This paper was prepared and presented by Labib K. Nasir at a June 9-11, 2004 Conference entitled “Media Ethics & Journalism in the Arab World: Theory, Practice & Challenges Ahead,” organized by the Institute of Professional Journalists in LAU Beirut, Lebanon
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Being a Palestinian university student in southern Georgia, in the US, I was faced with many stereotypes, some about Arabs, and some about others, all were equally demeaning and offensive. It’s truly amazing to hear students at universities ask questions based on stereotypes they had learnt misunderstood and distorted. These questions and comments ranged from “Do you ride camels back home? To the more informed question “So do you really hate Jews?!” My answer to both questions was always a resounding NO. I usually followed up with a question asking where such ideas came from and would get another ill-informed answer such as “Well you guys have been fighting for ever there haven’t you?” To which I usually and perhaps snappishly answered with another NO! After a brief pose absorbing the shock I would continue with a brief history lesson depending on who my interlocutor was.
Stereotypes feed off of terminology, which can reshape thoughts and reinvent the norms of reality. An example of this would be the US official’s typical statement which always starts with America’s recognition of Israel’s right to defend itself. Even when Israel is blatantly attacking and in no way defending, the statement will start with “Respect Israel’s right to defend itself,” following this logic through, essentially a myth, is created whereby the occupier is defending itself by invading and killing the occupied! As silly as this sounds to an informed person, it sets the mood and already disrespects and dehumanizes the victims while distorting information and freeing it from basic logic. When Israel breaks international law and expectations by firing missiles at Palestinian urban neighborhoods killing women and children, extra-judicially assassinating another political leader or invading and destroying schools, homes, crops, roads, airports, institutions, lives and more.
Terminology is a very powerful tool. Many examples regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will reflect the bias and distortion of information, which can change perceptions and form opinions that are in sync with those who can afford to influence them. The so-called “security fence” is in fact an annexation and expansion wall. The militants or as they are now more commonly and frequently known as “terrorist” that attack Israeli military tanks bent on destroying Palestinian homes, are in fact defending their people and have an inalienable and internationally recognized right to resist attacks on their homes and neighborhoods. Illegal Jewish settlements, or more accurately colonies, are in fact built on stolen Palestinian property against international laws and inhabited by terrorist, racist ideologically fanatical armed settlers; they are not civilian Jewish “neighborhoods” or “communities.” Presenting them as such is not only a distortion of the truth harming the Palestinians; it is in fact a distortion of truth that is harming Israel and the friends of Israel who are turning these stereotypes into influential prejudices. The Israeli military establishment has been tactfully labeled the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), giving the image of being merely on the defensive, never the offensive. However, it is far more suitable to label them the IOF, since even Sharon has recognized that what the Israeli army is embarked on is an occupation. Barak’s last minute 2000 offer, at Camp David, to save his faltering political career has been labeled and often only known as Barak’s generous offer, I suppose a spider-web of a state on 15% of historical Palestine is what the media refers to when they speak of his generosity! The biggest irony, a joke really, is Bush oft-cited remark that Sharon is a “man of peace.” It is reassuring to know that murdering war criminals (found guilty at least indirectly in their own country) can redeem themselves so easily to the US administration. Shame! To drive the point further Sharon has opposed every single peace agreement even the one with Egypt in1979. The press has a responsibility to expose these lies and not repeat them under the guise of ‘fair and balanced’ reporting. With the US reshaping its media ethics and values by simplifying topics and fitting them all into the “good vs. evil” paradigm, journalists are learning to dance accordingly. The Press should have a responsibility to represent the voiceless and to challenge legitimacy of a government’s version of a story, placing things in perspective and not allowing the foe to be the judge or equate the occupier and the occupied with the same party.
