MARIÂNGELA BERQUÓ enfoca a Geopolítica: Reality check on Israel's occupation of Palestine

"A clever person is one who knows how to extricate himself from a trap which a wise person would not have gotten into in the first place."

About Binyamin Netanyahu one can say the he is clever but not a wise person at all.

There are two ways to look at historic disasters. As plots of evil persons or as acts of folly. In the first way, it is easy to believe that Netanyahu sent a secret order to a security guard at the Israeli embassy in Amman to kill two Jordanians, so as to enable him (Netanyahu) to negotiate with the King of Jordan to release the guy in return for the removal of the metal detectors from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The detectors that he souldn't have allowed in the first place.

The "security measures" in Jérusalem revealed the dimensions of Israel’s foolishness. Mass demonstrations took place in Jerusalem, in the Arab townships in Israel, in the occupied territories and in the neighboring countries. On the first weekend, seven persons were killed, hundreds were wounded.

The severity of the matter soon became evident. The Palestinians, Muslims or Christians, both Israeli citizens and subjects in the occupied territories, who a moment before were just a faceless mass, were suddenly revealed as an united determined people, ready for a fight.

Let's take advantage of the Al Aqsa "incident" to make an assessment of the occupation.

Where did the Palestinians go after the Nakba in 1948?

Where do Palestinian refugees live?

Since militarily occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza in 1967, Israel has:

· Destroyed more than 48,000 Palestinian homes and other structures, including agricultural buildings and places of business, because they were built without permission from Israel’s occupying army, which is nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.

· Imprisoned more than 800,000 Palestinians using a military court system that human rights organizations have condemned as falling far short of the minimum standards required for a fair trial.

· Built around 125 official settlements on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law and official US policy, and more than 100 so-called “outposts,” built with tacit approval from Israeli authorities even though they violate Israeli law. These settlements separate Palestinian population centers from one another and the outside world and sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank, making the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the occupied territories all but impossible.

· Implanted around 650,000 illegal settlers, many of them violent, heavily-armed religious fanatics, onto occupied Palestinian land, including approximately 350,000 in the West Bank and 300,000 in East Jerusalem.

· Built a wall on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice, separating Palestinians from their farmland, schools, places of business, and family and friends.

· Imposed a permit and checkpoint system severely restricting the movement of Palestinians within the occupied territories and to and from the outside world, making ordinary life difficult for Palestinians and strangling the Palestinian economy. ( According to the UN, in 2016 there were 572 Israeli checkpoints and other obstacles to Palestinian movement in the occupied West Bank, with more than 100 more in the city of Hebron alone.)

· Imposed a cruel and illegal siege and naval blockade on occupied Gaza, starting in 2006, which amounts to collective punishment of the 1.8 million Palestinians living there.

· Revoked the residency rights of around 250,000 Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and more than 14,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.

Restriction of movement

Using a variety of methods, Israel imposes severe restrictions on Palestinian movement within and to and from the occupied territories. These policies cause serious hardships for millions of Palestinians, preventing them from getting to work, school, accessing medical care, visiting family and friends, and severely hampers the Palestinian economy. At the same time, Jewish settlers living on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law and decades of official US policy are able to travel freely in much of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, including on roads constructed exclusively for their use.

· Israel uses military checkpoints and other physical obstacles, including concrete blocks and piles of earth, to prevent Palestinians from moving freely within the occupied West Bank and to and from the outside world. According to the UN, in 2016 there were 572 Israeli checkpoints and other obstacles to Palestinian movement in the West Bank, an area smaller than Connecticut, with more than 100 more in the city of Hebron alone.

· The wall Israel is building on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, also prevents Palestinians from travelling freely. In many cases, it cuts Palestinians off from their farmland, and separates them from schools, houses of worship, workplaces, and family and friends.

· Israel prevents most Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from travelling to Gaza, and vice versa, even though they are supposed to be one territorial unit under the terms of the Oslo Accords .

· Most Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are denied entry to occupied East Jerusalem to worship at their holy sites, visit family or friends, do business, study, or access medical treatment.

· Since 2006, Israel has imposed a suffocating and illegal siege and naval blockade of Gaza, amounting to collective punishment of the entire population of 1.9 million people, which is a war crime. As Dov Weisglass, then a senior advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, explained in 2006, Israel's Gaza policy is designed "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." As Human Rights Watch noted in a recent statement entitled, Israel: 50 Years of Occupation Abuses:

"For the last 25 years, Israel has tightened restrictions on the movement of people and goods to and from the Gaza Strip in ways that far exceed any conceivable requirement of Israeli security. These restrictions affect nearly every aspect of everyday life, separating families, restricting access to medical care and educational and economic opportunities, and perpetuating unemployment and poverty. As of last year, Gaza's GDP was 23 percent lower than in 1994. Seventy percent of Gaza's 1.9 million people rely on humanitarian assistance."
https://youtu.be/jqoy3fobxw8

· In addition to imposing onerous restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians in the occupied territories, Israel prevents many Palestinians living in the diaspora the right to visit their homeland, including the holy city of Jerusalem, bydenying them entry at the border. A majority of Palestinians live in the diaspora because Israel denies them their internationally-recognized legal right to return to their ancestral homeland.

