekhel and Abu Zenima detention facilities Operation Patient: The Hidden Story of the Initiative to Deport Palestinian Prisoners to Jordan Displacement in the Heights: How the Population of the Golan Heights Vanished in 1967 “There Would Be No End”: The Killing of PWD Workers by Border Police officers Unavoidable Necessity: Lands of Aqraba, Lands of Gitit A Private Initiative: the affair of Elkana D and the death of Ibrahim Al-Aqra The Military Rule Military Intelligence, The Sarahin Bedouins and the expulsion from Mount Negev: Military Governor’s Brief File GL-17005/6: the reordering of control over Palestinian citizens of Israel at the late stages of the Military Rule Security Settlements and the Question of Land: the Ratner Committee report on Military Rule and its Secret Annex Hast thou dispossessed, and also taken possession? How the grain of the al-Hozayel tribe ended up in the hands of the former Military Governor The Military Rule as mediator between the state and Palestinian citizens: “Discrimination on the basis of race” “The main change is external-psychological that gives a feeling of equality” “According to an order he received – [he] is about to blow up the village of Iqrit” This is Plan Mole: Following the newly declassified records from the Kafr Qasim Massacre trial “Though some incidents in which military commanders collect architectural relics from historical sites do occur, it is difficult to prevent this” “We are still interested in remaining under the Military Rule” “Due to political considerations, we decided this recommendation belongs in the letter rather than the report” “Without unnecessary brutality” “The abandoned villages remain standing, but they hardly have a soul in them […] this emptiness is a vulnerability in terms of the return of Arab refugees” “The public assumed erroneously that upon the abolition of the Military Rule apparatus, every citizen would be free to travel anywhere.” “Rafiq Halabi doesn’t have to be everywhere” 1948 Concealed for 73 years, the Riftin report is finally published in full Suspicions of war crimes in 1948: “If these acts are covered up – the blame lies with the entire government” Classified minutes of cabinet meeting held in July 1948 revealed Tantura revisited: “since I didn’t speak out then, there is no reason for me to talk about it today.” “According to an order he received – [he] is about to blow up the village of Iqrit” Law Enforcement Failed attempts at law enforcement “There Would Be No End”: The Killing of PWD Workers by Border Police officers 1967/8: The Occupation’s First Year Akevot A new project by Akevot identifies sources of current policies and practices in archived documents. 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