Denationalisation is the fundamental problem of Palestinians. The systematic annihilation of fundamental freedoms for Palestinians has resulted in an ongoing process of changes in demography, geography and social structure. “Unfree in Palestine: Registration, Documentation and Movement Restriction” (Pluto Press, 2013) delves into the historical processes of population repression, demonstrating how the concept of denationalisation is proving instrumental for Israel to persist in a gradual extermination and expulsion of Palestinians from their land.

The book describes how, as early as 1914, Chaim Weizmann, later president of the World Zionist Congress, attempted to distort Palestinian history by stating, “There is a country which happens to be called Palestine, a country without a people, and, on the other hand, there exists the Jewish people, and it has no country. What else is necessary, then, than to fit the gem into the ring, to unite this people with this country?” Weizmann’s discourse negated the existence of Palestinians, although this did not deter Zionists from conducting a census in order to perfect methods of denationalisation.

The provision of identity cards and documentation has been a source of controversy worldwide, within the global context of “security”. Security has become the source of serious breaches of fundamental human rights. Surveillance and the withdrawal of documentation representing identity has enhanced oppressive governments and elitist exploiters, as can be seen in the case of migrant workers who are rendered stateless without access to their passports. Israel, however, has developed a process which renders identification a source of terror instead of a reciprocal relationship between the state and civilians.

Whilst international law declared denationalisation illegal after the Nazi’s persecution of Jews, the international community has been weak in the wake of ethnic cleansing carried out by Zionists in Palestine. The book elaborates on how the census of 1948 was designed to expel Palestinians permanently from their land and instil preventive measures against the right and will to return. Many Palestinians who dared to defy the occupiers were shot when they tried to return, or were imprisoned. Zionists have blatantly ignored the “Right to Return” as stipulated by the UN in 1948. The resolution was declared non-binding by Zionists due to the use of “should” instead of “shall”, in the phrasing of Article 11 in Resolution 194. The census omitted 90,000 Palestinians, labelled by Zionists as “absent”, having forfeited “their status, land and possessions”.

In the context of Palestinians, identity cards have been likened to “a license to live”, distorting security and enhancing the state terror practices of the occupier. Over 101 types of permits have been issued to curb Palestinian movement. Such restrictions have widened the gap between Jews and Palestinians, putting to practice an apartheid system in which Jewish teenagers are recruited by Israeli soldiers to train as border guards. The exercise, which involves “hunting Palestinians” who lack work permits, is relished by these teenagers. The book quotes a Jewish high school recruit: “I consider it a form of pleasure. It simply provides me with values, and I love the action.”

On the basis of denationalisation, Israelis conducted a meticulous process to strip Palestinians of any form of security. Permits and IDs could be revoked at random, whilst colonisers were granted citizenship. Infants born to Palestinians were listed as having “indefinite citizenship” in the population registry for non-Jewish people, effectively rendering them stateless and justifying the concept of citizenship as serving the “nation” instead of individual citizens.