Ensuring ‘transitional justice’ for past human rights abuses is often challenging. The case of collaborators in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is particularly difficult. Despite the wealth of commentary surrounding Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, little attention has been paid to the issue of collaborators.

Transitional justice generally refers to a range of judicial and non-judicial approaches tht states may use to address past human rights abuses. This occurs at the point of political transition from violence and repression to political stability.

During Israel’s ‘disengagement’ from Gaza in 2005, the Israeli Government dismantled Dahaniya, a guarded village of Palestinian collaborators. They transferred the inhabitants to Israel, where they are now often neglected. A paper from the Journal of Human Rights uses the framework of transitional justice to look at the issue of collaboration in Gaza and the West Bank.

The paper offers a historical overview of collaboration during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ending with Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. The treatment of black collaborators in post-apartheid South Africa, Stasi informers in unified Germany and collaborators in post-war France are comparative case studies.

The authors identify a triangle of betrayal during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: collaborators’ betrayal of Palestinian communities; community betrayal of individuals by using the label of ‘collaborator’ as a pretext for abuses; and government betrayal of collaborators by often abandoning them after receipt of their services.

Key observations include:

• Collaboration with Zionists is a key feature of the conflict: before 1948, following the founding of the Israeli state, and during the post-1967 occupation of West Bank and Gaza.
• The use of collaborators involved human rights violations both of collaborators (such as executions by Palestinian militants) and by collaborators (such as participation in torture).
• Fewer informers were killed by Palestinian militants after the 1994 establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA), but it failed to develop a strategic approach to the problem.
• When the second intifada (rebellion) broke out in 2000, Israel used collaborators during its assassination policy, among others, and the PA retaliated by persecuting collaborators.

Collaboration is a complex issue, requiring a multi-sectoral response. It is vital to acknowledge that collaborators can also be victims. Transitional justice under the themes of truth, justice and reconciliation can help to clarify issues and show the way forward. Recommendations include:

• A distinction should be made between those involved in Israeli abuses and those seen as collaborators for broader reasons.
• Disqualifying collaborators from public service may be a priority for the Palestinian State, but could lead to further injustices.
• A joint Israeli-Palestinian truth and reconciliation commission could help society come to terms with collaboration.
• Community-based reconciliation could be useful, in which low-level perpetrators confess crimes publicly before paying fines or doing community service, as in East Timor.
• Israel should honour its responsibilities to collaborators, perhaps through pensions or relocation. Community-centred initiatives are needed if communities are to come to terms with guilt and grief. While civil society will be essential, governments should support such efforts.

Source(s):
‘Triangle of Betrayal: Collaborators and Transitional Justice in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’, Journal of Human Rights 6 (1), pages 37-58, by Ron Dudai and Hillel Cohen, 2007

id21 Research Highlight: 27 April 2008

Further Information:
Ron Dudai
School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1 0XG
UK

Tel: +44 20 78984563
Fax: +44 20 78984539
Contact the contributor: rd25@soas.ac.uk

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), UK

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'Containing conflict: a donor perspective'

'Understanding adolescent violence: lessons from Palestine'