Daily Life Under Occupation

8/3/2019 Daily Life Under Occupation

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Daily life under occupation

Israels occupation of Palestine is the longest -lasting occupation in modernhistory.

Vestiges of the occupation are everywhere. It seriously impedes the Palestinianfrom attaining an adequate quality of life, as is guaranteed under internationallaw.

From the Apartheid Wall; checkpoints; random arrests and detentions; and lackof freedom of movement are just some of the topics covered in thispresentation to give you a brief glimpse of what daily life is like for Palestinians.

The presentation also will show how this occupation, which deprivesPalestinians of their basic human rights, is supported by billions of dollars ofU.S. taxpayer money.


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This graphic depicts the loss of historic Palestine from the Partition of Palestine in 1947 until today. The WestBank, which Israel occupied in 1967, is now carved up into small Bantustans because of settlements, by-passroads and the Apartheid Wall.


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Daily life under occupationThe occupation hasfragmented Palestinian

society in such a waythere is limited and,sometimes, no contactbetween residents of the West Bank, Gaza orhistoric Palestine

(Israel).

The people of theWest Bank are fightingfor their lives, while wein Israel are fighting for

our civil rights. ~ Habib Karam,Palestinian resident of Israel


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Refugees and the Diaspora Palestinians

750,000 Palestinians refugees during

Nakba of 1947-1949.

350,000 Palestinian refugees during SixDay War in 1967

7 million Total number of Palestinianrefugees worldwide

5 million - Refugees registered withUNRWA

1.4 million UNRWA refugees living in 58camps in the West Bank, E. Jerusalem,

Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan

2 million Refugees in Diaspora notregistered with UNRWA

70% Total Palestinian population who arerefugees

(Source: UNRWA.org and Al-Awda.org)

Palestinians make up the largest and longest-lasting refugee population in the world.

Omar Daoud of suburban Chicago shows a map from his village of Ein Karem,marked to show the land his family used to own before Zionists forced them fromtheir land in 1948.


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Gaza

90% of the water supply iscontaminated and not fitfor human consumption

Israelsprohibitionof imports

meanspeople in

Gazamust rely

upon atunneleconomyto survive

The siege was tightened in 2007 afterHamas won parliamentary elections(2006) and took over Gaza. But the

siege actually started in 1991, withrestricted travel to the West Bank andhistoric Palestine, known today as Israel.

(Source: Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement)

80% of Gazas residentsrely on the United Nationsfor food aid.


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GazaGazas students need at least 105new schools because OperationCast Lead and the siege havedestroyed and/or damaged at least280 buildings.

(Operation Cast Lead was the 3-week Israeli offensive that killedmore than 1,400 Palestinians inGaza including at least 355

children.)UNRWA turned away 40,000students at the start of the 2010- 11school year due to lack of space.

More than 1,000 college students

apply for study abroad programsannually; fewer than 100 arepermitted to leave Gaza.

(Source: UNRWA; Palestinian Ministry of HigherEducation)


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International lawgives Palestiniansthe right to fish up

to 20 nautical milesoff their shore, butIsraeli OccupationForces force them

to fish shallowwaters within 3

miles of shore. The

Israeli Navy firesupon the fishermenwith live

ammunition andwater cannons.(Source: The Guardian,

July 24)

Income losses, because of the siege and Operation Cast Lead, amount to about $24 millionper day, 80% of Gazas gross domestic product, according to the UN Economic and SocialCouncil.(Source: Operation Cast Lead: A Statistical Analysis, Al Haq)


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Despite Israels promises to ease the blockadein June 2010, conditions have stayed the sameor have become worse.

Consumer goods increased, but only to 35%, upfrom 20%, of pre-blockade levels.

Most raw materials are still banned.

Inflow of construction materials still at 11% of pre-blockade levels.

Ban on exports remains in place except for a fewloads of strawberries. Between June andNovember 2010, not one truckload of goods wasallowed to leave Gaza.

Fuel for power remains at 68% of capacity

Cooking fuel remains at 53% of needs

Almost no gasoline or diesel fuel allowed in.

(Source: Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade,Nov. 30, 2010.

Rafah Crossing

With the Egyptian Revolution came hope that theRafah border crossing with Gaza would be openedpermanently.

That is not the case.

Currently, only 300 Palestinians are allowed to crossthrough Rafah each day.

