An overview: Distinguished moments in the history of Israel’s occupation in Palestine

Since the exodus at the end of the World War II until Israel’s Independency, the Palestinian territory has suffered reductions. Palestine has devolved from being an independent country to be a territory divided in two nations, and not only that; what once was an Arab majority today is a Jewish majority. Currently, Palestine is mainly a territory teared apart between Israeli and Palestinian people, in the autonomous Palestinian areas of Cisjordan, the Gaza Strip, and Jordan.

To put this into perspective, from a geographical point of view, the Palestine’s region comprises the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River valley (from west to east), and the territory between Litani River and Neguev, without including Sinai (from north to south). The region of Middle East is located in south-western Asia and it limits with Turkey at north, Iran to east, Saudi Arabia and the Arabian ocean shore at south, and with Egypt at west.

Palestine is divided in four geographic areas: from west to east we have the coastal plain, the hill and mountain of Galilea; Samaria and Judea; the Jordan River valley, which separate Cisjordania from Transjordania; and the eastern plateau at the east. In the very southern areas is founded the Néguev desert.

The historical extension of Palestine is 27,023 km² approximately, including the Tiberiades Lake, Al Hula and half of Dead Sea. Israel occupies 78% of these territories, giving to the Palestinians a total area of only 6,335 km², which is divided in: Cisjordania with 5,970 km², and the Gaza Strip, which has an extension of 365 km².

Palestine has from north to south 430 km of extension. The north has a width that oscillates between 51 and 70km; in the centre is 72 to 95 km, in the Jerusalem area; meanwhile, in the southern area is 117km, approximately, between Ráfah, Jan Yçunis and the Dead Sea.

Geography throughout history

1. After World War I, the League of Nations created the Mandatory Palestine, which worked until 1948, when the ONU decided to agree with the distribution of the territory into a Jewish State and an area just for Arabian

.

2. After years of conflict, it has been created a separation plan approved by the world powers to declare Jerusalem an international area.

3. Palestine has become an occupied territory, leaving only a 22% of the historical surface for Palestinians

4. The Palestinian National Authority (1994) has been created to control the national securityof urban and rurals areas in time of war.

Throughout history, Palestine has suffered many geographical changes that had caused the loss of a big part of its territory. Unfortunately, this loss has been bound the  belic fighting since the beginning, because this territory have always been in dispute for many reasons, mainly geographical and religious ones. We thought that the geographical changes that had suffered the Palestine’s territory had been the main motive of its political, economic and social standstill, which hampered the development on the rights that belongs them as a nation.

Finally, we believe that the only way for the Palestinian people to accomplish their development, is to recuperate their territory that had been expropriated by the Israeli side, and thus finally to achieve the ceasefire; and therefore an stop to the civilian casualties that this discord had caused to these two nations.

Palestine and Israel: analysis of the international conflict

Palestine and Israel have maintained tense international relationships for several years. The conflict between Palestine and Israel started in the late XIX century, when the immigrated Jewish community started to develop territorial control plans. The Zionist movement, who was looking forward to creating a Jewish state, saw in Palestine the right place to fulfil its national project. Meanwhile, the Israeli state began to create autonomous institutions, and began to develop exclusionary practices towards Arab people, which caused an increase on violence between Arabs and Jewish people. Besides of this, they presented a territorial partition proposal, which consisted in the creation of two states, an Arabian-Palestinian state and a Jewish one. This proposal raised a high political tension, cause if Palestine had accepted the partition of the territory; it would have meant they were legitimating Israel’s state plan and, within it, the establishment of Zionist colonies.

In May 1948, the Jewish community declared the creation of the State of Israel, act that triggered military intervention and so the first Arabian-Israeli war, besides the occupation of territory that were not included in the partition plan, causing the migration of most of the Palestinian population that was still there. After the confrontation, the self-declared Jewish State was consolidated and received economic and political support from the European powers. On the contrary, Palestine saw frustrated the right to have their own state, being scattered in several countries.