The visual Media has become highly developed in recent years and is a powerful tool that has forced itself in every house. The power of such a tool has been used to project certain agendas. When the attacks on the twin towers took place back in 2001, the visual media focused on less than a dozen children and one adult supposedly “celebrating” the news of that attack. The headlines showed the plane hitting the towers and the only other image that day was the “Palestinians celebrating.” There were celebrations and grievances all throughout the world in different parts, yet somehow it was the image of Palestinian children, who probably did not understand what they were seeing, celebrating on all headlines throughout the media. Many Americans did not know what a Palestinian was prior to this distorted agenda packed image. Another example would be the funerals of Palestinians versus the funerals of Israelis. The camera seems to always find the mourning and crying relatives of the settler and that image is broadcasted throughout the world. When Palestinians are killed, they show the march of the armed section of the funeral and seem to never relate or touch upon the humane level which believe me does exist but is yet to be, or is very rarely exposed.
The list of distorted information used and repeated is long indeed, similarly dangerous if not more so is the distortion of information through omission. Allow me to elaborate, many times it is what is not reported that is misleading and serves to distort the truth. A recent example is the ‘Operation Rainbow’ in Rafah which claimed the lives of close to 50 Palestinians though cited figure in the media was 40 dead with the addition, and excuse, that most of them were militants. This ignored 3-year-old Tamer and 3-year-old Rawan, both killed by Israeli troops during this operation. All in all, there were 14 children killed, 11 of whom under 16. Is this not worth mentioning? The armed fighters who were killed make up 17 of the total deaths and they were not killed in combat, but as a result of gunship missile attacks. This was never explained or even hinted towards in the media coverage. Another recent example of things not said is CNN’s latest report on human rights abuse in the region, particularly in the wake of Abu Ghraib torture scandal. Each and every Arab country, as well as Iran, was mentioned and a US report citing violations of each country listed was quoted. The CNN report shows a map and talks about Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, then an out of place voice of the narrator says “the list goes on,” as they geographically skip to show Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and continue to cover each and every country in the region. They list violations in Arab prisons and the use of extra-judicial assassinations in some Arab countries, namely Algeria. In the same US States Department report, Israel is mentioned with plenty of violations including its record of abuse of detainees and prisoners as well as extra-judicial killings, yet somehow, the CNN report mentions all the countries of the region absent Israel! Maybe it should have said Arab countries, along with Iran, equating all Arabs are Muslim!
The terminologies and assumptions used by the media are creating skewed realities. Many of these items come from government spokespeople and are repeated as facts by the media and eventually become the norm. For example the word “Pre-empt” is a term invented by Israel and used so frequently to justify wanton attacks on innocent people, claiming that the troops have such great intelligence that they can detect when a Palestinian is thinking of carrying out an attack! The Media unquestionably have adopted and used this term indirectly justifying an unprovoked attack. Distortion is becoming systemized as a result of lazy journalism compounded by enormous pressure on those who wish to cover a different perspective of the conflict and then followed by an organized negative campaign against the journalist or the newspaper, TV stations or radio channels that dare. Lobby groups such as AIPAC or news networks such as Murdoch’s Fox News have labeled journalists and media personnel with warnings prior to hearing their report. Ie. Robert Fisk an Arabist / trouble maker and controversial director Michael Moore.
It is also worth noting that Israel has control over the foreign press in Israel and the Palestinian territories, through closures on areas that can ban media personnel from covering and reporting facts on the ground. Harassment of journalists, restriction on movement when traveling to the Gaza and the West Bank, and the withdrawal of press cards are always lingering. Recently, BBC was boycotted by Israel for airing a documentary on Vanunu and the nuclear Dimona facility in Israel. One has to really assess the losses he/she will endure the minute they decide to swim upstream and question the oppressors and their great influence over the media and high ranking officials in different governments, most importantly the US administrations, specifically the current radical pro-Israel government. Instability and hate in the region are on the rise; while Israel continues to expand an occupation with impunity and an arrogant belief that they are above the law. Israel is further aided and abided by the likes of Donald Rumsfeld referring to the West Bank and Gaza as the “so-called occupied territories!” Journalists are under enormous pressure for they do not want to be on the hit list of the pro-Israel camp. Often, it is not the journalists so much as the editors sitting in their offices abroad. Information delivered right to your desk, which is well written and sourced, is more workable in the pressured world of journalism with crouching deadlines. Systemizing distortions is sometimes blatantly done and other times comes as a result of repetition and avoiding confrontation or negative campaigns by the rich and powerful spin doctors against the journalists or institutes.
