7 aug 2019
Jordan, Palestine sign MoU to provide Palestine with petroleum derivatives
The Jordanian and Palestinian governments signed today a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in which Jordan will provide Palestine with petroleum derivatives.
The MoU was signed by Finance Minister Shukri Bishara and Jordan's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati.
The MoU calls for cooperation between the two countries in providing Palestine with its needs of petroleum derivatives by buying it from Jordanian companies and exporting it to Palestine, as well as storage of the petroleum derivatives in Jordanian oil facilities, in addition to cooperation in the energy field.
Bishara stressed the importance of the MoU in providing the Palestinian market with petroleum derivatives, pointing out that it is vital and important for both parties.
He estimated annual Palestinian imports of oil derivatives at between $2.5 and $3 billion.
For her part, Zawati stressed the importance of providing Palestine with the petroleum derivatives to help the Palestinian people diversify their energy sources.
Palestine imports most of its oil needs and its derivatives from Israel, but it is looking into ways to end this dependency on Israel.
The Jordanian and Palestinian governments signed today a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in which Jordan will provide Palestine with petroleum derivatives.
The MoU was signed by Finance Minister Shukri Bishara and Jordan's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati.
The MoU calls for cooperation between the two countries in providing Palestine with its needs of petroleum derivatives by buying it from Jordanian companies and exporting it to Palestine, as well as storage of the petroleum derivatives in Jordanian oil facilities, in addition to cooperation in the energy field.
Bishara stressed the importance of the MoU in providing the Palestinian market with petroleum derivatives, pointing out that it is vital and important for both parties.
He estimated annual Palestinian imports of oil derivatives at between $2.5 and $3 billion.
For her part, Zawati stressed the importance of providing Palestine with the petroleum derivatives to help the Palestinian people diversify their energy sources.
Palestine imports most of its oil needs and its derivatives from Israel, but it is looking into ways to end this dependency on Israel.
The Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday destroyed a water line and seized an irrigation network serving the Palestinian residents of Ein al-Bida village in the northern Jordan Valley.
Activist Mu'taz Bsharat said that the Israeli forces destroyed a 150-meter water line owned by the Palestinian citizen Wael Fuqaha.
Bsharat added that the Israeli forces further seized a 50-dunum irrigation network owned by Nahel Fuqaha, Wael's brother.
Activist Mu'taz Bsharat said that the Israeli forces destroyed a 150-meter water line owned by the Palestinian citizen Wael Fuqaha.
Bsharat added that the Israeli forces further seized a 50-dunum irrigation network owned by Nahel Fuqaha, Wael's brother.
The occupation negatively affects almost every aspect of daily life in Palestine, imposing a annual huge economic cost.
Putting a price tag on the occupation is a difficult and imprecise task, but a report [pdf] by the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) has come up with a figure: $9.4588 billion (about 33 billion shekels) in 2017, representing more than 74 percent of Palestinian GDP, which hit 14.5 billion USD according to the World Bank.
This figure is likely an under-estimation of the true costs of the occupation, because the report only includes costs for which reliable and relatively precise estimations could be made.
The report splits the costs on the Palestinian economy into five categories and calculates the costs imposed by the occupation on each.
The biggest share of the costs is due to lost infrastructure, representing 35 percent of the total, 28 percent are due to restrictions on access to natural resources, 17 percent due to human capital losses, 16 percent from the different Palestinian industries and services, and three percent as fiscal revenue leakage from the Palestinian Authority to Israel.
Infrastructure
Since its occupation, Israel has targeted essential Palestinian infrastructure. Infrastructure is essential for economic development, as it creates an enabling environment for growth and increases the efficiency of investment and innovation.
The most severe damage to Palestinian infrastructure has occurred in Gaza, particularly during Israel’s three major attacks on the strip since 2008. The report only looks at losses due to the 2014 assault on Gaza and puts this cost at $2.76 billion.
The most affected areas are agriculture, health, housing, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, roads and transportation, electricity, PMA and banking, information technology and telecommunications.
