Shin Bet recruiters enticing Palestinian medical students with Jerusalem entry permits
Students claim security service blocked medical training after they refused to spy for Israel.
By Amira Hass
 |
A Palestinian man passes through a gate at the Qalandiyah checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem on March 29, 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
The Shin Bet security service is trying to recruit Palestinian medical students as a condition for granting them entry permits to Jerusalem, according to two medical students at Al-Quds University pursuing internships in Palestinian university hospitals in the city.
The two students told Haaretz that a "Captain Biran" who said he was the Shin Bet agent responsible for monitoring the university told them to report on other students and their activities as a condition for renewing their entry permits. After both refused, they were effectively prevented from choosing a residency specialty and continuing their medical training.
The Shin Bet said in response that the two students' entry permits had not been renewed for security reasons. The agency did not refer to the students' allegations that agents tried to blackmail them in exchange for renewing their permits.
A. and T., both 23, are fifth-year medical students at Al-Quds University in the village of Abu Dis near East Jerusalem. The medical faculty is affiliated with some of the oldest and largest hospitals in Jerusalem - including Augusta Victoria Hospital and Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital.
Between 170 and 200 students of medicine, nursing and physiotherapy need entry permits to enter Jerusalem. Al-Makassed files requests to Civil Administration authorities stationed in the settlement of Beit El, and after the Shin Bet grants permission, Administration officials issue permits valid for between three and six months.
After beginning their medical internships in September 2008, A. and T. were granted entry permits. Until June 2009, T. pursued his residency in various Jerusalem hospitals and passed through checkpoints daily. But after his pilgrimage to Mecca, T.'s entry permit was not renewed, and the Civil Administration told him to meet with a Shin Bet coordinator. In late June, he said, he had his first meeting with Biran.
Biran asked T. if he was willing to "help" him by monitoring fellow students and activities at the Al-Quds campus. T. said he had no time because of his heavy workload.
The student said Biran threatened that the Shin Bet could "interfere with your ability to finish your studies," but that if he acceded to its request, the agency would "even grant you entry to Hadassah," the prestigious medical center within the borders of pre-1967 Jerusalem.
A. first met Biran in March of this year. On February 28, his entry permit to Jerusalem was confiscated at Zeitim checkpoint outside East Jerusalem. Soon he too was sent to meet with Biran at the checkpoint.
A. was told that his entry permit had been seized because "some illegal things were found in your bag." A. said Biran told him, "If you want to get your permit back, talk to me. If not, go." The student said he was instructed to report to the Shin Bet about students traveling abroad. A. too turned the agent down.
M., a student from the Nablus area, is also in her fifth year of medical studies at Al-Quds. Her entry permit to Jerusalem was also confiscated at Zeitim checkpoint in September 2009, shortly after she had returned from a visit to the United States.
The Shin Bet told Haaretz in response that "the three individuals are welcome to make contact, once a year, with military officials responsible for granting entry permits to Israel to request that their files be reviewed again. Those requests will be examined by the relevant security authorities."
The three students have been in contact with the Tel Aviv-based advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights, with which they are considering how to proceed.
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Does Shin Bet have to clear this with Israeli universities if they try to turn a student there?
The good news is, that as this xenophobic spasm intensifies, the palestinian security services know who to concentrate on! If they have unimpeded entry, perhaps this is a traitor in their midst?
What a headline. Even Orwell couldn't imagine that withholding a right could be called an enticement. What is wrong with Israel? The 'denial' another article refers to has now become 'newspeak', with a vengeance. And about vengeance.
Residents actually are doctors. They have an MD, but require supervision of an attending physician until they pass their boards.
Radicals are the reason why israel is immoral, corrupt, brutal and frankly as revolting as it is today.Palestinians keep up the good work..all israei nukes and superiority complex will not save them from themselves
Is there even any confirmation that this Major Biran really is from Shin Bet? Surely they aren't the only persons that have been spoken to? Is there a policiy of some kind how they treat non-jews? What about this mentioned visit to a foreign country?
A lot of Palestinians would gladly do it for free.... So they can live under a just government. Or would you rather see your family put in a wood chipper by a dictator in the middle of the night?
I also was not allowed to travel abroad till I signed a letter to be away for at least 3 years to shin bet. I hate Fing Occupation
i just dont get it...
And you wonder why Israel has such a negative image. If this is true, and it is more than plausible, then it is a reprehensible and hateful thing Israel is doing. Shame on you.
you are right. yet israel call itself a "Democracy!" israel has to laws. One for jews and the other for non jews. It is shameful. enough is enough!
