09/29/2003

Quality of life for Palestinian civilians continues to spiral downward in response to on-going hardship, suppression, and displacement due to Israeli military occupation.  This month Refugees International returned to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem to witness first hand the impact of restrictions on movement including construction of an enclosure within the West Bank, the increasingly pervasive and deepening poverty, the growing number of house demolitions, increasing unmet psychosocial needs, and the obstacles faced by humanitarian workers. Cessation of the violent acts committed by both Palestinians and Israelis against civilians and a return to political means for resolving differences are requisite for the resumption of economic and social development for both populations.  

Efforts to provide freedom of movement for Jewish citizens in the occupied territories at the same time enclose and block Palestinians.  This makes Israel “doubly unjust,” reports Physicians for Human Rights—Israel.  The report says the government is not only “violating the norms of the Geneva Convention, according to which the occupying power is prohibited from transferring members of its own civilian population to the territories it has occupied, but it has turned this transfer into the main reason for restricting the freedom of movement of Palestinian residents.”

The practice of closures and curfews prompted a visit by the Personal Humanitarian Envoy of the UN Secretary General in August 2002.  Israel is not living up to promises made at that time to ease living conditions for Palestinians, in particular to ease their movement through checkpoints. At the same time, the inability of the Palestinian Authority to bring a halt to attacks on Israel from the territories makes it difficult, for reasons of both security and politics, for Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinian movement. Nevertheless, the construction of a controversial security barrier within the West Bank to protect Israel from the infiltration of suicide bombers constitutes a further violation of international humanitarian law  (see RI Bulletin ‘More Than Just A Wall’).  The UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs predicts that, “The international community will have to deal with isolation on a scale not seen before.”  

Few of the 21 percent of workers who formerly found employment in Israel are permitted access to work there now.  Those who can work ‘inside,’ are often forced to choose between employment and family life.  One young father of three from a village in the central area of the West Bank spends several weeks at a time at his workplace in East Jerusalem simply because the journey home, which under normal conditions would take less than 30 minutes, is at best a day-long trip and requires three vehicle changes in the back-to-back system.  Further, the restriction Israel has imposed on movement has caused grave damage to the ability of the Palestinian health system to function and has forced the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to initiate a first-ever remedial education program.

The World Bank estimates that 60 percent of the population is living in poverty, with the rate among refugees living in camps in the West Bank estimated at 52 percent and in Gaza, 72 percent (November 2002).  Per capita food consumption has fallen.  Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) report that the problem is not that food isn’t available, but simply little access or insufficient means to procure it.  UNRWA reports that food distributions are up from 20,000 in pre-October 2000 to 220,000.  With only about a third of the Agency’s emergency appeal funded, there will be a serious impact on rations.

In the past three years, the Israeli army has demolished more than 3,000 homes and damaged thousands more, often destroying large areas of agricultural land and other public and private properties, and water and electricity infrastructure at the same time.  More than 12,000 Palestinians have been made homeless by demolition or damage to some 1,668 homes (1,493 which belong to refugees) in the Gaza Strip.  In the West Bank, UNRWA’s records show that 1,195 children have seen their homes demolished.  The homes of another 1,509 have suffered major structural damage.  

While several homes have been destroyed as a punitive measure against families of militants implicated in or suspected of involvement in attacks against Israelis and some razed for lack of a valid building permit, others have been demolished simply because they stood in the path of the wall or as collective punishment.  At a dedication of new shelters constructed by the UN with funds provided by Norway, Japan, the Islamic Development Bank, and the United States, one speaker noted, “I only wish donors would intervene before demolition.”

Many factors, including the heightened militarization of the Occupied Territories and pressure to resist the occupation violently, create psychological stress that is largely overlooked. In addition to generalized trauma reactions, psychosomatic disorders are on the rise, particularly among children.  One child told an aid worker, “There is no one to protect me.”  While psychosocial programs do exist in the West Bank, the concern is for individuals facing severe conditions. One medical NGO told RI there is only one psychiatrist for several urban populations that number in the thousands.  In Gaza, thanks to support from France and Canada, UNRWA now operates a program that trains health staff how to do group counseling.  

Agencies trying to assist the population continue to face obstacles.  While some effort has been made to improve communication between humanitarian operations and military units to facilitate access, in this year alone seven UNRWA staff members have been threatened at gunpoint at checkpoints in the West Bank.  In addition, some NGO staff members still do not have permits and must either stay at home or assume the many risks of traveling about without permits.  A humanitarian worker told RI, “Access may be a bit better for international NGOs, but the ground reality for Palestinians is not better.”    

Refugees International therefore recommends that:

The Government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the International Community

• Renew all efforts to apply UN resolutions and agreements previously made between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to resolve the geopolitical issues.

• Immediately cease violations of international law, particularly the use of collective punishment as practiced with the construction of the separation wall and house demolitions.  
• Assure access to food, medical and education services, and employment for Palestinians.  

• Take immediate steps to end violence against civilians and resume negotiations towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

• Bring pressure on the Government of Israel to comply with its obligations as an occupying power under international law.
• Urge the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to stop violence against civilians and resume negotiations toward a peaceful settlement of the conflict.