To demonstrate the effects of distortions, I will examine a number of case studies in which distortion is systemized and is feeding stereotypes through dangerous avenues. I will talk about some of the pseudo non-partisan think tanks, which are making a conscious and powerful effort to shape opinions in order to empower and justify the occupation even further. I would like to start by talking about The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The website states that they are ‘an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.’ However when taking a closer look at the material on its website, it becomes quite obvious that MEMRI is anything but non-partisan for they blatantly promote “the continued relevance of Zionism to the Jewish people and the state of Israel.” MEMRI does in fact translate material in an accurate manner, but the distortion takes effect in material they choose to translate. MEMRI tactfully attributes articles to sources that had not published the material in question. MEMRI is translating parts of an article and leaving out other segments. Brian Whitaker, in his article “selective MEMRI” for the Guardian, concludes that “To anyone who reads Arabic newspapers regularly, it should be obvious that the items highlighted by MEMRI are those that suit its agenda and are not representative of the newspapers’ content as a whole.” Further examination has shown that MEMRI’s president and co-founder is Yigal Carmon who spent 22 years in Israeli military intelligence and served as advisor for PMs Shamir and Rabin. The seven most senior staff members named on the webpage, which today disappeared from MEMRI’s website, is in one way or another affiliated with Israel. The likes of Mr. Carmon, or should we call him Col. Carmon, has given briefings to lawmakers on Capital Hill. Accusing Arabic media of being anti Semitic solely for representing the voice of the Arab governments and continuingly calling for terrorist attacks against America! It appears any criticism of the state of Israel immediately warrants an accusation of being anti-Semitic. (Even the “Passion of Christ” the biblical story was attacked as anti-Semitic.) This is a blatant example of distortion in the media. A pro-Israel body is being regarded as a non-partisan source of information and is being used by lawmakers and journalists as factual material.
I would like to discuss another dangerous study which I came across. The BBC children’s website offers a “Guide to the Middle East Conflict” in which the BBC presents the conflict and its issues to children between the ages of 11-14. The “guide” was shockingly pro-Israeli. There is no mention of the word “occupation” and both the Palestinians and the Israelis are portrayed as equal. Simplifying history and repeating false information in a manner that is misleading to children who are at an impressionable age is an outrage. When citing history, the report talks about both Israelis and Palestinians being displaced in 1948 giving the impression that there is some sort of equal comparison between the two in a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. Palestinians are fighting against Israeli “control” the report says, and draws comparison between the PLO and Israel as equal partners with equal ‘sacrifices’ for the sake of peace. Also, there is a quiz section at the end of this report, which reaffirms the distortions learnt and suggests that Jerusalem, a city occupied in 1967, is Israel’s capital, without for example mentioning that the UK does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and for that matter neither does the international law or even the pro-Israeli US government. Interestingly enough, the National School Curriculum the body responsible for this section, aims to teach its students legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society and the importance of resolving a conflict ‘fairly’! We, at MIFTAH, have written a letter to complain about this biased study. Recently, the study has been amended, yet it still fails to mention the word “occupation”.
A third case study provided by Fairness and Accuracy Reporting study which shows that only 4 % of US networks report that violent events are actually taking place in an area illegally occupied by Israel, in contravention to international law. The reporting transforms the illegal Jewish-only settlements/colonies built on Palestinian land into benign “Jewish neighborhoods” and makes Israel appear to be engaged in self defense. There have been some very slick PR campaigns to ensure that distortions are systemized with no room for error. The news is often filtered several times over, going through Israeli government press offices, American hired PR firms, Israeli consulates and finally, just in case something managed to slip in, so-called media watch dogs, which include groups like “Camera” and “HonestReporting.”