How much time have you spent in Israel? How many Israelis do you know?
We "know" the attitudes of hundreds of posters on this web site. If they are true to their words, the attitudes of average Israelis range from pathetic to arrogant. Prove to me that the attitudes of the "average" Israelis is not!
What kind of country defends itself?
Please correct
JUST AS THE WHITE APARTHEID REGIME ACTED.IN THE END IMMORAL GOVERMENT COLLAPSED.TRUTHIS ALWAYS IS VICTORIOUS
That is exactly what Israel does since creation of Israel. there is nothing new, Israel uses those who are in need of medicine and education, and black mail them. The only new thing here is: Haaretz started to report on it.
I don't know whether this will make it past Haaretz's new stricter censorship but I'll say it anyway. We all know that all power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. israel has had absolute power over the Palestinians for over 40 years and the result is things like this, blackmailing medical students to become spies. It doesn't get much more corrupt than that.
this is not the image of a civilised democracy.
I'm sad to see how my home country is again and again caught in double-faced and inhuman policies. No wonder they hate us everywhere!
A new low for Israel. "Occupation corrupts" phrase is taken to a whole new level.
Better well paid doctor spies ...than miserable Al Quaeda Jihadists ...Or would you rather wear a burkha,lefty lady.?? Would you prefer Sharia Law?
If there was Judaic Law that would b an achievement
I would like to point out that most of Palestinian resistance originating from the West Bank, with the exception of Hamas, was secular and nationalist in nature. Al Qaeda has nothing to do with it, neither does Burka and Sharia law is not imposed by PA .the
Anything else is obfuscation .
The Palestinians are generally secular, and with the exception of groups like Hamas(which numbers maybe 25,000 out of close to 4 million), and even Hamas shuns Al-Qaida! As for your doctor spies: are you suggesting that someone who refuses to spy on their fellow students is a jihadist? If the shoe was on the other foot; would YOU? You're a stereotyping racist, One-Eye. Your posts make that very clear.
The Palestinians are generally secular, and with the exception of groups like Hamas(which numbers maybe 25,000 out of close to 4 million), and even Hamas shuns Al-Qaida! As for your doctor spies: are you suggesting that someone who refuses to spy on their fellow students is a jihadist? If the shoe was on the other foot; would YOU? You're a stereotyping racist, One-Eye. Your posts make that very clear.
This latest assault on human rights and dignity is the inevitable result of the accursed occupation. By depriving those under our iron first of their most basic rights, we are polluting our own society. How can decent people tolerate such abuses of power and such blatant injustice?
I mean c'mon we are talking about a country that imprisoned 700 children as little as 12 for throwing rocks. I'm pretty sure this is not the worst thing this country is capable of.
What does that say about the moral values of the U.S. Congress and the OSZE....???
have gone" in the wind" since zionists in America run its Foreign Policy and Economy.
The puzzle to me is WHY the American people do not understand the control that Israel has over our government. It has become more than dangerous, from getting us into the Iraq war, to promoting loathing of us by the Muslim world. When will America wake up????
It can't possibly be the case they they're only trained to save Arab lives, so if they want to enter our city, our capital, then they have to ensure that our lives are protected as well. If they don't like it, let them learn in Cairo or Amman.
As a medical student in london who hopes to intern in jerusalem herself I am saddened, frustrated and disgusted that they have been prevented from studying. I accept that Shabak would approach them, it seems sensible to have people who are on the ground, especially in a hotbed of extremeism like Al-Quds university and it makes sense for those to be people who have business in travelling to Israel anyway. HOWEVER to stop them coming to Israel after they said no reflects a total lack of respect for them, lack of consideration for their personal circumstances AND increases the profile of Shabak's work unnecessarily meaning perhaps others would be less likely to assist them in the future
It is very well known that the Israeli security services either bribe or threaten Palestinians needing permits to pass to Jerusalem. Usually it is the low paid workers who badly need to get through to work and will not make any official complaint. Medical students are a different category altogether and they will speak out, thank goodness.
Hurry up and free the Palestinians from these ugly Israeli practices of using education to blackmail students into becoming occupation collaborators. The sooner the Palestinians are freed from the evil Israeli occupation the better.
or let them do residencies in Jordan or the west bank or Gaza. The Palestinians should invest more effort in their own hospitals and medical schools and not have to rely on the west and Israel for everything.
Darling , those two hospitals aren't Israeli ! those existed before the foundation of Israel !!!!
