Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos

Facts, Sources, and Ways You Can Help

FACTS: AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com

Killed in the conflict in 2006: 31 Jewish Israelis (soldiers & civilians), 633 Palestinians (civilians only);

Since Sept 2000: 1024 Jewish Israelis, 4409 Palestinians [MEPC Jan 2007: www.mepc.org/resources/mrates.asp].

Checkpoints: Barriers manned by Israeli soldiers &/or border police used to monitor &/or prevent Palestinian movement. Most checkpoints are not on the Green Line (between Israel & the 1967 Occupied Palestinian Territories [OPT]), but mainly between Palestinian towns & villages, hindering teachers, doctors, farmers, schoolchildren, etc. Most checkpoints are closed overnight, blocking sick or pregnant villagers from getting to the hospital in emergencies.

Roadblocks: Concrete barriers or earth mounds to prevent Palestinians from using their vehicles on their roads— housing & transport within the OPT are segregated—disabling the Palestinian economy & civilian movement.

Settlements: Jewish-only colonies on internationally-recognized Palestinian land.

• There are currently about 450,000 settlers living illegally on Palestinian land (250,000 in the West Bank & 200,000 in East Jerusalem). In 2005, 8,000 settlers were evacuated from Gaza, while 13,000 new settlers moved into new or expanding settlements in the West Bank & East Jerusalem [Bítselem].
• International law prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory [Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49]. Yet Israel spends more than $400 million/year encouraging Jewish citizens & businesses to move from Israel into the OPT by offering financial benefits such as government tax breaks & real estate subsidies [Mother Jones magazine].
• 80% of settlers say they came primarily for economic benefits & would be willing to leave the OPT if offered compensation [Peace Now: Settlement Watch]. The remaining 20% are known as ideological settlers, many of them armed & protected with impunity even after killing Palestinians or poisoning animals & fields.

The Wall:

• It will separate 34.4% of Palestinians from each other or their land, and Israel will annex approximately 15% of the West Bank, including 60-80% of the regionís most fertile land and water resources [UN OCHA].
• 80% of the Wall doesnít touch the Green Line, rather it cuts into the West Bank, trapping 274,000 Palestinians between the Wall & the 1967 border, & completely surrounding 50+ communities [UN OCHA].
• More than 240,000 Palestinian olive trees have been uprooted to make way for the Wall (so far) [MIFTAH].

Imprisonment:

• More than 9,500 Palestinian political prisoners are being held in Israeli prisons; roughly 10% are administrative detainees, meaning they can be held without charge or trial, indefinitely. Roughly 40% of the adult Palestinian male population has spent time in Israeli detention [Mandela].
• Torture, brutalization, & humiliation of Palestinian prisoners are widespread & systematic [Amnesty Intíl].

Recommended: Read the 1973 UN International Convention on Apartheid. In short, ìapartheidî is defined as systematic oppression, segregation, & discrimination to maintain domination by one racial group—ëdemographic group,í in Israeli parlance—over another, as through denial of basic human rights & freedoms, including the right to work, education, movement, & nationality; torture or inhuman treatment; arbitrary arrest & illegal imprisonment; & ìany measures designed to divide the population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves & ghettos,... the expropriation of landed property belonging to a racial group... or to members thereofî

Israel is the highest recipient of US foreign aid—$5 billion/year = $15 million/day! (IfAmericansKnew.org)—& the only country not held accountable for how its aid is spent, even though it has violated more UN Resolutions than Iraq or any other country in the world. As Americans, it is our right & responsibility to speak out against violations of human rights & international law carried out with our own tax dollars. (See ideas for taking action on back.)

LITTLE KNOWN HISTORY about the origins of the Occupation & conflict:

1870 - 7,000 Jews in Palestine (2% of population). Large-scale Zionist immigration begins in early 20^th century.

1930-40s - Jews fleeing Nazis seek haven in Palestine. By 1946, land ownership is 92% Palestinian, 8% Jewish.

1947 - UN Partition Plan proposes 56% of land for Jews, 44% for Palestinians, who reject proposal. War breaks out.