The cost of electricity under the occupation is approximately $390 million according to the report [pdf]. This is due to the difficulties of constructing a power network in Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank as well as difficulties importing electricity because of Israeli control of Palestinian borders.
In the Gaza Strip, the destruction of a power plant in 2014 by Israeli forces and Israeli-imposed restrictions of the use of a Gazan marine gas field have added to the energy crisis.
The occupation’s restrictions on the movement of people and goods is estimated to cost $185 million, due in large part to the constraints this places on competitiveness and economic development in the West Bank. These restrictions result in substantial transportation delays and higher transaction costs, affecting the productivity of the public and private sector alike.
Finally, house demolitions, which are common in the West Bank, are estimated to cost $10 million per year. This figure does not include relocation costs or the social and psychological costs attributed to the demolition of homes.
Restrictions on access to natural resources
Lack of access to public and privately owned natural resources by the Palestinians also plays a part in the economic costs of the occupation. Restricted accesses to farms, olive groves, grazing lands and a lack of autonomy over access to water are some of the numerous restrictions placed on those living in the West Bank overt the past 52 years.
The report estimates that restricted access to natural resources is costing Palestinians $2.63 billion per year. Limited access to water alone makes up $1.49 billion of this figure because of the cost of purchasing water from Israel, foregone agricultural production costs and health costs. Israel has appropriated the majority of the water supply, leaving Palestinians with access to only about 15 percent of the West Banks’ water system.
Economic losses due to land confiscation make up almost half, $1.00 billion, of the $2.63 billion, from lost land and lost agricultural revenue.
Reasons for land confiscation include settlement expansion, the construction of bypass roads through Palestinian territory and the construction of the separation barrier. 714,633 dunums of land have been confiscated in the West Bank, of which 239,011 are in East Jerusalem according to The ARIJ report.
Access to Gaza’s offshore natural gas reserves is also obstructed by Israel, costing $160 million. Lack of access to fishing zones, mainly off the coast of the Gaza strip, costs $18 million.
Human Capital
The $1.61 billion annual cost of the loss of human capital imposed by the Occupation is restricted in the ARIJ report to the imprisonment of Palestinians for political reasons and dedications from Palestinian workers in Israel.
The lost revenue from political prisoners is calculated using a figure from Addameer of 6,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israel as of October 2015. This figure is relatively stable: War on Want estimates approximately 6000 political prisoners in 2018.
The PA provides families of these prisoners with a monthly stipend, estimated by the RAND report (2014) at $200 million. This figure reflects the potential contributions of these prisoners to the economy.
Secondly, because of the occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza, Palestinian workers depend on employment inside Israel: in 2013, Palestinian workers in Israel constituted 11.2% of the Palestinian labour force.
The Israeli government is stringent in making the same deductions from Palestinian and Israeli wages, but Palestinians do not receive the social welfare and other benefits that these deductions entitle them to. ARIJ calculations based on those calculated by Zohar & Hever (2012), suggest that Israel owes Palestinian workers in Israel $ 1.41 billion, comprising the annual deduction amount, in addition to the accumulating deductions from 1970 with an annual interest rate of 5%.
Palestinian industries and services
Growth in the industrial and service sectors is essential to economic growth and development. However, because of the risks of political instability, weak infrastructure and restricted access to natural resources, investment in the industrial sector in Palestine has been relatively low.
The report estimates the cost of the Israeli restrictions on the industrial and services sectors at $ 1.55 billion. Particularly affected are mining and quarrying ($1.16 billion), banking ($15 million), agriculture ($23 million), tourism ($56 million), and telecommunication ($48 million).
The Israeli imposed restrictions on Palestinian exports and imports lead to two different types of costs: the lack of availability and higher cost of production inputs and the costs on the restrictions of handling processing and transporting exports. The total estimated cost of export and input restrictions is $254 million per year.
Israel’s Legal Obligation to Pay Reparations
A second report, published by the UN committee of Trade and Development (UNCTAD), discusses Israel’s legal obligation to pay reparations to the Palestinian people for the costs of the occupation.
