This Week: Life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

"Quote" of the Week

A Summary of Conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Sources for Information on the Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

 

Greetings,

Last week I criticized the Associated Press (and the establishment media they represent) for their focus on Lebanon when they talked about the Top Story that they called "Mideast Fighting." I said that "it's far more important" to talk about conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Just to clarify, I did NOT mean to imply that the story of Lebanon in 2006 (and ongoing) is not a Top Story. In fact, there is an enormous amount of suffering and instability in Lebanon in the wake of the July War, with implications for the entire region. For ongoing coverage, I recommend a website called "Electronic Lebanon," a project of the excellent Electronic Intifada. Find it at http://electronicintifada.net/lebanon/

My point last week was simply to say that there is ANOTHER Top Story, one that is not being well-covered in this country, and that is the fate of the four million Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, a subject to which I return this week.

And, by no means do I intend to imply, by my focus on life for average Palestinians, that average Israelis do not live under a great deal of insecurity, as well. In fact, I think the insecurity of Israelis is as worthy of coverage as is the insecurity of Palestinians. I focus here on the Palestinian reality for two (related) reasons. 1. Coverage of Israeli suffering and insecurity already receives a good deal of coverage in the U.S. media, as it should, and thus needs no help from me. 2. The World's Only Superpower has far more direct responsibility for the suffering of Palestinians than it does for that of Israelis. Therefore, since I have a greater moral responsibility to talk about the things for which I bear greater responsibility than about the things for which I bear less responsibility, I focus here on the plight of the Palestinians.

Welcome, new readers! I look forward to your feedback, should you care to share it. Next week I turn my focus back onto affairs in THIS country. Exactly which affairs I know not. We'll find out together, soon!

Unpredictably yours,

Nygaard

"Quote" of the Week:

Since one might think that the U.S. Congress is doing nothing to stop the war in Iraq beyond passing a "nonbinding" resolution opposing Mr. Bush's "surge" strategy, I thought it would be good to quote here from a group called "Progressive Democrats of America." They announced on January 22nd that Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern will soon introduce new legislation called "The Safe and Orderly Withdrawal Act" into the U.S. Congress. According to PDA:

"In the new bill, the U.S. would begin the safe and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq within 30 days of enactment to be completed within 180 days. The withdrawal would be paid for by already appropriated funds and all funds for deployment of U.S. troops would be terminated upon completion of the withdrawal. Nothing in the bill would prohibit funds to be spent on social and economic reconstruction, or to assist Iraqi armed forces or a multinational force. It allows for U.S. military assigned to security of the US Embassy and US diplomats to remain in Iraq, and at the request of the Iraq government, the Army Corps of Engineers."

You can sign a petition supporting the passage of this bill online at http://www.pdamerica.org/petition/mcgovern-petition.php

There has not been a word in the U.S. media about this bill. Nor has there been any word of two related bills, the "Bring the Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2007" (introduced January 17th) or the "Protect the Troops and Bring Them Home Act of 2007" (introduced January 12th). Unbelievable.

A Summary of Conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Perhaps the most memorable media image of "Palestinians" for many United Statesians is the image of Palestinians dancing in the streets after the terror attacks against the U.S. in 2001, which was aired in the U.S. by the CNN network. Contrary to what you may have heard about CNN using fake footage, or old footage, or otherwise making it up, it seems that a small group of Palestinians in the village of Nablus really did celebrate the bombing. However, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) objected at the time to "the fact that footage of the small ‘celebrations' were aired continuously, while much larger commemorations, candle-light vigils and other expressions of public grief by Palestinians were ignored. ADC believes that a false impression of the reactions of the Palestinian people to the attacks, which was overwhelmingly negative, has been created by this select use of footage, but not by any falsification or recycling of old footage."

Here you have a classic example of a propagandistic effect, without necessarily a propagandistic intent. As ADC states clearly, the issue is a "false impression" created by what I call "The Media's PET," which stands for Placement, Emphasis, and Tone. In the case of the Palestinian people—about 10 million people, roughly 4 million in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or OPT—certain ideas are consistently reinforced in the U.S. media, while others are neglected. One of the things that is consistently neglected, amazingly, is the daily reality of life for the average Palestinian living under occupation. Since the U.S. government pays for a good deal of that occupation, I think U.S. taxpayers should know a little bit about this reality. So this article attempts to give, for the record, just a hint of current conditions.

The Ongoing Story

The larger story—the Top Story, if you will—from Israel/Palestine is the large, ongoing story of the overall conditions for Palestinians living in the OPT. Within that larger story there are many small stories, and perhaps the three biggest of the small stories from the OPT in 2006 were these:

1) The imposition of a "a de facto sanctions regime" against the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), led by Canada and the U.S., followed by the European Union, Japan, and Israel. These sanctions were imposed in the wake of the victory of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in democratic elections in the OPT in January. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights states that "The decision to halt financial aid to the PNA is a punishment of Palestinian civilians in the OPT during a time of [Israeli] escalation of crimes and violations against these civilians, including closure, denial of basic humanitarian needs, destruction of property and bombardment."

2. The initiation on June 27 of the military operation that Israel calls "Operation Summer Rain," which I discussed in last week's Notes.

3. The daily pattern of events that characterizes the ongoing Israeli occupation, which includes: daily military incursions by Israeli forces into the West Bank and Gaza; expansion of Israeli "settlements" and the accompanying violence perpetrated by "settlers" against Palestinians; ongoing construction of the "separation barrier" in the West Bank, which "continues apace;" the ongoing "regime of movement controls for Palestinians," the severity of which increased dramatically in 2006.