Easing the blockade


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West BankPalestinians living in the West Banklive under direct threat of violenceand loss of liberty because of theoccupation. Some of the mostcommon ramifications of theoccupation that violate their legallyguaranteed rights to quality of life,to education, health care andmovement include:

Settlements

The Apartheid Wall

Checkpoints and closures

Home demolitions

Security apparatus

Random arrests and detentions


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Thanks to the Oslo Accords, theWest Bank is carved up into three

categories:

Zone A is under total Palestiniancivil control

Zone B is under Israeli control andPalestinian Authority administration

Zone C is under total Israeli control

Palestinians are not free to travelfrom one zone to another without a

travel permit. They are alsoprohibited in traveling in or utilizing

land in many areas of Area C especially land abutting settlements.

West Bank fragmentation


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Israel establishedits first settlement

just 5 weeks afterthe end of the SixDay War in 1967.

(Source:Fifty Years of Israel

by Donald Neff)

Settlements


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Settlements are being

constructed in strategic areas todivide the West Bank from north-south and east-west.

Settlements and the buffer zones surrounding them nowaccount for more than 40 percentof West Bank land

Israel offers incentives in the wayof mortgage subsidies and otheraid to encourage Jews to move tothe colonies.

SettlementsOther incentives offered includereduction in land prices; grants to buyapartments; reduction in income taxfor companies and grants forinvestors and companies building todoing business in the colonies.

The U.S. government has funded theimmigration to Israel of Russian Jews,who usually end up living in thesettlements.

In 2007, 40 percent of thesettlements' population growth wascomprised of Jews emigrating fromIsrael and abroad.(Source: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions)


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How can you tellsettlement housingfrom Palestinianhousing?

(Hint: Look at the rooftops)

Israeli authorities control allthe water resources in theWest Bank. Water toPalestinians is regularly cut offto ensure ample supply forcolonial settlers so they storewater in rooftop tanks.


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26 gallons per person per day = healthywater usage

18.5 gallons = Palestinians usage 79 gallons = Israelis and settlers usage

(Source: World Health Organization)

Israel controls more than 80% ofthe water from the MountainAquifer, the only undergroundsource of water in the West Bankas well as surface water from theJordan River.Palestinians have no share in thiswater.(Source: Amnesty International)

At least 20,000Palestiniansliving in rural

areas have noaccess to

running water.Even cities andtowns that are

connected to awater-supply

systemexperience

frequentoutages.

(Source: AmnestyInternational)


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Road inPalestinianvillage inWest Bank

Jewish-only roadin WestBank

Apartheid anddiscrimination in services

Though Palestinians pay the same

taxes as Israelis, they do notreceive the same services.

In the West Bank, Palestinians donot receive garbage pick-up. Mostresort to burning their garbage.

Most of their roads are not pavedor they lack curbs, gutters andtraffic signals.

They do not have postal delivery.

They do not have regular busservice.


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When completed, the Apartheid Wall will be about450 miles long, twice as long as the 1948 borders.

85 percent of the wall is being built on Palestinianland, annexing an additional 12 percent of landinto Israel.

Apartheid Wall


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In 2004, the International Court ofJustice ruled it was illegal to build the

wall on Palestinian land.

Palestinians trapped on the wrongside of the wall must now obtainpermits to remain in their own houses.

In the northern West Bank, 10,000Palestinians in this situation.

About 500,000 Palestinians live inareas severed by the wall.

77 percent of school children reportedthey missed school occasionally

because the walls checkpoints areclosed.

(Source: Grim Statistics:The reality of living under occupation, AMP. 2011)


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Myth: The Wall has stopped suicide bombings in IsraelFact: The Wall still is not finished; suicide bombings stopped in 2006.

Moral: The Wall is about annexing more land into Israel. It is not aboutsecurity.

Source: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions


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Checkpoints, roadblocksand closures


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The West Bank has about 600 checkpoints, closures and other obstacles, suchas trenches, earthen mounds and cement piles , which restricts Palestinians areforbidden from traveling sometimes even crossing about 120 miles or roads.

(Source: BTselem


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Israeli OccupationForces have destroyed

25,000 homes in the

West Bank and Gazasince 1967 and 2,000 inEast Jerusalem.

Currently, there are20,000 demolitions

orders outstanding inEast Jerusalem.

90% of West Bankresidents can no longer

enter Jerusalem and100% of Gaza residents

are prohibited.(Source: Israeli Committee Against

House Demolitions)

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions


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Demolished

Source: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions


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Home demolitionsIsrael announced plans

in fall 2011 to expelnearly 60,000

Palestinians in 2012.

27,000 are Palestiniansliving in Area C of theWest Bank. Area C

about 60 percent of theWest Bank is under full

Israeli control, is closedto Palestinians.

30,000 Bedouins in theNaqab Desert in the

southern portion ofhistoric Palestine, known

today as Israel, areslated to be relocated tourbanized reservations.