Another case study, conducted in the Bay Area by an organization called “If Americans Knew” concluded that Israeli deaths are covered at far higher rates (2-25 times greater than Palestinian ones). Their examination included the San Francisco Chronicle, which has been accused of being pro-Palestinian in the past. They report that during an extended period of time, 93 Palestinian children were killed but generated only six headlines while four Israeli children were killed but generated six headlines. Interestingly enough the, San Francisco Bay based organization attempted to meet with the staff of the Chronicle to present their results to a team of editors and got a negative reply. The newspaper’s “reader’s representative,” Dick Rogers, wrote in an e-mail that his job was “not to defend the newspaper,” but he has refused to set up a meeting with Chronicle editors. Rogers termed the report “incendiary.” Earlier, a pro-Israel group contending that Chronicle coverage was “pro-Palestinian” had been granted a long meeting with eight top Chronicle editors. Their complaints received news coverage and an apology.
There are so many cases that are resulting in the Palestinians finding themselves faced with being convicted and judged by their oppressor. Distortion is so well organized and stereotypes are imbedded in a way that is difficult to undo and easier to simply adopt and jump on the ban-wagon. Taking a stance and making the right decision is never easy, and is very difficult when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Today the media has an authority in the way it projects an idea or even distorts historical facts for the sake of agendas of injustice and abuse of freedoms. Further, the media can project certain people as being less than human thus affecting the viewer/reader and his/her judgment of how worthy such a person is of decent life and liberty. Stereotyping and wrong reporting is inflicting harsh and cruel judgment against the "victims" of such distortion and that is very dangerous and will certainly backfire someday.
Sources:
“Rights and Responsibilities” in “An Unfettered Press” by Robert H. Estabook
Case Study of Pro-Israel Bias by Islamic Human Rights Commission Media Monitoring alert: www.inminds.co.uk
“Reversing Reality: Newspaper Coverage of Israel and Palestine” by Sarah Weir
“Selective MEMRI” published in The Guardian by Brian Whitaker
“How Reality is Distorted to Serve an Agenda” by Mazen Qumsieh
Media Stereotyping- Introduction by Media Awareness Network www.media-awarness.ca
Facing History and Ourselves in Resource Book: Holocaust and Human Behavior by Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, Inc Brookline, Ma
Palestine Media Watch: www.pmwatch.org/pmw/index.asp
Honest Reports UK: www.honestreports.com
If Americans Knew: www.ifamericansknew.org
Protection of Women from Violence in Times of Armed Conflict: Palestinian Women as a Case Study
Date posted: August 18, 2020
By Tamara Tamimi
Abstract
Violence against women in Palestine at the hands of Israeli occupation forces and settlers is part and parcel of the wider framework of violence against the Palestinian people. Violence by occupation forces takes many different forms, some are evident and clear such as targeted killing and injury, as well as imprisonment. Other forms of violence are less pronounced but equally important as they pertain to the forcible displacement of Palestinians; these include house demolitions, house evictions, revocation of residency, land and property confiscation and imposition of restrictions on the registration of newborns.
While this violence is targeted against the entirety of the Palestinian people, including women, children and the elderly, it has a disproportionate impact on women due to reinforcement of patriarchy, traditional gender roles and stereotypes, as well as the reproduction of the cycle of violence by the stronger social group against the weaker social group, and signifying diminishing acceptance and tolerance to diversity and difference.
Violence against the Palestinian people as a whole has persisted for over fifty years despite the multitude of instruments and mechanisms to protect from violence in times of armed conflict. This includes instruments within the framework of international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law, as well as the women, peace and security agenda. Notwithstanding the multitude of instruments and mechanisms, their effectiveness remains constricted by a large number of factors including the absence of enforcement mechanisms due to the alleged primacy of state sovereignty, provided that this does not contravene the economic and geopolitical interests of a few select states. Another important factor is that these instruments are not designed to appreciate the impact of protracted occupation, and are instead tailored to armed conflicts that do not give rise to protracted military occupation and that are time-bound even if they persist for a long period of time, such as the wars in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This paper seeks to highlight forms of Israeli violence against the Palestinian people, describe their disproportionate impact on women, analyse why violence persists against women in times of armed conflict, and identify stakeholders and recommendations to increase protection of women from violence in times of armed conflict.