It is important to note that many of their losses – the loss of life, normal family and community life, neighborhoods, culture, shelter and homeland – cannot be assigned a cost so any reparations paid will only ever be partial.
The report concludes that Israel has a legal obligation to make financial amends for the occupation. It notes that the Oslo Accords have significantly stifled economic growth in Palestine: if pre-Oslo Accords growth trend had continued, Palestinian real GDP per capita could have been at least double its current size.
As well as the costs discussed above, the UNCTAD report discusses Israel’s failure to promote economic development in Palestine: as Israel is a ‘belligerent occupier’ it has a duty not only not impede development but take affirmative steps to achieve it. In particular, Israel’s military operations are inconsistent with its duty to promote economic development.
The report cites several legal precedents of belligerent occupiers paying remedies ordered by international courts: for example, Turkey to Cyprus; Uganda to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also cites peace treaties that have required belligerent occupiers to pay reparations following a war: notably, Germany after the Second World War.
Finally, it cites the financial obligations imposed on Iraq by the Security Council for harm caused by Iraq during its occupation of Kuwait in 1990–1991.
The report concludes that the international community has an obligation to ensure Israel is accountable for the economic costs of occupation for the Palestinian people and that this is grounded in laws and precedents. However, the report does not suggest the best way to pressure Israel to pay Palestine economic compensation.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently investigating Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza including the demolition of Palestinian property and eviction of Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A ruling by the ICC will exert sufficient pressure on Israel but, perhaps, in the absence of this the best strategy is for the international community to support BDS.
Putting a price tag on the occupation is a difficult and imprecise task, but a report [pdf] by the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) has come up with a figure: $9.4588 billion (about 33 billion shekels) in 2017, representing more than 74 percent of Palestinian GDP, which hit 14.5 billion USD according to the World Bank.
This figure is likely an under-estimation of the true costs of the occupation, because the report only includes costs for which reliable and relatively precise estimations could be made.
The report splits the costs on the Palestinian economy into five categories and calculates the costs imposed by the occupation on each.
The biggest share of the costs is due to lost infrastructure, representing 35 percent of the total, 28 percent are due to restrictions on access to natural resources, 17 percent due to human capital losses, 16 percent from the different Palestinian industries and services, and three percent as fiscal revenue leakage from the Palestinian Authority to Israel.
Infrastructure
Since its occupation, Israel has targeted essential Palestinian infrastructure. Infrastructure is essential for economic development, as it creates an enabling environment for growth and increases the efficiency of investment and innovation.
The most severe damage to Palestinian infrastructure has occurred in Gaza, particularly during Israel’s three major attacks on the strip since 2008. The report only looks at losses due to the 2014 assault on Gaza and puts this cost at $2.76 billion.
The most affected areas are agriculture, health, housing, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, roads and transportation, electricity, PMA and banking, information technology and telecommunications.
The cost of electricity under the occupation is approximately $390 million according to the report [pdf]. This is due to the difficulties of constructing a power network in Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank as well as difficulties importing electricity because of Israeli control of Palestinian borders.
In the Gaza Strip, the destruction of a power plant in 2014 by Israeli forces and Israeli-imposed restrictions of the use of a Gazan marine gas field have added to the energy crisis.
The occupation’s restrictions on the movement of people and goods is estimated to cost $185 million, due in large part to the constraints this places on competitiveness and economic development in the West Bank. These restrictions result in substantial transportation delays and higher transaction costs, affecting the productivity of the public and private sector alike.
Finally, house demolitions, which are common in the West Bank, are estimated to cost $10 million per year. This figure does not include relocation costs or the social and psychological costs attributed to the demolition of homes.
Restrictions on access to natural resources
Lack of access to public and privately owned natural resources by the Palestinians also plays a part in the economic costs of the occupation. Restricted accesses to farms, olive groves, grazing lands and a lack of autonomy over access to water are some of the numerous restrictions placed on those living in the West Bank overt the past 52 years.
The report estimates that restricted access to natural resources is costing Palestinians $2.63 billion per year. Limited access to water alone makes up $1.49 billion of this figure because of the cost of purchasing water from Israel, foregone agricultural production costs and health costs. Israel has appropriated the majority of the water supply, leaving Palestinians with access to only about 15 percent of the West Banks’ water system.