1948/49 - More than 750,000 Palestinians are expelled & 400 villages destroyed. Israel, victorious, declares state for Jewish people, remembered as ìIndependence Dayî for Israel & ìAl Nakba,î the Catastrophe, for Palestinians. Israel controls 78% of historic Palestine & refuses return of Palestinian refugees, who total about 6 million today.

1967 - Israel occupies all remaining Palestinian lands in Six-Day War. Occupation has continued for the past 39 years.

1967-2007 - Palestinian resistance continues, mainly nonviolent, sometimes violent. (1st suicide bomber, 1993.)

SOURCES of Facts and More Information:

AIC, Alternative Information Center: www.alternativenews.org

Amnesty International, International Human Rights Protection: www.amnesty.org

ARIJ, Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem: www.arij.org

Bítselem, Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories: www.btselem.org

Badil, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights: www.badil.org

Breaking the Silence: Testimonies of former Israeli soldiers: www.breakingthesilence.org.il

Electronic Intifada, Leading Palestinian Portal for News and Analysis: www.electronicintifada.net

FMEP, Foundation for Middle East Peace: www.fmep.org

Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc: www.gush-shalom.org/english

Haíaretz, Left-Mainstream Israeli Daily Newspaper: www.haaretz.com

HDIP, Health Development Information and Policy Institute: www.hdip.org

ICAHD, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions: www.icahd.org

If Americans Knew, What Every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine: www.ifamericansknew.org

Mandela, Institute for Human Rights: www.mandela-palestine.org

MIFTAH, Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy: www.miftah.org

Palestine Monitor, News from Palestinian Civil Society: www.palestinemonitor.org

Palestine Remembered, al-Nakba 1948 : www.palestineremembered.com

Passia, Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs: www.passia.org

Settlement Watch, a project of Peace Now: http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=51

Stop the Wall, by PENGON (Palestinian Environmental NGO Network): www.stopthewall.org

UN OCHA, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: www.reliefweb.int/hic-opt

Recommended reading on the history of the conflict (by Jewish & Palestinian scholars):

• Tanya Reinhart, Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2002.
• Just about anything by Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, or Norman Finkelstein on the subject.

SILENCE IS COMPLICITY. What can YOU do to help bring peace & justice to the people of Palestine & Israel?

1. Go to Palestine, or support someone who is –International presence in the 1967 OPT is a strong statement of solidarity, and can help to deter violence and document abuses that otherwise often go unreported in our media.

The following Palestine solidarity organizations accept international volunteers:

… International Womenís Peace Service (IWPS) – www.iwps.info

… International Solidarity Movement (ISM) – www.palsolidarity.org

… Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) – www.cpt.org/hebron/hebron.php

… Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR): www.rhr.israel.net

Want to see the situation for yourself? The following organizations give tours in the 1967 OPT to internationals:

… Holy Land Trust (HLT): http://hlttravel.org (Palestinian-led)

… Global Exchange: www.globalexchange.org/tours

… Middle East Childrenís Alliance: www.mecaforpeace.org/DelegationIntro.html

… Birthright Unplugged: www.birthrightunplugged.org (Jewish American-led)

… Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace: www.ffipp.org/delegations.html (for faculty & students)

… Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD): www.icahd.org (Israeli-led)

2. Get involved locally – Local Palestine advocacy groups are organizing throughout the country. Many are listed on www.endtheoccupation.org & www.unitedforpeace.org. Consider writing a letter to local press to protest US-funded atrocities &/or biased reporting (Local media are listed on www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media).

Consider boycotting &/or divesting from Israel to protest & pressure an end to violations of human rights & international law. (For interested churches, schools, unions, cities: www.qumsiyeh.org/boycottsanddivestment)

3. Call, write, fax, &/or visit your representatives – Demand that the US stop using American tax dollars to fund Israelís illegal construction of the Wall, expansion and settlement of colonies, military operations, etc. Find &/or write your representatives at www.congress.org; call (202) 224-3121 to be transferred to their DC offices.

4. Talk to your friends and families – Do your own research, and open a dialogue with people around you about the situation in Palestine. You have the power to affect others in your community—use it!

Annaís Email: Anna.Baltzer@gmail.com

Annaís Website (get more stories & photos, sign-up to receive Annaís eyewitness accounts from Palestine, purchase her book Witness in Palestine or a DVD of the talk, invite her to present, etc): www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com