"Destroying the Fabric of Palestinian Society"

On October 31st the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Karen Koning AbuZayd, made a statement to the United Nations General Assembly on conditions in the OPT. "The men, women and children of the occupied Palestinian territory," she said, "have contended with the cumulative impact of Israeli occupation since 1967, two intifadas and—for the past six years—unrelenting armed conflict." The above-mentioned sanctions regime, she says, has resulted in living conditions in Palestinian areas that "are now deplorable."

So deplorable, in fact, that twelve UN agencies and 14 non-governmental organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territory last month launched "the largest-ever humanitarian appeal" in the OPT. They appealed "for $246 million in emergency funding," noting that:

"Violence, poverty and despair are overtaking hopes of recovery and prospects for development in the OPT. The international isolation of the Palestinian Authority, the conditions of siege imposed on Gaza and the ongoing fragmentation of the West Bank are destroying the fabric of Palestinian society, creating an ever more distressed, degraded and angry population. Youth are becoming increasingly radicalized and lawlessness and internal conflict have reached critical levels.

"The collapse of the economy, brought on by severe and sustained restrictions on access and movement of Palestinian goods and persons, has seen dramatic declines in living conditions, with soaring unemployment and poverty rates and marked reductions in household income and consumption levels.

"The continued construction of the West Bank Barrier and its associated system of closures, as well as the tightening of the permit and residency regime, has severed increasing numbers of Palestinians from access to land, employment and services, and led to further fragmentation of Palestinian areas.

"...the Gaza Strip has been locked down for long periods and the 1.4 million population effectively imprisoned..."

"Between 25 June and 15 November, 382 Palestinians were killed in Gaza by the [Israeli army] and a further 1,229 were injured. During the same period three Israeli soldiers were killed and 18 injured in Gaza, whilst one Israeli civilian was killed and 26 injured by Palestinian rocket fire. Thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes as Israeli shelling, ground incursions and air raids increased. On 28 June, the IDF bombed the only power plant in Gaza, which provided almost half of Gaza's electricity and drove municipal water and sewage pumps. A return to full capacity is not expected for several months."

"As a direct result of the ongoing crisis, Palestinian living conditions in the OPT have become wretched, slumping to levels unseen since the start of the Israeli occupation in 1967. The decline since the start of 2006 has been rapid and the consequences will not be short-lived..."

Death Toll 2006: 660 Palestinians, 23 Israelis

A December 2006 report by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem tells us that 660 Palestinians, of whom "at least 322...did not take part in the hostilities at the time they were killed." During the same period, Palestinians killed 17 Israeli civilians in 2006" and "6 members of the Israeli security forces."

"Israel demolished 292 houses ... in the Occupied Territories [that were] home to 1,769 people."

"As of November, Israel held 9,075 Palestinians in custody, including 345 minors. Of these, 738 (22 minors) were held in administrative detention, without trial and without knowing the charges against them."

1,769 Palestinians in 2006 saw their homes "demolished for alleged military purposes."

Forty-one sections of roads in the West Bank, covering a distance of some 700 kilometers, are restricted to Palestinian traffic, while Israelis are allowed to travel on them freely.

I have relied heavily here on reports from the United Nations, as their reports are recent and succinct. But the basic story is confirmed in reports by Amnesty International, other human-rights groups, and numerous media reports and independent observers around the world, and in all sorts of reports from within Israel. I give links to some of the sources I used this week, plus a few others, elsewhere in this issue.

Sources for Information on the Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

The lack of coverage in the U.S. media on the realities I discuss this week may lead one to believe that the information is difficult to find, or to confirm. It's not. Here are a few sources that I found very easily, and from which I drew most of the facts that you see in this issue of Nygaard Notes. This is just a small sampling, believe me!

GENERAL SOURCES

* There are two excellent, and recent, overviews of current conditions in the OPT. The first is the October statement to the General Assembly by the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. That is found at: http://www.un.org/unrwa/news/statements/spdc-oct06.html

* The second good overview—basically an expanded, and more formal, version of the first—is the emergency humanitarian appeal by the UN agencies and NGOs, issued earlier this month. That is found at: http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/appeals/2007-appeal.pdf

* A look at the public-health situation by an independent group of Canadian health professionals, issued at the end of July, is found at:
http://www.sources.com/Releases/HumanitarianCrisisinGaza.htm

* A look at the charge of Israeli "apartheid," made by a South African law professor who now works for the United Nations, can be found online at:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6137.shtml

* B'Tselem is The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, publishes hard data on such things as fatalities, injured persons, people in custody, deportations, destruction of property, land expropriation and use, the "separation barrier" (including a detailed map), Israeli settlements, and "restrictions on movement" (including checkpoints, "closure days," curfews, and "death following restrictions on movement"). There's a whole section of "data on the water crisis." Check our B'Tselem at http://www.btselem.org/english/Statistics/

* Search for Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel has a great list of links to media and organizations concerned with Palestine/Israel, including many within Israel. Find them at http://www.searchforjustice.org/

NEWS SOURCES

The Integrated Regional Information Networks, or IRIN, is a great source of news about humanitarian issues in the Middle East region. You can find news of conditions in the OPT on their website, which is found at http://www.irinnews.org/ and you can even sign up for free email updates on the region of your choice, anywhere in the world. Their Middle East updates, in particular, are invaluable.

The Palestine News Network has an English-language page is useful. Of particular note is their section on "Nonviolent Resistance," especially since the concept of "nonviolent resistance" is largely unheard-of in the U.S. media. Find them at http://english.pnn.ps/

There is an independent group called "Palestine Media Watch" that formed in the year 2000 "to promote fair and accurate coverage of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in the US mainstream media." They've recently done good work looking at the U.S. media's treatment of Jimmy Carter's new book, "'Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." And their one-page look at "Basic Realities" is very good, as well. Look them up at http://www.pmwatch.org