Economic losses due to land confiscation make up almost half, $1.00 billion, of the $2.63 billion, from lost land and lost agricultural revenue.
Reasons for land confiscation include settlement expansion, the construction of bypass roads through Palestinian territory and the construction of the separation barrier. 714,633 dunums of land have been confiscated in the West Bank, of which 239,011 are in East Jerusalem according to The ARIJ report.
Access to Gaza’s offshore natural gas reserves is also obstructed by Israel, costing $160 million. Lack of access to fishing zones, mainly off the coast of the Gaza strip, costs $18 million.
Human Capital
The $1.61 billion annual cost of the loss of human capital imposed by the Occupation is restricted in the ARIJ report to the imprisonment of Palestinians for political reasons and dedications from Palestinian workers in Israel.
The lost revenue from political prisoners is calculated using a figure from Addameer of 6,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israel as of October 2015. This figure is relatively stable: War on Want estimates approximately 6000 political prisoners in 2018.
The PA provides families of these prisoners with a monthly stipend, estimated by the RAND report (2014) at $200 million. This figure reflects the potential contributions of these prisoners to the economy.
Secondly, because of the occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza, Palestinian workers depend on employment inside Israel: in 2013, Palestinian workers in Israel constituted 11.2% of the Palestinian labour force.
The Israeli government is stringent in making the same deductions from Palestinian and Israeli wages, but Palestinians do not receive the social welfare and other benefits that these deductions entitle them to. ARIJ calculations based on those calculated by Zohar & Hever (2012), suggest that Israel owes Palestinian workers in Israel $ 1.41 billion, comprising the annual deduction amount, in addition to the accumulating deductions from 1970 with an annual interest rate of 5%.
Palestinian industries and services
Growth in the industrial and service sectors is essential to economic growth and development. However, because of the risks of political instability, weak infrastructure and restricted access to natural resources, investment in the industrial sector in Palestine has been relatively low.
The report estimates the cost of the Israeli restrictions on the industrial and services sectors at $ 1.55 billion. Particularly affected are mining and quarrying ($1.16 billion), banking ($15 million), agriculture ($23 million), tourism ($56 million), and telecommunication ($48 million).
The Israeli imposed restrictions on Palestinian exports and imports lead to two different types of costs: the lack of availability and higher cost of production inputs and the costs on the restrictions of handling processing and transporting exports. The total estimated cost of export and input restrictions is $254 million per year.
Israel’s Legal Obligation to Pay Reparations
A second report, published by the UN committee of Trade and Development (UNCTAD), discusses Israel’s legal obligation to pay reparations to the Palestinian people for the costs of the occupation.
It is important to note that many of their losses – the loss of life, normal family and community life, neighborhoods, culture, shelter and homeland – cannot be assigned a cost so any reparations paid will only ever be partial.
The report concludes that Israel has a legal obligation to make financial amends for the occupation. It notes that the Oslo Accords have significantly stifled economic growth in Palestine: if pre-Oslo Accords growth trend had continued, Palestinian real GDP per capita could have been at least double its current size.
As well as the costs discussed above, the UNCTAD report discusses Israel’s failure to promote economic development in Palestine: as Israel is a ‘belligerent occupier’ it has a duty not only not impede development but take affirmative steps to achieve it. In particular, Israel’s military operations are inconsistent with its duty to promote economic development.
The report cites several legal precedents of belligerent occupiers paying remedies ordered by international courts: for example, Turkey to Cyprus; Uganda to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also cites peace treaties that have required belligerent occupiers to pay reparations following a war: notably, Germany after the Second World War.
Finally, it cites the financial obligations imposed on Iraq by the Security Council for harm caused by Iraq during its occupation of Kuwait in 1990–1991.
The report concludes that the international community has an obligation to ensure Israel is accountable for the economic costs of occupation for the Palestinian people and that this is grounded in laws and precedents. However, the report does not suggest the best way to pressure Israel to pay Palestine economic compensation.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently investigating Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza including the demolition of Palestinian property and eviction of Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A ruling by the ICC will exert sufficient pressure on Israel but, perhaps, in the absence of this the best strategy is for the international community to support BDS.
