Freedom of Speech

The Civil Administration is a military body tasked with managing the civilian
aspects of ruling the occupied West Bank. Together with the Gaza District
Coordination and Liaison office (DCL), it is subordinate to the Coordinator of
Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). These governing bodies are
responsible, among other things, for granting or denying permits to Palestinians
to enter Israel for work, medical care or travel abroad; controlling the import and
export of goods, including food; allocating natural resources and planning and
building civilian infrastructure. In other words, COGAT, the Civil Administration
and the Gaza DCL shape and impact countless aspects of Palestinians’ daily
lives. It is impossible to understand the Israeli occupation without putting
these units under the spotlight, and yet, they receive very little public attention
both within and outside of Israel, and their work has rarely been the subject of
in-depth research and investigation.

At first glance, these units appear to serve a mainly bureaucratic function and, as
such, lack direct involvement in the routine violence exercised to maintain Israeli
control over the occupied territories. The reality, however, is entirely different.
Soldiers’ testimonies included in this booklet provide a glimpse into a system
of bureaucratic control and management that plays a key role in the complex,
intricate system that is the Israeli occupation.

As demonstrated in the testimonies given by soldiers and officers who served
in COGAT, the Gaza DCL, and particularly the Civil Administration, the unit’s
work operates on two axes that exemplify Israeli occupation policies as a whole:
preserving and perfecting control and monitoring of the Palestinian people, on the
one hand, and entrenching and expanding Israel’s hold on Palestinian territory, on the
other. This booklet is divided along these axes and takes a closer look at each one.

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