Israeli violations during the Coronavirus pandemic
Date posted: April 18, 2020
By MIFTAH
The following report illustrates Israeli violations during the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Israeli occupation forces continued their violations against the Palestinian people in every part of Palestine and in Jerusalem in particular. They did not halt raids into cities, villages and camps, conducting arrests, confiscating land, closing institutions and targeting official Palestinian figures.
It is clear that the violations Israel perpetrated in Jerusalem stem from a permanent and systematic policy based on two focal points:
First: resistance and rejection of any show of Palestinian national sovereignty in occupied Jerusalem through every means possible, under the pretext of ”breaching Israeli sovereignty”. Israeli authorities also accuse Palestinians of violating the so-called “interim agreement” in reference to the Oslo Accords, which prohibits the PA from holding any activity in the city without an Israeli permit.
Second: the Israelization and Judaization of every aspect of life in Jerusalem through disrupting the demographic balance in order to impose a new reality on the ground.
Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, Israel escalated these policies and the following measures taken against Jerusalemites.
Arrests:
During this period, arrests were focused on curtailing any efforts in Jerusalem aimed at protecting Palestinian residents from the dangers of the epidemic. Israel considers such efforts a violation of Israeli law, which culminated in the arrest of over 20 activists from various parts of Jerusalem. Some were put under house arrest and prohibited from contacting Palestinian officials in the city. Arrests included Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Fadi Hidmi and Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith. These are two of the most prominent national Palestinian symbols in Jerusalem, which prompted Israel to use an iron fist with them, humiliating and mistreating them during their arrest. Hidmi, for example mistreated during his arrest and later said he had been violently assaulted at the detention facility. The two officials were arrested on charges of being responsible for aid distribution to needy Jerusalemite families.
According to the Wadi Helwa Information Center, throughout March until the date of this report (April 9) a total of 193 arrests were made by Israeli authorities, including four women and 33 minors. A total of 73 arrests were made in the Old City and inside and around the Aqsa Mosque Compound; 57 Palestinians were arrested in Essawiyeh, 35 in Silwan and several others in various parts of the city.
Furthermore, Israeli intelligence services summoned Jerusalem governor Adnan Ghaith, Aqsa Mosque Director Sheikh Omar Kiswani and Deputy Director Sheikh Najeh Bkeirat for questioning. They also summoned and arrested several Fatah members under the pretext of ”violating Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem” and arrested three Jerusalemite activists at the Allenby Bridge en route to Jordan.
Attorney Mohammed Mahmoud, who is handling the detentions in Israeli courts, says there has been a noticeable escalation in Israeli measures against youth in Jerusalem during the pandemic. “Several preventative measures have been taken in courts since mid-March against the virus. Courts are conducted via Skype where the prisoner is connected by a phone and monitor in a special room in the prisons. There are some prisons that do not have television monitors and the sessions are conducted only by phone. This makes communication difficult between the prisoner and defense team. It is hard to fully explain what is going on in the session to the prisoner. These sessions also lack the confidentiality and immunity between lawyer and client. However, the lawyers try as much as possible to clarify certain rights and points to the prisoner. What more, the glass partition in front of the judge is another impediment in terms of hearing what he is saying,” Mahmoud said.
He also mentioned how difficult these procedures were for the families waiting outside the courtroom since only one person is allowed in and the families are barred from speaking to their imprisoned children. He accused Israeli authorities of taking advantage of the Coronavirus crisis and their preventative measures to further oppress Palestinians, maintaining that several cases of abuse and arrest were recorded for supposedly violating these measures. A number of fines were also imposed, ranging from NIS500-NIS5000.
Confiscation of food packages and relief assistance:
Another aspect of Israel’s policy against Palestinians is focusing on measures against them instead of measures to combat the virus. Israeli authorities have actively pursued Palestinians, including volunteers and institutions which provide relief aid and food packages to poor families. They assaulted many of the volunteers, arrested them and confiscated the aid. In Sur Baher at the end of March, Israeli soldiers assaulted six volunteers, beating them and throwing teargas at them before confiscating a truckload of relief and food assistance.
