This practice of geopolitically dividing and sub-dividing the Palestinian population started in 1948, even within Palestinian communities that remained inside Israel. Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Galilee and the Naqab are highly divided by the Israeli authorities. For instance, Israel considers the Palestinian Bedouins as an administrative category apart from that of Palestinians,7 whilst Muslims, Christians and Druze are also considered distinct nationalities by Israeli law and practice.8 The Israeli permit regime has four characteristics: 1. Categorization: in order to apply a sophisticated permit regime the Palestinian population had/has to be classified and categorized; 2. Destructiveness: the permits infiltrate, in various ways, all aspects of the lives of affected Palestinians, and the different types of permits should not, therefore, be viewed in isolation from one another. For example, although a Palestinian obtains a “farmer permit” to work on his land located in the so-called Seam Zone area, he also needs to obtain several additional permits if he wishes to bring in equipment or if he wishes to visit family or friends, since a permit only allows for individual people to care for one specific identified “need”;9 3. Informality: not all permits are officially considered to be “permits”, and would not be considered by the Israeli authorities as falling under the permit regime. However, several rules and procedures can be considered “hidden” permits which severely interfere with Palestinians’ lives. For instance, in 2011 the Knesset (Israeli parliament) authorized “admission committees” in communities in the Naqab (Negev) and Galilee regions with fewer than 400 families, thereby creating a “hidden” permit which made it practically impossible for Palestinians with Israeli citizenship to move there;10 4. Unpredictability: the deliberate lack of transparency from the Israeli authorities makes it impossible to fully understand the permit regime and its different associated procedures and requirements. 7 Cedric Parizot, “Gaza, Beersheba, Dhahriyya: Another Approach to the Negev Bedouins in the IsraeliPalestinian Space” Available at: http://bcrfj.revues.org/1742. 8 Jonathan Cook, “Onward, Christian Soldiers”, Middle East Research and Information Project, 13 May 2014. Available at: http://www.merip.org/mero/mero051314; Ali Abunimah, “Palestinian Christians “not really Arabs,” says senior Israeli lawmaker”, Electronic Intifada, 13 January 2014. Available at: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/palestinian-christians-not-really-arabs-sayssenior-israeli-lawmaker 9 HaMoked – Center for the Defence of the Individual, “The Permit Regime: Human Rights Violations in West Bank Areas Known as the ‘Seam Zone’”, March 2013, page 30. Available at: http://www. hamoked.org/files/2013/1157660_eng.pdf. 10 Human Rights Watch, “Israel: New Laws Marginalize Palestinian Arab Citizens”, 20 March 2011. Available at: www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/30/israel-new-laws-marginalize-palestinian-arab-citizens 11