(Source: BTselem

Israeli Occupation Forces have destroyed Al Araqib village in the Naqab more than20 times.


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Security

The IsraeliOccupationForces, police andthe Palestinian

Authority securityforces, whichsupport Israelipolicy, controlevery aspect ofPalestinian life.


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Random arrests and detentionsEach year, about 700 Palestinian children,some as young as 12 years old, are arrestedand prosecuted in the Israeli military courtsystem.

Throwing a stone can net a prison term of 20years.

Israeli Occupation forces routinely take

children from their beds in the middle of thenight.

Thousands of Palestinian political prisonerslanguish in Israeli jails, in violation ofinternational law.

Israeli citizens are prosecuted in civiliancourts but Palestinians are tried in militarycourts.

(Source: Defence for Children International Palestine Section)


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Palestinian citizens of Israel & unrecognized villages

Palestinians make up about 20 percentof the Israeli population

Since 2003, Palestinians have not beenallowed to apply for Israeli citizenship

The Citizenship Law prohibitsPalestinians from the West Bank or Gazafrom residing in Israel with their spousesor families.

Israeli authorities approved just 33reunification requests out of 600between November 2008 and April 2010.

The need for children to live with theirparents is not considered a humanitarianconsideration for reunification

Israel operates a segregated school systemand spends more than $1,000 per Jewish pupilbut only $190 per non-Jewish student.

More than 10,000 classrooms are needed forPalestinians students to reach the samequality of education as their Jewish peers.

Palestinians students are not allowed to learnabout the Nakba or other important aspects oftheir history and heritage.

Certain fields of study and careers are notavailable to Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Palestinians citizens of Israel may soon needto take a loyalty oath to the Jewish state,thereby denying their true heritage.

(Source: Grim Statistics: The reality of living under occupation, AMP 2011)


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About 100 Palestinian villages in Israel are

not recognized by the government

Residents pay the same taxes as IsraeliJewish citizens, who receive full services.

(Source: Grim Statistics: The reality of living under occupation, AMP2011

Palestinians in unrecognized villages

receive no services: No roads, schools,utilities, health care.

Israel plans to dispossess about 30,000Bedouins in the Naqab Desert in 2012..


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I have nothing hopeful to say.

Samir Zbadet, 24, resident of the unrecognizedvillage, el-Zbadet, when asked if he had amessage for the American public.~ October 2010



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The US gives Israel nearly $3billion in unconditional military aidannually.

In per capita terms, that amountsto more than $500 per Israeli.

It amounts to $8 million per day.

Israel has been the largestrecipient of US foreign aid since1976.

US aid to Israel

20 percent of the US foreign aid budget isallotted to Israel.

Unlike other foreign aid recipients, whoseaid is distributed in installments throughoutthe year, Israel gets one payment up front,

costing the US taxpayer in lost interest.

(Source: Congressional Research Service; The Israel Lobby by JohnMearsheimer and Steve Walt.


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The total cumulative U.S. aid to Israel from 1949 through 2009 is more than $106 billion.

US aid to Israel

This figure is not adjusted for inflation.

Source: Congressional Research Service


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Reading listIn Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story By Ghada KarmiThe Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy By John Mearsheimer and Stephen M. WaltFifty Years of IsraelBy Donald NeffThe Ethnic Cleansing of PalestineBy Ilan Pappe

The End of the Peace Process: Oslo andAfterBy Edward SaidA Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggleof a Palestinian in IsraelBy Hatim KanaanehDeliberate Deceptions: Facing the Factsabout the U.S.-Israeli Relationship By Paul Findley

Websiteswww.ampalestine.org http://endtheoccupation.org/ http://www.assoc40.org/en/ http://www.adalah.org/eng/ www.pchrgaza.org www.btselem.org/ www.badil.org/ www.defenceforchildren.org/ www.bdsmovement.net www.whoprofits.org

Resources
http://www.ampalestine.org/http://endtheoccupation.org/http://www.assoc40.org/en/http://www.adalah.org/eng/http://www.pchrgaza.org/http://www.btselem.org/http://www.badil.org/http://www.defenceforchildren.org/http://www.bdsmovement.net/http://www.whoprofits.org/http://www.whoprofits.org/http://www.bdsmovement.net/http://www.defenceforchildren.org/http://www.badil.org/http://www.btselem.org/http://www.pchrgaza.org/http://www.adalah.org/eng/http://www.assoc40.org/en/http://endtheoccupation.org/http://www.ampalestine.org/


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Contact AMP

American Muslims for Palestine10101 S. Roberts RoadPalos Hills, IL 60465

[email protected]

www.ampalestine.org
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

Daily Life Under Occupation

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