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Prepared by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Presented by Dr. Rima Khalaf

The Note of the Secretary General on the Economic and Social Repercussions of the Israeli Occupation on the Living Conditions of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, and the Arab Population in the Occupied Syrian Golan.

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Prepared by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Presented by Dr. Rima Khalaf

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  1. The Note of the Secretary General on the Economic and Social Repercussions of the Israeli Occupation on the Living Conditions of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, and the Arab Population in the Occupied Syrian Golan Prepared by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Presented by Dr. Rima Khalaf Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary Economic and Social Council Substantive Session July 2012

  2. Legislative Mandate ECOSOC Resolution 2011/41: • Concern over Israeli practices that violate international humanitarian law • Movement restrictions [including the Gaza blockade] • Violence against civilians • Incarceration of Palestinians, including children under harsh conditions • Destruction of homes and properties, and agricultural lands and orchards • Expansion of Israeli settlements • Construction of the wall • Exploitation of natural resources GA Resolution 66/225: • Reaffirms the inalienable rights of the peoples under Israeli occupation over their natural resources • Demanding a halt to the exploitation, damage, or endangerment of natural resources • Stressing the illegality of the wall and the Israeli settlements • Calling upon Israel to desist from altering the character and status of the occupied territory, including East Jerusalem • Calling for the cessation of all actions harming the envireonment • Calling for the cessation of the destruction of Palestinian vital infrastructure Inputs and contributions by: UNCTAD, UNRWA, OCHA, ILO, FAO, WHO, UNSCO, UNEP, OHCHR, DPA

  3. The Occupied Palestinian Territory a. Excessive Use of Force and Detentions

  4. OPT: Excessive Use of Force and Detentions • 122 Palestinians including 12 children killed 2077 others were injured (30 March 2011 - 29 March 2012) • Israeli Military Law: demonstrations as illegal assemblies • 4,411 Palestinians in Israeli prisons including 183 minors (February 2012) • Alleged ill-treatment or torture (including children) • 320 Palestinian administrative detainees (February 2012) • - No trial or charges • - No access to information on which the detention is based

  5. The Occupied Palestinian Territory b. Home Demolitions, Property Confiscation and Population Displacement

  6. OPT: Home Demolitions, Property Confiscation and Population Displacement • 25,500 Palestinian structures demolished since 1967 • 620 Palestinian structures demolished in 2011 • 42% increase compared to 2010 • 1100 Palestinians displaced • Extremely difficult for Palestinians to obtain building permits • 20,000 outstanding demolition orders • 86,500 Palestinians at risk of displacement in East Jerusalem

  7. OPT: Home Demolitions, Property Confiscation and Population Displacement • Israeli authorities revoked the residencies of: • 14,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites (1967-2011) • 140,000Palestinian residents of the West Bank (1967-1994) • 100,000 Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip (1967-1994) In total, Israel has in practice exiled more than 250,000 Palestinians since the occupation of the territories (excluding the refugees of the 1967 and 1948 wars) • Palestinian East Jerusalemites • lose their permanent residency status if they: • Reside outside for seven years • Obtain permanent residency or citizenship in another country • Considered in violation of the “loyalty to the State of Israel” law

  8. The Occupied Palestinian Territory c. Israeli Settlements and Settler Violence

  9. OPT: Israeli Settlements and Settler Violence “new frontiers of dispossession of the traditional inhabitants…” UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing • 519,000 Israeli settlers in 144 settlements and 100 ‘outposts’ • 40% of the West Bank seized for settlements • Institutionalized discrimination • 20% rise in construction starts in 2011 • Settlements threaten the contiguity of the Palestinian territory

  10. OPT: Israeli Settlements and Settler Violence • Settler violence and takeover of Palestinian property continues with impunity: • Encourages further violence • Violation of international humanitarian law: protecting a civilians under occupation • 30% increase in the number of settler attacks was recorded in 2011, compared to 2010. • 10,000 Palestinian trees damaged or uprooted • 7 mosques and 1 church vandalize or torched • Harassment of Palestinian children on their way to school The Israeli army appeared to provide direct support to settlers when they attacked Palestinian communities

  11. The Occupied Palestinian Territory d. The Wall • The International Court • Of Justice: •   “ The construction of • the wall being built by Israel… • is contrary to international law” • “Israel… is under obligation to: • to cease… the works of construction •  …to dismantle forthwith the structure… • …to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall ”