Currently the Israeli regime has converted Palestine in a state of permanent emergency, with continuous political persecution, the appropriation of its natural resources (water and soil ), the progressive expropriation of lands for the installation of settlers and military bases, the gradual Judaization of the east land of Jerusalem and the total subordination of Palestinian economy into Israel’s.

Palestine organized a State in its exile, which reached international recognition. Progressively the idea of territorial partition was being accepted, but demanding the materialization of the national rights of Palestinian people: right to self-determination, the right to have a State and the return of the refugees. Unfortunately nor the diplomatic way or the armed struggle came into results. Taking up again this initiative, in November 1988 the Palestinian National Council, an exiled parliament, declared the State of Palestine.

Being an outsider spectator and seeing this situation, it turns out very complicated to understand the reasons of this conflict. Currently, massacres, forced transferring and also the apartheid continue. This permanent situation in which the Palestine people are living caused by the Israeli State is uncontrollable. We thought that the crimes that Israel has committed against Palestine people have reached dimensions similar to the atrocities that the same Jewish people suffered during the holocaust.

We are in front of a State with clearly racist foundations based in an exclusionary ideology, that is why the conflict has not ceased, and neither an international settlement has been stated. We thought that as long as Israel keeps maintaining Zionism in its people’s mind, they won’t be willing to share a part of “their” territory with Palestine, because according to their own point of view this would be a threat for their unfounded superiority as a state.

Unfortunately, there is no way to negotiate border limits with Israel, because they do not respect nor human rights nor international policies. They justify their actions based on the security of their people only, without measuring the consequences of their acts. In this moment, there is no political willingness from the ONU countries to forced them to respect the international legislation that the United Nations itself proposed in 1947.

We are in front of a horrible scenario where any diplomatic solution for the Palestinian people is unviable because of the Israeli restrictions. Facing this hopeless situation, we ask ourselves how Palestinian people can achieve their own liberation, considering the interrupted negotiations and that “democratic countries” does not legislate to his favor, although they consolidate Israel as “the only democracy in the Middle East”. But now, where is the so called “democracy”, if the aggression from Israel to Palestine never ends, denying its responsibility for the transgression to human rights? Israel has been allowed to develop systematic violation towards Palestine’s human rights, besides the political support they have been receiving on war crimes, committed so many times in their different attacks.

To conclude, we find the struggle of Palestinian people is legit, and that this situation could change only if the Israeli State returns the stolen territories and pays for his several violations to Human Rights. The world should/must not be indifferent to the situation in the Middle East, because only with willingness and international support, the so long-awaited peace can be achieved, for this broken and damaged people. Damage caused by nationalism created in the West, meaningless to Arabian culture. 

Samir Abdallah breaks the silence

The serious socio economic situation in Gaza and Cisjordan is the result of the blockade that Israel has imposed since 1967.
A few days ago we had a deep and interesting conversation with the Palestinian National Ph. D in Economics, Samir Abdallah, in order to understand more about the development of the economy in the region during the conflict.

  

1. At this moment, how is state of the Palestine economy?

Nowadays, the Palestine economy is paralyzed due to the constant Israeli invasions of the autonomous areas of Palestine, that restrain the development of our  national economy.

2. That means that the standstill of the economy in the area is because of (owing to) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Yes, the restrictions against the Palestine economic development  have caused the excessive emigration, and a migration workforce also, from Palestine to Israel. The crisis is getting worse in the autonomous Palestine areas and in the occupied territories, because, unfortunately my country depends on the economy of Israel.

3. Since when that standstill has been happening?

Since 2007, The Tel Aviv government maintain a siege against gaza, restraining people from exercise their main rights, for example, their labor rights, educational rights, health care rights and the most important one: the freedom of movement.

4. What is the unemployment rate caused by the standstill in the Palestine economy?

The rate is approximately 37% in adults. Our economy does not produce more than 1,000 jobs per year while the workforce growth just in 16,000 people every year, without job the Palestinian have only two options: a job in Israel or emigrate to another country.