Colonies

· Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are segregated housing units built by Israel for the use of Israeli Jews on Palestinian land occupied by the Israeli army during the June 1967 War. Their purpose is to cement permanent Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territories and to prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian state in them.

· All Israeli settlements, including those in occupied East Jerusalem, violateinternational law and longstanding official US policy. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states, “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” The Hague Convention on the laws of war also forbids occupying powers from making permanent changes in the occupied territory unless it is a military necessity.

· While successive Israeli governments have argued that settlements are not illegal, a formerly classified document dated September 1967 shows that the legal counsel to Israel’s Foreign Ministry at the time advised the government of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol that “civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention."

· Today, there are approximately 650,000 settlers living on occupied Palestinian land in approximately 125 official settlements and more than 100 “outposts,” including approximately 300,000 in East Jerusalem and 350,000 in the rest of the West Bank.

· Although Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the occupied territories live in the same land, they are subject to two separate and unequal legal systems based on their religion. As Human Rights Watch noted in a June 2017 statement entitled, Israel: 50 Years of Occupation Abuses : “Israel applies Israeli civil law to settlers, affording them legal protections, rights, and benefits that are not extended to Palestinians living in the same territory who are subjected to Israeli military law. Israel provides settlers with infrastructure, services, and subsidies that it denies to Palestinians, creating and sustaining a separate and unequal system of law, rules, and services.”

· The presence of settlers makes life extremely difficult for Palestinians:

· Palestinian land is stolen by the Israeli government and by settlers themselves for the expansion of settlements and Palestinians are forcibly evicted from their homes so that settlers can live in their place;

· Palestinian famers and others are harassed, assaulted , and even murdered by heavily-armed extremist settlers, often while under the protection of Israeli soldiers.

· Restrictions on the movement of Palestinians imposed by the Israeli army for the convenience of settlers and the location of settlements dividing Palestinian population centers makes it nearly impossible for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to travel freely or live normal lives.

· Israel’s settlement enterprise and related infrastructure, including roads that are off limits to Palestinians, cover approximately 42% of the occupied West Bank.

· According to one study, Israel has spent an estimated $20 billion on settlements and related infrastructure since 1967. As part of an effort to encourage Israelis to move to settlements, Israel’s government provides the average settler with three times more in public subsidies than Israelis living within Israel’s internationally-recognized pre-1967 borders.

· Today, settlers are a powerful political force in Israel, exerting a strong influence on the government through parties like the extreme religious nationalist Jewish Home, counting among their number several cabinet ministers. After half a century, Israel’s settlement enterprise is deeply entrenched on the ground in the occupied territories and in Israeli society.

Jerusalem / Al Quds

· Under international law, East Jerusalem (including the Old City and its holy sites) are not legally part of Israel.

· Since Israel's establishment in 1948, the US and international community have refused to recognize the sovereignty of any country to any part of Jerusalem in the absence of a permanent Arab-Israeli peace agreement.

· No country in the world, including the US, has its embassy to Israel in Jérusalem.

· During the June 1967 War, Israel militarily occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which had been under Jordanian control since 1948. Israel subsequently annexed East Jerusalem after massively expanding the city’s boundaries into the West Bank in a move that has been repeatedly condemned as illegal by the UN and international community.

· There are around 330,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. They can travel inside Israel and vote in municipal elections but endure systematic discrimination from Israeli authorities and face the constant threat of losing their right to live in the city if they travel abroad to study or work.

· There are around 300,000 Jewish settlers living in the expanded boundaries of East Jerusalem in violation of international law and nearly 50 years of official US policy. While Palestinian residents of Jerusalem face discrimination from Israeli authorities in nearly every facet of life, including making it nearly impossible for them to build homes and other structures, Jewish settlers enjoy all the rights and privileges of Israeli citizenship and are encouraged by the government to steal Palestinian land and push Palestinians out of their homes.

· In an attempt to separate and isolate East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank, Israel has built a ring of settlements around its outskirts. This ring has been reinforced by the wall Israel is constructing, which has been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice because most of it is built on occupied Palestinian land inside the West Bank and not along Israel’s internationally recognized pre-1967 borders.

· Since 1993 and the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza have been forbidden by Israel to enter East Jerusalem without a difficult to obtain permit. As a result, millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza are prevented from entering the city to worship at their holy sites, visit family, conduct business, study, or receive medical care.