June 29: Corona Virus Update in Palestine

At a time when the Corona virus crisis has crowded out other news, the Alliance is producing news briefs every two weeks to keep our members informed about the situation in occupied Palestine.  

Brief for June 29, 2020

Covid-19 cases have spiked upward in Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel had 23,755 cases by June 28 and 318 deaths; the West Bank and East Jerusalem 2112 cases and 6 deaths. Closures have been re-imposed on Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus.  In the Gaza Strip cases remain at 72, with 1 death.    

Countdown to Annexation

With the Israeli Knesset primed to consider annexation (Israel prefers the term ‘applying sovereignty’) of as yet unspecified areas of Palestinian land on or soon after July 1, Netanyahu has come under growing pressure from the UN, EU, Jordan, the Arab League and Congressional Democrats to abandon annexation plans.  While 120 of 198 Republicans in the House wrote Netanyahu endorsing annexation and blaming Palestinians for refusing to accept the Trump plan, 189 of 233 Democrats signed a June 25th letter expressing opposition to annexation, and Joe Biden termed it “a huge mistake.”  But so far the condemnations have been consequence-free, although on June 26 the Belgian parliament urged the EU to implement sanctions if annexation goes ahead.  US Secretary of State Pompeo said on June 24 that it is up to Israel to decide what to do.  

The West Bank and East Jerusalem

Despite Israel’s Covid-19 upsurge and new restrictions on movement, the IDF has made some 200 incursions and raids on West Bank villages, and violently suppressed several demonstrations. Settlers have attacked farmers and set fire to their fields. Houses have been demolished in East Jerusalem, including Silwan where 500 houses are earmarked for demolition. On June 23, Ahmad Moustafa Erekat, the nephew of Saeb Erekat (the chief Palestinian negotiator), was shot by soldiers and left to bleed to death at a checkpoint near Bethlehem.  He had hit a curb when he was in a hurry to pick up his mother and sister at a Bethlehem beauty salon so they could get back to Abu Dis in time for his sister’s wedding.    

The Gaza Strip

On June 26, Israeli warplanes and artillery bombed several sites in Gaza.  Fishing boats continue to be attacked, while farmers have been fired on in their fields on at least 6 occasions. The PA’s decision to cut ties with Israel has meant there is no travel coordination to enable severely ill patients to reach medical treatment outside of Gaza.  Eight-month-old Omar Yaghi died on June 18 when he was blocked from leaving the Strip for life-saving heart surgery. See these sources: Palestine Chronicle and Palestine Center for Human Rights.  

See: The Palestine Chronicle and Palestine Centre for Human Rights

Campaigning against Plans for an Industrial Zone in the West Bank

Environmental and anti-occupation activists are campaigning against plans to establish an industrial zone near the settlement town Beitar illit, a project they say threatens traditional agriculture and a world heritage site.

 The area near Wadi Fukin houses beautiful old terraces for traditional agriculture, used by generations of local Palestinian farmers. The same water sources are used to irrigate the terraces as the ones farmers used hundreds of years ago.

Battle rages over Israel's plan for industrial zone in unique West Bank landscape

Terraced agricultural fields are seen in the Palestinian farming village of Battir, south of Jerusalem, Dec. 12, 2012. Photo by REUTERS/Ammar Awad.

Invest in Justice: A Letter to Congress

WASHINGTON, DC, June 23rd, 2020

Led by US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), Adalah Justice Project, MPower Change, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Democratic Socialists of America Palestine Working Group, Students for Justice in Palestine: University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and Eyewitness Palestine, 68 progressive organizations responded to the Black Lives Matter uprising and Israel’s thread to annex more Palestinian lands by calling on Congress to divest from militarism and policing, from the US to Palestine. A PDF is available here and individuals can take action here.

Dear Members of Congress,

We, the undersigned organizations committed to shaping policy towards justice for all people, call on Congress to take concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its stated plans to formally annex the West Bank, as well as for its ongoing military occupation, displacement, and oppression of the Palestinian people, by ending US military funding to Israel. Further, we call on you to stop the flow of federal dollars to local police. These demands stem from our united commitment to divest from militarism and instead invest in community needs, like education, housing, and healthcare for all, in order to create safety and justice for all.

The U.S. investment in militarism and policing of communities of color is global, and so our vision for justice policy must be shaped by our commitment that racial justice has no borders. Just as we join in the demand for our tax dollars to be divested from brutal police violence and a repressive military response to protesters asserting that #BlackLivesMatter, we call for an end to U.S.-funded violence abroad.

The Israeli government has clearly stated its intent to formally annex parts of the West Bank – a process that has been de facto underway for decades. Annexation is a war crime that will undoubtedly result in continued violence against Palestinians, including in the forms of home demolitions, displacement, and land theft. Our tax dollars must go toward the desperately needed PPE for healthcare workers caring for our communities, financial relief for undocumented and indigenous people, and meeting the needs of the global climate crisis by implementing policies like the Green New Deal.

Firstly, we call on you to take concrete steps to hold the Israeli government accountable for its ongoing human rights violations and oppression against the Palestinian people by ending the annual flow of $3.8 billion in military and weapons funding.