"The agricultural sector in the northern Jordan Valley is expected to collapse as a result of the recent measures taken by Israel regarding water distribution in the area. Palestine's rich "food basket" is heading towards an unknown future."
With these words Mohammed Sawafta, a Palestinian farmer from the northern Jordan Valley town of Bardala, began talking about Israel's new decision to deny the Palestinians access to water. The move will take effect after two months.
The decision was made after the Israeli-controlled water networks in the Jordan Valley have been completely changed.
Sawafta told the PIC reporter, "In Bardala, Karda, Ein al-Baida, and al-Maleh, there are about 8,000 dunums of land planted with crops that require irrigation throughout the year. These crops are an important part of the northern West Bank supply of vegetables which depends on water provided by the Israeli company of Mekorot since the 1970s."
"Years after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, it prevented the Jordan Valley Palestinians from using the water of the artesian wells which were dug during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank for agriculture," he said, "In exchange, the Palestinians were promised to be provided with the needed quantities of water through Mekorot company."
Sawafta added, "Months ago, the Israeli occupation authorities changed all water networks in the area and added sensors and other control devices. They told us that they will stop providing us with water after two months, which of course means a complete cessation of the agricultural activity and an economic disaster."
Lack of support
Farmer Naser Daraghmeh told the PIC reporter, "We are facing all this alone. Nobody supports us, and the [Palestinian] government and water authority are only good at giving promises."
"We are trying to overcome the Israeli occupation's measures by digging wells on our own. A few days ago, the occupation forces stormed the area and confiscated equipment that we were using to dig a new well. We only want the government to support us when our equipment is confiscated so that we can continue digging wells and providing alternative water resources," Daraghmeh said.
Activist Feras Badran said that the problem is not limited to agriculture. Livestock is also threatened by the Israeli measures; livestock breeders have to buy water tanks to provide water to their animals, which costs them 20-30 NIS per one (nearly $7). "Insane prices," he stressed.
"Livestock breeders rely on cheese and dairy sales to cover the costs of food and water for their livestock. The prices are already low, and when this coincides with unreasonable prices for water supply, livestock breeding becomes useless. This requires supportive agricultural policies in the Jordan Valley with a different style," Badran added.
Complete control over water
Aref Daraghmeh, Palestinian expert, said that the process of controlling Palestinian water resources began decades ago when the Israeli authorities blocked water springs in the area and diverted their streams to flow into Israeli-dug groundwater wells.
Based on official statistics, he noted, the Israeli occupation authorities consume about 80% of the water basins shared with the Palestinians, while 80-95% of the feeding areas of these basins are located in the Palestinian territories.
Daraghmeh stressed that Israel's theft of the Palestinian water is the result of an occupation rejected by international norms and laws and condemned by the UN resolutions and international legitimacy.
The Jordan Valley is located over one of the main water basins in Palestine, but the irony is that the basin is forbidden to the indigenous people. Most of the population gets water by transporting it through tanks from far away, which depletes their financial capabilities in the war of survival that has been imposed on them.
With these words Mohammed Sawafta, a Palestinian farmer from the northern Jordan Valley town of Bardala, began talking about Israel's new decision to deny the Palestinians access to water. The move will take effect after two months.
The decision was made after the Israeli-controlled water networks in the Jordan Valley have been completely changed.
Sawafta told the PIC reporter, "In Bardala, Karda, Ein al-Baida, and al-Maleh, there are about 8,000 dunums of land planted with crops that require irrigation throughout the year. These crops are an important part of the northern West Bank supply of vegetables which depends on water provided by the Israeli company of Mekorot since the 1970s."
"Years after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, it prevented the Jordan Valley Palestinians from using the water of the artesian wells which were dug during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank for agriculture," he said, "In exchange, the Palestinians were promised to be provided with the needed quantities of water through Mekorot company."
