February 2001

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Status Report on Palestinian Human and Economic Rights

Lucy Mair is International Program Coordinator, Center for Economic and Social Rights, 162 Montague Street, 2nd floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201; <LMAIR@cesr.org> www.cesr.org/

The Oslo peace process (which began in 1993) was explicitly based on implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for Israeli withdrawal of occupation forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). In the past seven years, however, Israel's confiscation of Palestinian land and construction of settlements and bypass roads for Jewish settlers has accelerated dramatically in breach of Security Council Resolution 242 and of provisions in the Oslo agreements requiring both parties to respect "the territorial integrity and unity of the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

Since 1993 the Jewish settler population in the West Bank and Gaza has doubled to 200,000 and increased to 170,000 in East Jerusalem. During this same period, Israeli authorities have demolished over 800 Palestinian homes and diverted water from the West Bank for use in Israeli cities and settlements.

Furthermore, from the outset of the Oslo process in 1993 Israel has imposed a continuous policy of border closures that severely limits the movement of Palestinians and their goods in and between the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The result of closure and land expropriation for settlements and bypass roads has been a complete fragmentation of Palestinian land; the West Bank now comprises a patchwork of more than 200 non-contiguous enclaves with entry and exit tightly monitored by Israeli military checkpoints from surrounding Israeli-controlled areas in the OPT.

The situation has deteriorated even more since the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada on September 28, 2000. Grave human rights violations have resulted from the strict Israeli military blockade imposed on the OPT. Many Palestinian population centers are under military siege, with no exit or entry permitted for trade, work, or even medical emergencies. As a result, the Palestinian economy has been severely damaged. The office of the United Nations Special Coordinator (UNSCO) has estimated daily economic losses during this period at over $8 million, not including material damage to physical assets. This crippling of Palestinian trade and other economic activities has extremely negative consequences for the realization of the rights to food, health care, education, and work, as documented below:

• Both inside Israel and in the OPT, the Israeli army has prevented medical aid and personnel from reaching injured Palestinians and has even attacked clearly-marked medical vehicles, wounding medical personnel and killing at least one ambulance driver.
• Unemployment in the OPT has tripled during the crisis, causing severe economic hardship especially for poor and vulnerable sectors of the population.
• Children traveling to and from school in the OPT have come under Israeli fire, and many schools in the OPT have been forced to close.
• Israel has deliberately destroyed Palestinian agricultural land in the OPT and prevented farmers from harvesting their crops.
• Israel has shut down the Gazan fishing industry.
• Israeli use of heavy weapons has destroyed utilities, schools, homes, roads, cars and civilian property throughout the OPT.
• Trade between Gaza, the West Bank and Israel has virtually stopped due to the internal and external closure.
• Israel has closed border crossings to Jordan and Egypt, and restricted use of the airport and seaports, cutting most Palestinian access to the outside world.

Throughout the UN system, Israel has been condemned for its human rights violations both historically and during the Al Aqsa Intifada. Recently the Security Council, Commission on Human Rights, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Special Rapporteur to the OPT and High Commissioner for Human Rights have all censured Israel for violations of humanitarian and human rights law during the current crisis.

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