We are deeply disappointed that the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has chosen this time to prioritize passage of S. 3176 the United States-Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2020. Rather than demanding accountability, passage of this bill – and its companion in the House H.R. 1837 – sends a message that Israel can take any action with total impunity. We ask that you speak out firmly against S. 3176/H.R. 1837 now and oppose the final legislation should it come to a vote. Now is the time to hold the Israeli government accountable and show that the U.S. will not fund ongoing Israeli military injustices.

Secondly, we call on you to uplift the vision of safety first advanced by the Movement for Black Lives, to divest from policing and militarism and instead invest in Black communities by reallocating resources to community-led safety initiatives, education, housing, and healthcare for all. Concretely, this means immediately amending the HEROES act to defund the $300 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, and working to end it entirely. It also means taking further federal action to advance the vision laid out in the 8 To Abolition policy demands.

As we build a new future coming out of this pandemic, we must build towards justice and safety for all people—from the U.S. to Palestine.

Signed:

National Organizations:

18 Million Rising
About Face: Veterans Against the War
Adalah Justice Project
Al-Awda: The Palestine Right To Return Coalition, National Body
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
American Muslims for Palestine
Another Gulf Is Possible Collaborative
Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
Center for International Policy (CIP)
Democratic Socialists of America Palestine Working Group
Eyewitness Palestine
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ)
Islamophobia Studies Center
Jewish Voice for Peace Action (JVPA)
MediaJustice
Mijente
MPower Change
National Arab American Women Association
National Lawyers Guild – Palestine Subcommittee
National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP)
Palestine Legal
Palestinian Youth Movement
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
Uprooted & Rising
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)
US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)
Veterans for Peace
War Resisters League

National Church Based Organizations:

Disciples Palestine/Israel Network (Disciples PIN)
Episcopal Peace Fellowship – Palestine Israel Network (EPF PIN)
Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church
Mennonite Palestine Israel Network (MennoPIN)
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME)
United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network (UCC PIN)
United Methodists’ Holy Land Task Force (UMHLTF)

Local/Community Organizations:

AF3IRM Hawai‘i, HI
AF3IRM Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
AF3IRM San Francisco-Bay Area, Oakland, CA
Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, Cambridge, MA
Arab American Civic Council, Orange County, CA
Asian American Advocacy Fund, GA
Christian-Jewish Allies for a Just Peace for Israel/Palestine, Philadelphia, PA
Corvallis Palestine Solidarity, Corvallis, OR
Dorchester People for Peace, Dorchester, MA
Dream Defenders, FL
Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, IN
Justice For Muslims Collective, DC, MD, & VA
Law Student for Justice in Palestine: Berkeley Law School, Berkeley, CA
New Generation for Palestine, Detroit, MI
Occupation Free DC, Washington, DC
Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, VA
Peace Action Massachusetts, MA
Peace Action Montgomery, Montgomery County, MD
Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee, Pittsburgh, PA
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC), Portland, OR
Progressive Peace Coalition, Columbus, OH
Students for Justice in Palestine: Bard College, Mid-hudson valley, NY
Students for Justice in Palestine: Brown University, Providence, RI
Students for Justice in Palestine: Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
Students for Justice in Palestine: Claremont Colleges, Claremont, CA
Students for Justice in Palestine: Earlham College, Richmond, IN
Students for Justice in Palestine: Montclair University, Montclair, NJ
Students for Justice in Palestine: University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Students for Justice in Palestine: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Tree of Life Educational Fund, CT
Yalla Indivisible, Orange County, CA
Yemeni Alliance Committee (YAC), CA

Water as a Weapon against Palestinians

Soon after the 1967 war, Israeli leaders discussed how to expel the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians newly under its military occupation. Levi Eshkol, then Israel’s prime minister, proposed: “If we don’t give them enough water they won’t have a choice, because the orchards will yellow and wither.”

The Jordan Valley has 927 square miles of the most fertile land in Palestine. Israel’s illegal settlements and military closures restrict Palestinians from 91% of the land. At least 18 illegal military outposts (7 of which were established after Trump became U.S. president) close off 60% of the area.

Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley once cultivated about 15,000 dunums of land. Now the area has shrunk 50% as a result of Israel forbidding access to water and increasing its allocation of water in larger quantities to the illegal settlements. Illegal Israeli settlers consumes 8 times more water than Palestinians. 

 The Jordan Valley’s rich water sources include the Jordan River Basin, the Dead Sea, and numerous springs. If Palestinians had access to their land and water, their agricultural yield would increase by $1.6 billion annually. 

Israel regularly cuts off the water supply to Palestinian towns and villages, demolishes Palestinian water pipes and wells, and forbids people from digging new wells, repairing old ones—or even setting up cisterns to collect rainwater.  

Trucked-in water often costs 50% of a Palestinian family’s monthly expenditure.

Israel’s systematic demolitions of Palestinian homes, denial of building permits (including toilets and structures for privacy)—and destruction of water pipelines and water tanks—make it impossible to maintain a sanitary environment, particularly for the everyday personal hygiene needs of women and girls, and, now, for the necessity of frequent handwashing as a measure against COVID-19.

For sources, see facts 42, 83, 92, 114, 134, 141 here on the Alliance’s website.