Sawafta added, "Months ago, the Israeli occupation authorities changed all water networks in the area and added sensors and other control devices. They told us that they will stop providing us with water after two months, which of course means a complete cessation of the agricultural activity and an economic disaster."
Lack of support
Farmer Naser Daraghmeh told the PIC reporter, "We are facing all this alone. Nobody supports us, and the [Palestinian] government and water authority are only good at giving promises."
"We are trying to overcome the Israeli occupation's measures by digging wells on our own. A few days ago, the occupation forces stormed the area and confiscated equipment that we were using to dig a new well. We only want the government to support us when our equipment is confiscated so that we can continue digging wells and providing alternative water resources," Daraghmeh said.
Activist Feras Badran said that the problem is not limited to agriculture. Livestock is also threatened by the Israeli measures; livestock breeders have to buy water tanks to provide water to their animals, which costs them 20-30 NIS per one (nearly $7). "Insane prices," he stressed.
"Livestock breeders rely on cheese and dairy sales to cover the costs of food and water for their livestock. The prices are already low, and when this coincides with unreasonable prices for water supply, livestock breeding becomes useless. This requires supportive agricultural policies in the Jordan Valley with a different style," Badran added.
Complete control over water
Aref Daraghmeh, Palestinian expert, said that the process of controlling Palestinian water resources began decades ago when the Israeli authorities blocked water springs in the area and diverted their streams to flow into Israeli-dug groundwater wells.
Based on official statistics, he noted, the Israeli occupation authorities consume about 80% of the water basins shared with the Palestinians, while 80-95% of the feeding areas of these basins are located in the Palestinian territories.
Daraghmeh stressed that Israel's theft of the Palestinian water is the result of an occupation rejected by international norms and laws and condemned by the UN resolutions and international legitimacy.
The Jordan Valley is located over one of the main water basins in Palestine, but the irony is that the basin is forbidden to the indigenous people. Most of the population gets water by transporting it through tanks from far away, which depletes their financial capabilities in the war of survival that has been imposed on them.
6 aug 2019
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IOF soldiers demolished four metal barracks, used to house sheep, on Mohammed Zreina’s farm early on Tuesday morning. At 5.30am IOF soldiers stormed the farm in Beit Jala, Bethlehem and bulldozed the four barracks for the fourth time.
Last night IOF soldiers demolished another family house under construction in Beit Jala. The IOF last demolished these structures on 10th June, arresting and imprisoning Mohammed, his wife Laila Faraj and their son for 25 days. The second demolition happened in March. IOF have also previously demolished the family’s home. In April, their cousin was given one days notice to demolish his own two-storey home in Beit Jala in order to avoid paying the IOF’s demolition fine. |
This was the 6th house in Beit Jala belonging to this family that has been demolished. Mohammed and Laila believe that the IOF is targeting their family.
The farm sits in the shadow of the apartheid wall, as a constant reminder of the occupation. Laila told PNN that the IOF want her family to leave their land but says they do not have anywhere else to go. Laila’s family have been farming this land for more than 30 years.
Laila says that her family will not give up despite the huge emotional and financial burden of these repeated demolitions: ‘If they demolish our barracks again, we will rebuild them again. We will never be afraid of them’, she says repeatedly.
Mohammed estimates the cost of this demolition at 100,000 shekels: this figure accounts for replacing the barracks but also the death of a sheep in the demolition, injury of a horse and damage to olive trees. The family have received no financial aid except after the June demolition, when a French organisation helped them rebuild the barracks.
In a 2017 report [pdf], property destruction, demolition and the lack of quality housing is found to be the single greatest human rights violation inflicted on Palestinian women by the State of Israel.
The report, published by the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC), Community Action Center (CAC), The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), discusses how demolitions, property destruction and night raids are still a daily occurrence in the lives of Palestinian people. The fear of demolition overshadows the lives of many families, especially for those living in area C.
The result of the intimidation and possibility of losing their livelihood and home has profound economic, social, and psychological consequences on women and their families, who are often left homeless, or forced to live in over-crowded, or less than adequate, conditions.
