By Elena Christaki-Hedrick
One third of the world’s population is now under lockdown due to COVID-19. For many of us, the experience of having our movements restricted by police, military personnel and government officials is a startling infringement upon the liberties we typically enjoy. By contrast, Palestinians, living in the Occupied Territories will find scenes of imposed lockdowns across the globe all too familiar.
Since the 1948 Nakba (‘the catastrophe’) when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or evacuated from their homes by Israeli forces, restriction of movement and freedom has been a feature of their daily lives. Israel now controls approximately 80% of the West Bank and Gaza and these regions have been under Israeli blockade for over a decade. Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem face high unemployment, restricted access to education, scarce health care and inconsistent access to amenities such as electricity and water. The COVID-19 induced lockdown is yet another obstacle to freedom.
All Palestinians carry a colour-coded Identification card which details who they are and where they live: green for those who live in the West Bank and Gaza, and blue for those living in Jerusalem. Green ID holders need permission from the Israeli government to move between zones and permits are refused more often than they are granted. Blue ID holders can travel between zones, but their Jerusalem resident status can be taken away if Israeli authorities deem that they make this journey too often and do not actually work, live or study in Jerusalem - criteria which is often arbitrarily and inconsistently applied. Whether a blue or a green ID holder travel is difficult, with hundreds of checkpoints across the West Bank being used to restrict freedom of movement.
While the rest of the world is told to “stay home”, Palestinians live knowing that home is not necessarily a safe haven. Arbitrary arrests and home demolitions are a feature of Israel’s apartheid regime over Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and COVID-19 has only served to intensify this aspect of the occupation. Human rights organisation Al Haq reports that Israeli forces are confiscating cleaning products from Palestinian volunteers disinfecting schools. Al Haq further reports allegations that two Palestinian workers with symptoms of COVID-19 were left at a checkpoint without being provided with medical care. B’Tselem reported that from 1 March 2020 to 3 April 2020, Israeli forces raided 100 homes in the West Bank and made 217 arrests of Palestinians, including 16 children.
In addition to the daily worries that come with living under Israeli occupation such as food insecurity, water shortages and access to electricity, Palestinians have to worry about whether they will have a roof over their heads the following day. The concern is perfectly captured by B’tselem who make the observation, “the ‘usual’ terror is now compounded by the specific fear of contracting coronavirus from strangers who break into your home and stay there for some time.”
The World Health Organization has reported just 336 cases and 2 deaths in the Occupied Territories (as of 23rd April), but the ongoing displacement and arbitrary detention of Palestinians along with patchy access to healthcare, could cause these figures to spiral. Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza and severe import and export restrictions in the Westbank mean that medical equipment is scarce and Gaza’s healthcare system will quickly become overwhelmed if cases spread. Gaza currently has only about 70 ICU beds for a population of two million people, one of the worst ratios of any region in the world. Meanwhile, in the West Bank there are only 256 adult ventilators available to a population of three million.
While people living in politically stable areas of the world know that the lockdown will come to an end, this comfort is denied to Palestinians for whom lockdown will remain a daily reality. Nonetheless, for the first time, individuals outside the Occupied Territories may be able to relate to the plight of Palestinians in a way unimaginable before.
COVID-19 is yet another curveball in the already complicated fight for freedom, but perhaps as the international community steps out of lockdown it will be a fight that resonates with more and more people around the world.
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