In June 2016, Israel revoked the permits of over 83,000 Palestinians in the West Bank to visit Israel. 166 This collective revocation was in response to a shooting in Tel Aviv that killed four Israelis. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said this revocation of permits could amount to collective punishment. 167 The revocation included 204 work permits of extended family of the alleged attackers and the closure of their entire hometown. 168 Revocations do not only take place following fatal attacks, but often happen in the context of arrests as well. It is common for family members of Palestinians who are arrested by Israel for stone-throwing to lose their permits as well. Often these revocations have wide ranging implications for the relatives, whose rights are limited or sometimes denied for the actions or alleged actions of a family member. Inflicting a penalty or punishment on individuals for the actions of another, be it a family member or not, fits perfectly within the aforementioned definition of collective punishment, and is therefore prohibited according to international law. “I was born in 1951 and I’m a refugee from Deir Aban village in Jerusalem. I currently live in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, with my children and their families. Four years ago the Israeli forces came to my home and arrested my youngest son at 2 am. At the time my two elder sons had work permits for Israel. On the same day my son was arrested, the Israeli army revoked my other sons’ permits at the checkpoint at 4 am while on their way to work. They were unable to go to work. They told them that they threaten the security of Israel. But later the Israelis confessed that their problem was with my youngest son. He was released almost two years ago; however, the permits of my eldest sons are still revoked. All my children were punished because their brother was arrested. I don’t understand, it’s not their problem. One of my sons wanted to travel abroad. [To Jordan through the Allenby Bridge] he crossed the Israeli border, but he couldn’t pass the Jordanian border. The Jordanians forced him back because “he had troubles with Israel” and he was sent back. My daughter, who lives in Jerusalem, has a residency permit there. When they arrested her brother, they revoked her residency as well. For a year she was unable to come visit us or to leave her home at all. She got her residency back a year later after she hired a lawyer. One of my son’s daughters had to go to 166 Al Jazeera, Israel’s West Bank moves ‘may be collective punishment’, 11 June 2016. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/israel-west-bank-moves-collectivepunishment-160610113345753.html 167 Ibid. 168 Ibid. 45