These home demolitions and destructions are carried out because families do not have the correct building permits. These permits are, however, almost impossible to obtain. Palestinians are only allowed to build on 13 percent of the land in East Jerusalem, whilst only 7 percent of all building permits applied for are granted to Palestinians.
The most common reason given for the rejection of permit applications is ‘overcrowding’. Families are often forced to spend thousands of shekels trying to resubmit or appeal permit rejections, which places a huge financial and emotional strain on the family, particularly on the wives and mothers who feel responsible for the families welfare.
IOF soldiers typically demolish houses either at night or in the early morning, adding to the psychological fear of a demolition. Families are usually given a ‘choice’ between IOF soldiers demolishing their house for an extortionate demolition fee or having to demolish the house themselves.
This is an extremely distressing and degrading task for families who have to destroy the homes that they have lovingly designed and built. Since the 1967 occupation, it is estimated by the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions that Israel has razed around 50,000 Palestinian structures. So far in 2019, 265 structures have been demolished, leaving 355 people without a home.
Both the lingering fear of displacement and the trauma that results from a housing demolition are violating the human rights of the Palestinian people, particularly women, and preventing them from enjoying the quality of life they deserve.
The farm sits in the shadow of the apartheid wall, as a constant reminder of the occupation. Laila told PNN that the IOF want her family to leave their land but says they do not have anywhere else to go. Laila’s family have been farming this land for more than 30 years.
Laila says that her family will not give up despite the huge emotional and financial burden of these repeated demolitions: ‘If they demolish our barracks again, we will rebuild them again. We will never be afraid of them’, she says repeatedly.
Mohammed estimates the cost of this demolition at 100,000 shekels: this figure accounts for replacing the barracks but also the death of a sheep in the demolition, injury of a horse and damage to olive trees. The family have received no financial aid except after the June demolition, when a French organisation helped them rebuild the barracks.
In a 2017 report [pdf], property destruction, demolition and the lack of quality housing is found to be the single greatest human rights violation inflicted on Palestinian women by the State of Israel.
The report, published by the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC), Community Action Center (CAC), The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), discusses how demolitions, property destruction and night raids are still a daily occurrence in the lives of Palestinian people. The fear of demolition overshadows the lives of many families, especially for those living in area C.
The result of the intimidation and possibility of losing their livelihood and home has profound economic, social, and psychological consequences on women and their families, who are often left homeless, or forced to live in over-crowded, or less than adequate, conditions.
These home demolitions and destructions are carried out because families do not have the correct building permits. These permits are, however, almost impossible to obtain. Palestinians are only allowed to build on 13 percent of the land in East Jerusalem, whilst only 7 percent of all building permits applied for are granted to Palestinians.
The most common reason given for the rejection of permit applications is ‘overcrowding’. Families are often forced to spend thousands of shekels trying to resubmit or appeal permit rejections, which places a huge financial and emotional strain on the family, particularly on the wives and mothers who feel responsible for the families welfare.
IOF soldiers typically demolish houses either at night or in the early morning, adding to the psychological fear of a demolition. Families are usually given a ‘choice’ between IOF soldiers demolishing their house for an extortionate demolition fee or having to demolish the house themselves.
This is an extremely distressing and degrading task for families who have to destroy the homes that they have lovingly designed and built. Since the 1967 occupation, it is estimated by the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions that Israel has razed around 50,000 Palestinian structures. So far in 2019, 265 structures have been demolished, leaving 355 people without a home.
Both the lingering fear of displacement and the trauma that results from a housing demolition are violating the human rights of the Palestinian people, particularly women, and preventing them from enjoying the quality of life they deserve.
5 aug 2019
Prime Minister Mohammad Ishtayeh said that the government has contacted the Monetary Authority, universities and telecommunications companies to stress the need for all parties to share part of the burden of the financial crisis imposed by the Israeli occupation.
Ishtayeh announced at the start of the Cabinet meeting on Monday in Ramallah that the government is in the process of giving 1145 teachers permanent contracts and employing 1700 new teachers following an agreement between the Ministries of Finance and Education.