5. So, the conflict caused a Palestine dependency of Israel.

Evidently, the conflict caused a political and financial dependency and because of that the 30% of the workforce depends of Israel, and in Gaza this percentage increased to a 50%. 70,000 of the Palestinian in Cisjordania and 50,000 of Gaza work daily in Israel according to sources of the Palestinian sindicalist.The number of Palestinian workers increased tenfold since 1976 and 600,000 palestinian depends of the Israeli labor market.

6. What would happen if Cisjordania became part of Palestine again?

If Palestine have access to a more than a half of Cisjordania, besides others resources, for example the fruitful soil for agriculture placed in the occupied territories for the Israeli regime, our GDP could grow in a third, thinking about the actual GDP of Palestine. If Israel take back the restrictions and the area of Cisjordania was returned, the annual incomes could increase in 800,000,000, and this could reduce the fiscal deficit in 50%, and eventually reduce the dependency of others countries.

7. You could say at this moment that the Palestine economy have been sustain by the resources of others countries?

Yes, at this moment Palestine depends economically on Iran, because Egypto stopped to sustain our public expenditures. Sweden has become a financial support for the refugee community contributing with 200,000,000 for the next five years. And at the same time the European Union contribute with humanitarian help to Gaza but exempted from financial help.

8. According to your point of view, is it correct to say that worldwide there is a strong recognition of Palestine as an autonomous State?

Through the years our State has been recognized by a big portion of the world’s population, including more than 130 countries around the globe. For us this recognition is very important, because it helps us to rectify our image as an autonomous and independent State facing the Zionist Israeli oppression.

9. From this recognition has emerged a strong campaign in rejection of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory. The campaign called BDS stands for the boycott, divestment and sanctions to the Economy of Israel. This NGO criticizes the famous people that do campaigns in favor of the Israeli companies that are located in the occupied territories, but those companies have declared that they are not doing anything wrong because they are employing Palestine people. What is your reaction to this situation?

The fact that they are using the same argument that was used to defend the South African Apartheid is really disturbing. During those years people used to say that the boycott would be prejudicial to the South African workers, but that turned out to be a lie. Giving to the people some jobs while other people are occupying their land and stealing their homes is not a way to make progress in this situation. The Palestine labor unions and workers have expressed clearly when they said: ‘We want freedom, we demand justice. Those are our main demands.’ You cannot place people in a captive economy and tell them: ‘You have a few jobs, you should be very happy.’ The main demand of the Palestine people is the end of the occupation of their territories and the end of the apartheid. Palestine workers prefer to live in freedom, with dignity and justice instead of having those jobs. In fact, they do not have another option because the Palestine economy is in custody.

10. And what happen with the divestment and the sanctions to the Israeli companies that are not located in the occupied territories?

The campaign also incites to condemn the Israeli companies that are not in the territories in conflict. This is because of the Settlement Policy and the occupation that comes directly from the State of Israel; it was a direct decision of the government. We resist this system that discriminates the Palestine citizens of Israel that live as a third class citizens in their own country. We also resist to the occupation and we claim the right of return to the refugees. We are really satisfied with the recent call to boycott the illegal settlement, but the BDS campaign not is only against these settlements –considered illegal by the international legislation- but it also claims for the freedom, the justice and the equality for the Palestine nation.

11. Do you believe that this campaign has possibilities to make a change for the situation that Palestinian people are living?

Yes, it is a powerful tool because it gives the opportunity to people around the world to claim responsibilities to their governments and their companies to stop being accomplice of the Israeli crimes against the Palestine people. Before, the people used to talk about the human rights violations against the citizens of Palestine, they could watch it on TV, or in the news, but they did not know what to do to help. The BDS campaign gives them a tool to act, to say to their governments: ‘You cannot do this on our behalf’. It returns the power to the people.

12. And, keeping in mind everything that we have talked about in this interview, what would happen with the economy if the regions of Palestine and Israel were divided by a borderline? And, if Palestine became part of Israel?

It is not a viable option the possibility of Palestine becoming part of Israel, neither for our people nor for our economy. Being part of Israel would destroy everything that we have built through the years as a community. What our nation wants is to recover the territories that we have lost due to this war, in order to recover the economy so that we would not depend on the financial supply from other nations and organizations.