If Israel had'nt bombed their universities and hospitals in Gaza and refused them exit visas to study abroad you mean?
The Medical School of al-Quds University (the first Palestinian medical school) is situated in East-Jerusalem (Abu Dis). It has got dependencies in Nablus and in Gaza. Al-Maqassed Hospital in Arab East Jerusalem is the main teaching hospital where these students do their residencies. These are all 100% Palestinian Arab institutions. The Palestinians are exactly doing what you tell them to do: invest more effort in their own hospitals and medical schools. But guess what: medical (and physiotherapy) students from Gaza are not allowed to go to Jerusalem or Bethlehem to attend lectures, do residencies etc. The Palestinian students from the Westbank face constant harassment by the Shin Beth at the road blocks. The Shin Beth - aware of the big investments these students are making in their own life - is asking them to betray their fellow Palestinians. Shin Beth is targetting preferentially people who are under big pressure. That is why they ask Palestinian cancer patients, who are fighting for their life and need chemo/radiotherapy in Israel to become informers. If they refuse they will be denied entry to Israel, which means a swift death. Let me ask you Jac. Would you betray your own people to a foreign occupier?? Israel's overruling policy always has been to thwart the development of an independent Palestinian entity at any stage. Jac daniel. time for you to leave that strong Tennessee liquor and head for Palestine to learn some basic facts.
Why dont they study in Jordan, etc. Sorry forgot - those countries do not like Palestinians - the only ones who put up with them is the one they hate the most - ISRAEL!. So, well done Security Forces of Israel - well done. If they dont like the deal - go somewhere else.
Let's see, they would get exit visas from, woops, Israel. That would be somewhat limiting, wouldn't it? Let's see, Israel will not allow them a visa into Israel, but it would allow them to leave, study in a (shudder) arabic country, and then allow them to return, after they have been contaminated by arab opinions?? Get real! This is Jim Crowe laws, de facto, a la Israel.
I would appreciate your sharing with us your information proving THESE PARTICULAR Palestinians hate Israel.
What's the problem? As a an Israeli citizen I'm glad to hear that they are doing their job of monitoring our enemies.
this is human rights violation that you guys claim never happens in your democracy. It is called coercion. I am also sure the torture claims are all accurate. In a sense, you and HAMAS are two faces of the same coin. Democracy my ***.
To deny them education for not spying is shallow Maxs, nothing to be proud of.
To deny them education for not spying is shallow Maxs, nothing to be proud of.
You are the reason why your country is as immoral, corrupt, brutal and frankly as revolting as it is today...keep up the good work..all ur nukes and superiority complex will not save you from yourselves
What's important is that they keep an eye on what is going with our enemies (the Palestinians). In fact if they weren't doing this they would be failing in their duty
Decent human-beings are taught to love, protect and defend their country. This principle is sacred in all time and for for all people under the sun. Isreal and the West are promoting traihison and serving the occupiers, the oppressors among Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. They make life a misery for those poor but proud peoples, and they want them to spy, and fight for their own ennemies. Nations like this are doomed.
This is disgusting. Preventing Palestinians from receiving their education (especially one as noble as medicine) because they won't spy for Israel? This is a new low in the ugly Israeli occupation.
Shin Bet have been terrorising Palestinians in this way for years. They threaten to harm their families, destroy their homes if they do not turn collaborator. Some collaborated for this reason- what a choice to have to make..
The Israeli way to achieve peace with the Palestinians.
when i went to college, i had to apply and meet their requirements? i suppose you just walked on in?
When I went to college, spying on fellow students was not a requirement. and furthermore, the university I attended went to great lengths to assure that all students, regardless of ethnicity or race, were treated equally. Apparently, even the concept of equality with Palestinians is well beyond the grasp of Israelis, They are morally blinded by the endless indoctrination of ethnic supremacy and being the "chosen" ones. The requirement to spy is sickening, and imposing this requirement through blackmail is morally degenerate. So much for being the chosen ones.
israeli behaviour is now set in a mould, wheby israel justifies all its actions,...no matter how arrogant, absurd, brutal, unethical, uncivilized....they may be, as perfectly above board. israel has destroyed itself morally.... if it doesnt change course soon, it will destroy itself physically in the not to distant future.
Israels first preference is to keep itslef in place physically. moral values, or other forms of pseudo ethicals can wait. nothing inhumane there in asking medic students to cooperate with shin bet. many countries dont allow me enter their country. ppl have
This is always the case. I am happy that Haaretz / Amira Hass has exposed the truth.