He stressed that the academic year will begin on time, and the government will consult the Union of teachers about how to improve working conditions for teachers, and said: “On their shoulders, building a generation.”
The Prime Minister once again expressed his appreciation to the military, security and civilian staff of teachers, health workers, services and all the employees of the Authority for their steadfastness and patience.
He called on citizens not to use the Eid holiday as an opportunity to buy goods from Israel, but to buy them from Palestinian markets instead to support of national products.
He said: “We asked the security services to take seriously the subject of corrupt and smuggled goods to the Palestinian territories and to impose the most severe sanctions on the perpetrators.”
In the political arena, the Prime Minister said that the occupation authorities are attacking, demolishing and attacking daily our cities and villages in areas A, B and C, and treating all these areas and classifications as Area C, and accordingly we are considering that we will deal with with all the Palestinian areas as areas “A”, and we will do everything possible to strengthen our presence on the whole of our land and prevent the excesses of the occupation.
He stressed that the US administration’s comments on the American plan to deal with the two-state solution and talk about autonomy to ensure Israel’s security are rejected by President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership.
He said: “The Palestinian people have rights to fight for it and bring the whole world together, and international conventions and resolutions confirm this, and no one has the right to deprive our people of their political rights to establish an independent state.”
Finally, the Prime Minister praised the Salman of Saudi Arabia for his support for families of the martyrs and prisoners, and stressed the harmony and continuous communication and coordination with Saudi Arabia and King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, and his appreciation for their continue support of our cause.
Ishtayeh announced at the start of the Cabinet meeting on Monday in Ramallah that the government is in the process of giving 1145 teachers permanent contracts and employing 1700 new teachers following an agreement between the Ministries of Finance and Education.
He stressed that the academic year will begin on time, and the government will consult the Union of teachers about how to improve working conditions for teachers, and said: “On their shoulders, building a generation.”
The Prime Minister once again expressed his appreciation to the military, security and civilian staff of teachers, health workers, services and all the employees of the Authority for their steadfastness and patience.
He called on citizens not to use the Eid holiday as an opportunity to buy goods from Israel, but to buy them from Palestinian markets instead to support of national products.
He said: “We asked the security services to take seriously the subject of corrupt and smuggled goods to the Palestinian territories and to impose the most severe sanctions on the perpetrators.”
In the political arena, the Prime Minister said that the occupation authorities are attacking, demolishing and attacking daily our cities and villages in areas A, B and C, and treating all these areas and classifications as Area C, and accordingly we are considering that we will deal with with all the Palestinian areas as areas “A”, and we will do everything possible to strengthen our presence on the whole of our land and prevent the excesses of the occupation.
He stressed that the US administration’s comments on the American plan to deal with the two-state solution and talk about autonomy to ensure Israel’s security are rejected by President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership.
He said: “The Palestinian people have rights to fight for it and bring the whole world together, and international conventions and resolutions confirm this, and no one has the right to deprive our people of their political rights to establish an independent state.”
Finally, the Prime Minister praised the Salman of Saudi Arabia for his support for families of the martyrs and prisoners, and stressed the harmony and continuous communication and coordination with Saudi Arabia and King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, and his appreciation for their continue support of our cause.
Israeli navy attacked today fishermen at the Gaza shores causing a child to lose conscious and damage to the boats, according on Zakaria Baker, a fisherman.
He told WAFA that the Israeli navy opened fire and water hoses at several boats that were fishing six nautical miles off the Sheikh Ajlin coast, west of Gaza City, causing a child to lose conscious and fall into the sea before he was pulled out from the water.
He said the attack damaged the two boats and caused two generators to fall into the sea as a result of the pumping of water and waves caused by the navy with an apparent intention to flip over the boats.
He told WAFA that the Israeli navy opened fire and water hoses at several boats that were fishing six nautical miles off the Sheikh Ajlin coast, west of Gaza City, causing a child to lose conscious and fall into the sea before he was pulled out from the water.
He said the attack damaged the two boats and caused two generators to fall into the sea as a result of the pumping of water and waves caused by the navy with an apparent intention to flip over the boats.
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