THE VIOLATIONS

"[This] law ... sets the death penalty for those who sell land to Israelis... We are talking about a few traitors, and we shall implement against them what is written in the law books." --- Arafat, in an interview with an Israeli newspaper (Yediot Acharonot, May 21, 1997)

"We are taking forceful steps against those who do this. Recently, a decision was passed to punish anyone who sells land, property or homes. We are keeping track of land dealers and punishing them." --- in an interview with a Lebanese newspaper (Al-Hawadath, May 16, 1997)

"This is a very dangerous act and there has been a decision to ban it by putting anyone who sells even a centimeter on swift trial and to seek the death penalty against them... These people are traitors and Israel exploits them in expanding its settlements." --- in an interview (Agence France Presse, May 5, 1997) "I warned the land dealers several times through the media not to play with fire. For us, whoever sells land to Jews and settlers is more dangerous than collaborators. Therefore, they must be put on trial and sentenced to death... they are traitors." --- in an interview with an Israeli newspaper (Yediot Acharonot, May 20, 1997)

"Whoever is found to have sold land to Jews, his punishment is death. It is forbidden to pray for him, it is forbidden to purify his body before burial, and it is forbidden to bury him in a Muslim cemetery. We are obligated to remind the public of this religious law, so as not to allow Jews to purchase Arab land and property with dollars they receive from America in order to throw us out of this land." --- in an interview with an Israeli newspaper (Yediot Acharonot, May 20, 1997)

"The Zionist entity exists on seized land. The Jews remain enemies because they expropriate lands, build settlements and pay high sums to buy properties. They are the greatest enemies of us Muslims." --- in a newspaper interview (The New York Times, May 18, 1997)

"We condemn this abhorrent crime and emphasize that despite all the conspiracies, Jerusalem and Palestine from the river to the sea will remain Islamic until judgment day... A land speculator for the Jews, in whose birth certificate it states that he is a Muslim, was killed. There is a possibility that his body will be brought to Al-Aksa mosque or another mosque. We wish to remind you that Islamic law forbids the washing and wrapping in shrouds of his body and forbids praying for his soul or burying him in a Muslim cemetery. We call upon you to beware. This should serve as a lesson to all traitors and speculators who collaborate with the Jews." --- in his weekly sermon at Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount (Voice of Palestine, May 9, 1997)

PA Chairman Yasser Arafat confirmed yesterday (May 21, 1997) that the PA will implement the death penalty against Arabs who sell land to Jews. The PA is in fact actively engaged in seeking and pursuing Arab land dealers who have sold to Jews. Jibril Rajub, head of the Palestinian security forces, has been given a list of Arabs who are suspected of the recently-declared capital crime. Fifteen Arabs from the Hevron-area villages of Yata and Dura have been arrested by Rajub's men over the past several days. They have been transferred for interrogation to Palestinian security service installations in Jericho. The Knesset Land of Israel front, together with the Yesha Council, are operating a distress hot-line for Palestinian land-dealers. The Arab press, apparently fearful of reprisal, refused to publish paid advertisements with the phone number. In recent days, families of Arab land-dealers have asked the Israeli authorities to transfer them over the Green Line, for their safety. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns issued a sharp condemnation of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority on this issue last night.

"The United States condemns any law or any decree that would threaten death against any Palestinian for selling land to Israelis or Jews," Burns said. "That's wrong. It's contrary to what must prevail in the Middle East, which is peace... Chairman Arafat must stand up for the rule of law. He must defend it in what he says and what he does, and frankly the recent statements by members of his administration ... inciting Palestinians to attack and murder other Palestinians for selling land, those statements are reprehensible."