Prior to this, Israeli forces arrested three teams disinfecting Silwan, Suwwana and the Old City and confiscated the cleaning products being used to disinfect public and vital facilities in these areas. They also arrested four others for distributing and hanging up posters to raise awareness about the coronavirus, barring them entry into the Old City.
Violation and desecration of places of worship This was apparent from the closure of the Aqsa Mosque Compound and barring entry to Muslim worshippers, including its guards and caretakers. At the same time, it assumed a much more relaxed policy with Jews in synagogues. They were able to move freely in their places of residence contrary to the policy imposed against Jerusalemites whose movement was much more limited. What’s more, Palestinians were heavily fined, ranging from NIS500 to NIS5000.
By targeting the Aqsa Mosque, Islamic Waqf officials say Israeli occupation authorities are attempting to interfere and impose Israeli sovereignty under the pretext of preventing the spread of the virus. In this regard, Israeli authorities closed the doors to Al Aqsa with the exception of “Hutta” and “Chain” Gates and kept “Dung Gate” open, the keys to which Israel has held since its occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, and which allows in settlers to the compound.
On March 20, Israeli authorities closed the gates to Al Aqsa and prevented anyone from entering both the mosque and the Old City just before Friday prayers. They claimed this was a preventative measure against the coronavirus. That day, according to Waqf estimates, only 500 Muslim worshippers prayed at the mosque even though Waqf authorities had taken the necessary measures and precautions against the epidemic. They had fully sanitized and disinfected the grounds and mosques and distributed instructions to worshippers before Friday. In addition, there were employees sanitizing worshippers’ hands inside the compound.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces cracked down on worshippers who tried to pray in the streets and allies of the Old City, firing stun grenades, striking them with nightsticks and pushing them away from the Aqsa gates. Similar incidents occurred in other areas of the city, especially Wadi Joz, Musrara, Ras Al Amoud/Silwan and outside of Dung Gate.
Israeli police also issued penalties to worshippers for praying outside of the Aqsa’s gates and to youths as they walked in the city on claims they ”were not abiding by preventative measures.”
Israeli authorities took their policies up a notch when they raided the home of President of the Islamic Waqf Council, Sheikh Abdel Atheem Salham and issued him a penalty of NIS5000 on claims he ”did not abide by police orders and allowed more than the permitted number of people to enter the Aqsa grounds.” They also summoned Aqsa Mosque Director Sheikh Omar Kiswani and Aqsa Mosque Imam Amer Abdeen for questioning.
Furthermore, Israeli forces stormed the Bab Al Rahmeh prayer site and threatened to impose fines on the worshippers for ”not adhering to health ministry instructions”, also threatening worshippers that they would be fined if they gathered in the Aqsa courtyard for prayer.
Israeli authorities continued to issue orders banning Palestinians from entering the Old City and the Aqsa Mosque Compound. Eight Palestinian youths were banned from the Aqsa and seven from the Old City and travel ban orders were issued against four other Jerusalemites.
In order to avoid any further interference into Aqsa affairs by Israeli authorities, the Islamic Waqf , which is the caretaker of the Aqsa Mosque, closed the compound until further notice as a protective measure against the novel coronavirus. The same was applied to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with only members of the clergy allowed entry.
Isolating the Old City:
Under the pretext of responding to the coronavirus pandemic, Israeli occupation authorities isolated the Old City from its surroundings. Approximately 40,000 Jerusalemites live in the Old City of Jerusalem and were suddenly cut off from the rest of East Jerusalem, whose Palestinian population is around 360,000. Only those who live within the Old City walls were allowed entrance while Jewish settlers living in settlement enclaves inside or outside it were allowed to enter and exit freely. This policy of isolation led to huge losses for shops owned by Jerusalemites many of whom could not reach their stores.
Figures provided by the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights and the Jerusalem Merchants Committee indicate that this constrictive Israeli policy, which has been implemented for the past three years, has led to the closure of an increasing number of shops in the Old City. Today around 300 shops are shuttered, a number which is likely to grow with this recent isolation.
