PALESTINE BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT
Every human being is born in his homeland, but his native born Palestinian
ARAB ISRAELI CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES FROM PALESTINE The issues revolving around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been dense and complex. The American administration in the past several decades have made noble efforts to resolve, mitigate and merge the two nation states into a civil, if not unified one. The religious implications, as well as cultural ones, surrounding the political issues are multifaceted— and, as it has been seen through policy failures—are difficult to mend. My paper’s aim is to iden-
sues have been central to lectures in EDGE, as the focus has been on poverty and prejudice during the current quarter. Many believe the fight over the Gaza Strip (and the neighboring West Bank) is tiresome and somewhat insignificant. After all, the strip of land is a mere 147 square mile area, cramming in more than 1,022,200 people--and contains no real natural resources which provide monetary riches. It is not one of beauty anymore, as the
tify issues involving the societal status of the nation states, the administrative efforts aimed at protecting the civilians of both countries, the failures of policy to protect immigrants in the United States, and the eventual repercussions of the Arab conflict with the rest of the western world. My paper will focus around mainly political and cultural implications, while keeping in mind the obvious religious complexities which also must be acknowledged. These is-
constant attacks and fights have destroyed it considerably, and yet, it is desired and has been fought for ruthlessly over the past century. Many ask the people why. A Palestinian man explained the sentiment perfectly in the book by Amira Hass, Drinking the Sea at Gaza:
Why do you think we started the intifada Why do you think we want a state
It’s not the land—no piece of land is worth the bloodshed. No, we want a state for the thing itself And so it is, the Palestinians believe the land represents something bolder and greater than its soil or name. The “thing” they are fighting for seems so clear, that often it doesn’t need explanation in that part of the world. In countless interviews throughout the strip, Hass discovered what the Palestinians truly wanted: they wanted to expand the limits of their freedom of choice, personally and nationally. In the long run, they will judge the Oslo Accords, or any agreement for that matter, accordingly. Measured by the breadth of their freedom as a people and as human beings, they will fight for the humanity they once possessed— and that which they will not surrender. The issues regarding Arab-Israeli conflicts are commonly sensational-
ized by the media, creating illusions by which misdirect people’s perceptions in detrimental ways—those which separate Americans from Arabs in a way determined by being Muslim vs. Christian, Arab vs. American. This is simply not justified and should be dismissed for several reasons. Beyond that, American media puts emphasis on the image of Arabs being solely Muslim, and therefore “freedom fighters” when in fact a considerable amount of Arabs in Palestine are Christian. As a side note, my mother in fact was a Christian living in Ramallah, Palestine during the wars of the 1940s and still speaks of the countless Palestinians who are not of the Islamic religion. It is simply not factual to
Haas, Amira. Drinking the Sea at Gaza: Days and Nights in a Land Under Siege. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1996. Haas, 50.
HISTORY OF CONFLICT In The Palestinian People: A History, author Baruch Kimmerling speaks of the ongoing turbulence in the region. As a historian, he outlines the timeline during the past century, and the important events leading up to the present state of affairs in the region. As Israeli’s threw Palestinians out of their land in 1948, distinct communities were formed, separating Palestinians geographically among the region. Eventually, “each community developed its own history, goals, relationship to Palestinism and survival tactics.” Refugees from these divided communities of Palestine were scattered among regional countries and prior differences simply increased their bonds among them. Although many escaped from the turmoil, approximately half of the Palestinians remained in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza—implicitly refusing to abandon their homeland. The “1948 Arabs” who remained in the area, within Israel’s borders, were able to construct a community based on a common identity, that of an “Israeli-Palestinian Arab.” Many of the shunned Arabs viewed this new community as being a contradiction to their beliefs, and viewed many of those staying in the region to be betraying the Arab community. Essentially, their attitude rested on the notion that it was impossible to be an Arab and a Palestinian, while at the same time cooperating with the Israeli state based on Zionist ideologies. After the war in 1967, the 1948 Arabs were able to be accepted as a larger part of the Palestinian com-
munity, as the Palestinian community as a whole was re-uinited. The community resulted in a stronger Palestinian sentiment and brotherhood, one which carried them throughout the following decades in wars with Israel. Politically, the subsequent Oslo agreements and a founding of the Palestinian Authority were enabling to the Palestinian community, though, it also increased the awareness that there was a divided mentality, even among the residents of Palestine. Those remaining in exile against those who were able to maintain permanent residency—and also between the exiles who returned to their homeland with Arafat in 1994 and those who remained outside of Palestine.
