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Discover the complexities of the Israel/Palestine conflict, exploring land issues, refugee crisis, separation barriers, settlements, and daily living struggles like lack of water rights, unemployment, and poverty. Gain insight into the injustice and challenges faced by Palestinians in the region.
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Understanding Theology in the Israel/Palestine Debate An Introduction What about Justice? Rob Dalrymple PhD
What is happening ? • Land
Land • Since 1948, 531 Arab villages have been destroyed by bulldozers or occupied by Israeli residents
What is happening? • Land • Refugees
Refugees • World’s largest refugee crisis: many have been refugees for 63 years • During the 1948 war 800,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes and crossed into neighboring Arab states • Today between 3.7-4.5 million refugees • Yet, any Jewish person in the world today can immigrate (aliyah) to Israel and is granted automatic citizenship; while Palestinians who were born in the country do not have the option of returning to their homeland
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier
Separation Barrier • 8 meters high in many places (2x height of the Berlin wall); more than 450 miles long • Annex’s more than 45% of the West Bank to Israel • Cuts off 12,000 Palestinians from schools and farmland • Built almost entirely beyond the green line; i.e. on Palestinian property against the wishes of the Palestinians
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier • Israeli occupation in the West Bank
Israeli occupation in the West Bank • Road closures and curfews: 120 permanent checkpoints control movement; along with hundreds of permanent road blocks • Palestinians cannot travel from town to town within the West Bank without a permit
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier • Israeli occupation in the West Bank • Settlements
Settlements • More the 300,000 settlers live in the West Bank (these are Israeli citizens who live in Palestinian lands that have been confiscated by Israel) • Geneva convention of 1948 forbid occupying power to transfer parts of its own civilian population into territory it occupies • Hundreds of thousands of settlers now live in the Occupied Territories
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier • Israeli occupation in the West Bank • Settlements • Daily living conditions
Resources: Water rights • Avg Israeli consumes 348 litres of water; avg Palestinian 70 litres • If Palestinians need more water they pay 4x the rate • ‘It is really frustrating when your children are going thirsty and you see settlers next door watering their gardens and swimming in their pools’
Employment • 67% unemployment in Gaza and 48% in the West Bank
Poverty • 75% of Palestinians live on less than $2 a day