Expansion and acceleration of settlements
It is clear that Israeli authorities have been exploiting this pandemic to continue settlement projects in Jerusalem and in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. This includes approval for the construction of tens of thousands of housing units in the settlement of “Atarot, north of Jerusalem, approval to start construction in the “E1” settlement project in Tur, Zaayem, Essawiyeh and Ezzariyeh where over 10,000 housing units will be built, approval for the construction of hundreds of thousands of settlement units in “Givat Hamatos” south of Jerusalem and the establishment of a new settlement neighborhood in Beit Hanina. Plans have also been put in place to build a wall separating the village of Sheikh Saad from Jabal Mukkaber. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are floating a plan to push Shufat camp and Kufr Aqab out of Jerusalem’s municipal borders as a means of dealing with the concerning ”demographic problem” in the city.
Impeding the work of health centers
While Israel rushed to stymie coronavirus outbreaks in its own residential and settlement centers in Jerusalem, it assumed a policy of discrimination when it came to Palestinian Jerusalemites. Israeli forces purposely delayed the opening of Covid-19 testing centers in Palestinian areas. Furthermore, the majority of Jerusalemites do not speak Hebrew, the language spoken in the various Israeli health insurance funds, not to mention that over 40,000 Jerusalemites do not have access to Israeli health care services under the pretext that they live outside of the unilaterally-designated Jerusalem municipal borders.
This policy came in tandem with the crisis already felt by the Palestinian health sector in Jerusalem, reflected in the lack of necessary equipment and medical supplies in the six East Jerusalem hospitals, making them incapable of accommodating dozens of potential Covid-19 patients. The current patients have been distributed in nearby hotels for monitoring while hospitals only have 60 beds available, not to mention the lack in medicines and medical staff they suffer from.
Discriminatory measures against the prisoner movement The medical negligence towards Palestinian prisoners during the pandemic is evident by how prison services failed to take the necessary precautionary measures in response to the coronavirus. What’s more, they continued to prohibit anyone from being informed about the conditions of quarantined prisoners in the Megiddo Prison. Israeli prisoner services also banned the entry of over 140 products from the prison commissary, including basic food products such as meat, vegetables, fruit and spices. Cleaning products and disinfectants necessary for prisoners to protect themselves from Covid-19 infection were also banned.
Mistreatment of Palestinian laborers
There have been several testimonies about Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian workers inside the Green Line, including returning workers to the Palestinian territories after suspecting they contracted Covid-19. Last month, Israeli soldiers dumped a Palestinian laborer showing symptoms of Covid-19 at the Beit Sira checkpoint without providing him with any treatment. This behavior was repeated at the Hizma military checkpoint, north of Jerusalem. Laborers are returned to the Palestinian territories on an almost daily basis without being tested, which has resulted in the spread of the virus in Palestine. At the same time, Israel unofficially opened its crossings to workers as a way to circumvent Palestinian preventative measures. They offered laborers incentives such as higher daily wages, thus exploiting their difficult living conditions and avoiding any legal obligations towards them.
Uprooting residents from their land and homes
At the height of the Coronavirus crisis, the Israeli ”civil administration” continued with its policy of confiscating Palestinian land, homes and tents. Some of these facilities were being used as emergency clinics to meet the needs of locals. On March 26, Israeli occupation forces raided Khirbet Ibzeiq in the northern Jordan Valley, confiscating steel rods and canopies designed for setting up eight tents, two equipped as clinics and four as emergency shelters for residents who were forced out of their homes. Two other tents were to be used as a mosque. Israeli forces also confiscated a corrugated-iron trailer that had been in the area for over two years, an electric generator, sand and cement bags and four loads of brick to lay the ground inside the tents.
In Ein Diyouk, west of Jericho, Israeli forces demolished three buildings which Jerusalemite farmers use as seasonal residences.
In Hebron, Israeli forces tore down a wall separating Wadi Haseen from Wadi Nasara in preparation for closing the entire area and in Deir Ballout in the Salfeet area, they demolished a farm room and water well.
It should be noted that in contrast to its measures taken in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Israeli government suspended all demolitions inside Israel during the state of emergency.
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