Kimmerling, Baruch & Joel S. Migdal. The Palestinian People. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.
FREE PALESTINE Palestinian Arabs living outside their former homeland, that which was taken from them by the Israeli people, were now considered refugees. They were essentially placed in isolation in the surrounding countries where they settled, and the majority of those in exile—over 500,000, resided in Jordan, comprising one-third of Jordan’s population. Jordan was the only Arab state who granted Palestinian Arabs citizenship, and even there, many remained in refugee camps financed primarily by the UN through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, an agency created in 1950 to orchestrate (minimal) funding towards the Palestinians. Among the refugees, almost 200,000 placed into the Gaza Strip, under Egyptian rule, where both their movement and freedom was restricted considerably. Among the nearly 100,000 refugees who settled in Lebanon in 1956, none were granted citizenship due to the Maronite Christian ruling elite, who feared the Muslim population. The decades up to and of the 1990s was filled with continuous efforts to resolve Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian differences through direct negotiations. The Madrid talks of 1991, followed by subsequent meetings at the U.S. state department until June 1993, established precedents for Israeli-Palestinian discussions. The discussions eventually led to the Oslo Accord of September 1993, followed by the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty of 1994. The Israeli-Palestinian pact of 1993
was less than effective, as both sides of were under different preconceptions of what the terms entailed. Many of the terms and agreements were never implemented for this reason, thus leading to a second agreement, the Oslo 2 or “Interim Agreement” of 1995. The assassination of Prime
HEALTH CONCERNS In addition to economic and political issues, the problems of the region have ignited widespread health issues triggered by emotional stress: high blood pressure, respiratory infections, headaches and the like have plagued Palestinians for decades. With each new hermetic closure these conditions worsen, according to Rabah Mohana, the had of the Union of Health Work Committees, a network of nongovernmental clinics set up by the DFLP and PFLP before the intifada. He states that “As many as 60 percent of Gaza’s children sufer from anemia and 90 percent from intestinal parasites. Treating parasites involves treating the whole family, but when borders are closed the family cannot afford to buy the medicine.” The Israeli monopolization over the water supply has also led to disastrous outbreaks of disease and dehydration, as oftentimes they use it as a mechanism of threat. Furthermore, in Gaza, there is no facility for cancer radiation treatment. The government-run hospitals have no equipment for conducting CAT scans or mammograms. Biopsy-analysis skills are wanting and rehabilitation facilities for physical disabilities and head injuries have been completely neglected. Cardiac surgery and the treatment of kidney disease are non-existent. Anyone with needs in any of these areas has to make sure his condition is designated “urgent”; otherwise there is no leaving Gaza when the Strip is sealed. The medical interpretation of urgent has been
proven to be both ambiguous and taken advantage of by the Israeli soldiers. One boy shot during the intifada, was left completely paralyzed when denied access to medical attention across the border. Another one year old girl who had undergone eye surgery in Tel Aviv was scheduled for a checkup—her mother’s request to enter Israel was denied. Throughout the territories, Palestinian health care institutions have suffered the long-term effects of ruinous restrictions and unreliable staffing. West Bank doctors have been barred from traveling to the Strip to perform surgery, causing the delay of medical treatment within Gaza as well. These situations have caused increasing bitterness and animosity in an already unsteady and volatile situation. It is difficult for many Palestinians to believe that (among many other cases) withholding surgery from a three year old, denying a man fertility treatment, and preventing a son from being with his dying mother, have anything to do with security.
EFFECTS ON EDUCATION One of the most painful and symbolic example of the separation is provided by the 1,300 Gazan students enrolled in the West Bank universities who are not allowed to attend classes. The continuous interruption of their studies began in 1991, when Israel revoked the general exit permit enabling Palestinian residents to move about freely. After the 1994 transfer of authorities, Israel withheld the students’ travel permts until long after the semester began and sometimes indefinitely. Some West Bank academic institutions no longer accept students from Gaza because of their erratic attendance. The uncertainty and difficulties have discouraged the many students who would prefer to study at the West Bank universities, which are known to be superior. The students represent a small group compared with the millions who suffer the effects of Gaza’s separation from the West Bank, but their treatment is significant for the future of Palestinian society and emblematic of the post-Oslo reality: the students’ freedom of choice, so vital for the whole community’s intellectual and professional development, has been narrowed to an unprecedented
God willing, we will win
2016-2017
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