  12. The Occupied Palestinian Territory e. Mobility Restrictions and Closure Policies

  13. Mobility Restrictions in the West Bank: • Closed Areas/Natural Reserves • Road Obstacles • The Wall • Restricted Roads • Settlements • By the end of 2011: • 520 obstacles hindering Palestinian movement (4 per cent increase from 2010) • 200,000 Palestinians have to use 2 to 5 times longer detours • The Old City of Hebron separated from the rest of the city by 122 closure obstacles • 87 per cent of the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea earmarked for Israeli use only • Palestinians with West Bank IDs require special entry permits to access East Jerusalem • During 2011, Israel has prevented 4000 Palestinians from travelling to Jordan Fragmentation Source: OCHA-OPT (2008) Areas A and B (Oslo Accords) Areas C

  14. The Gaza Strip: Blockade and Access Restrictions • Blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip since June 2007: • collective punishment in direct violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention • Most fundamental parameters of Israel’s blockade remain in place • Movement of Palestinians in and out difficult and largely banned • Limited access of humanitarian assistance • Importation of basic construction materials heavily  restricted • 1-1.5 km ‘buffer zone’ in the Strip • Denying Palestinians access to 35% of the Strip’s agricultural land • Sea areas beyond 3 nautical miles barred for Palestinians • 200 Nautical miles is the Exclusive Economic Zone for UN member states • 65,000 people affected by restrictions to maritime areas Map Courtesy of OCHA-OPT

  15. The Gaza Strip: Blockade and Access Restrictions “For over five years in the Gaza Strip, more than 1.6 million people have been under blockade in violation of international law. More than half of these people are children. We the undersigned say with one voice: End the blockade now”

  16. The Occupied Palestinian Territory f. Impact on Natural Resources and the Environment

  17. OPT: Impact on Natural Resources and the Environment Palestinians live under water stress: The West Bank • 83 cubic metres per Palestinian per year, compared to 333 per Israeli • Palestinians banned from drilling new wells – quotas on existing ones • Water allocated to Palestinians capped at 1967 levels • Israel uses 83% of West Bank’s water - sells the remaining to Palestinians • 30 springs in the West Bank seized by Israeli settlers • The Wall isolated 58 water sources The Gaza Strip • Gaza will have no drinkable water in 15 years • Ground well water infiltrated by salty sea water because of Israel over-pumping (1967 and 2005) • Farmers forced to use salty and polluted water for irrigation

  18. OPT: Impact on Natural Resources and the Environment • Israeli High Court of Justice enabled Israeli quarries in the West Bank: • Started in mid-1970s • 10 Israeli-owned quarries active in the West Bank • Israeli industrial zones in the occupied territory: • 18 Israeli industrial zones (7 owned by the Israeli government) • 160 industrial facilities • Flow of industrial wastewater into adjacent Palestinian lands

  19. The Occupied Palestinian Territory g. Social and Economic Indicators

  20. OPT: Social and Economic Indicators • Economic growth in OPT: unsustainable and recovery from a low base • Gaza’s real GDP 6% below 2005 level • Labor force participation rate 44.4% (Q4 2011): • 21% unemployment rate among labour force participants • 38% unemployment rate youth (aged 20-24) • Purchasing power declined 2.8% in 2011 • 80% of Gazans dependent on international assistance Best Case Scenario: Gaza’s real GDP per capita by 2013 would remain at 10% below its 1994 level

  21. OPT: Social and Economic Indicators • 27% of Palestinian families food insecure • Underweight children: 3.9% • Threefold increase in demand for mental health services • 95% of patient ambulance transfers into Jerusalem restricted • In Gaza… • Disproportionately high number of cases of “blue-baby syndrome” • 1 in 3 Gazans live in over-crowded and dilapidated camps • 32-36% of essential medicines at zero stock throughout 2011 • 640 out of 900 required medical disposables unavailable • 54% of pregnant women experiencing depression, 33% suffering from anemia • 25% of UNRWA mental health patients were children

  22. OPT: Social and Economic Indicators • Harassment and violence against school children, youth and teachers going to and from school • 32 attacks by Israeli settlers and security forces against Palestinian schools • More than 94% of UNRWA Gaza schools operate on a double-shift basis • Shipping containers utilized as classrooms • In the West Bank, at least 10,000 students have to study in tents, caravans or tin shacks

  23. The Occupied Syrian Golan

  24. The Occupied Syrian Golan • 22,000 Syrians in five towns v/s 19,000 Israeli settlers in 33 settlements • Discrimination against Syrian workers and landowners: • Land expropriation • No permits for the expansion of the Syrian villages • Syrian workers do not benefit from social security arrangements and cannot form their own trade unions • Syrian citizens not allowed to exploit their water resources: • No drilling of artesian wells or building of water collection tanks • Forced to pay higher prices for water extracted from their land • Syrian farmers subjected to water rationing – Israeli farmers do not • Syrians arrested for attempting to contact the home country • To date, 532 injuries including 202 fatalities due to landmines

  25. Recommendation End the Israeli occupation www.un.org/regionalcommissions

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