Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 44

Occupied
Palestinian
Territory

Palestinian perspectives
on human insecurity
The focus groups and interviews covered a wide range of topics,
including military security and repression, the Israeli occupation,
and societal security. The latter includes social services, including
education, social justice, security of employment, and the poverty
caused by the occupation. In all contexts, human security was
unanimously found to be severely lacking.

While the occupation was discussed, it was not
cited as the only reason for the absence of human
security. Many security needs that would normally
be provided by a state are absent, such as protection
from military and personal physical attacks, or
from the danger of arrest and possible torture, even
for minors. Also missing is protection from land
confiscation or having one’s home destroyed, or the
absence of freedom of movement and other basic
human rights.
Although it is clear that the occupation affects
almost every aspect of Palestinian life, it would
be inappropriate to portray the Palestinians as
victims in every sphere, with no autonomy or
responsibility over the internal issues within their
society. The lack of human security has been
exacerbated by other factors such as the internal
rift between the two major political factions, Fatah

“n Palestine, we are still
I
struggling to get our
independence, and the
whole nation is busy in
deconstructing occupation
and collecting the pieces of
our fragmented identity.”
44 stories of Human Security | Palestine

and Hamas (at the time of the interviews), by the
weakness of law enforcement in the areas of the
Palestinian Authority, and by the increasing culture
of dependency on international aid, linked with
decreasing economic opportunities.
However, the effects of the occupation – physical
and psychological – cannot be underestimated.
As one participant said, “In Palestine, we are still
struggling to get our independence, and the whole
nation is busy in deconstructing occupation and
collecting the pieces of our fragmented identity.”
The geographical fragmentation imposed by Israel
contributes to concomitant social fragmentation. It
was difficult for the respondents to begin to think
of rebuilding the three pillars of human security –
freedom from want, freedom from fear and a sense
of personal dignity – under the circumstances of
the occupation.

Narmeen Abu Baker lives in Jerusalem and
married a Palestinian man from the West
Bank.
Like any girl in the world, I loved a man who was
my friend at university. When we decided to marry,
we realised our complicated situation. I’m from
Jerusalem with a blue ID and he’s from the West
Bank with a green ID. You feel all your dreams
could be broken in seconds. But we insisted that
we should face this together and we believed that
our love was stronger than the occupation. So we
decided to marry.

Life under siege

The occupation has both visible and invisible
elements, which equally affect the lack of human
security in Palestine. The former include, for
instance, the denial of freedom of movement
to Palestinians, which is now epitomised by the
separation walls, the heavy Israeli military presence
in Jerusalem, at the check-points, and the many and
multiplying settlements. There are multiple kinds
of military and non-military violence, including
imprisonment, shooting with live ammunition,
bombing, and exile.

After marriage, my life started getting more and
more complicated. I was working in Jerusalem
and we had to live in Ramallah in the West Bank
because my husband doesn’t have a permit to
live in or enter Jerusalem. I had to pass through
Qalandia checkpoint every day to go to work. After
I got pregnant I started getting really exhausted
[from standing] in a crowded place for so long.
In my last month of pregnancy, I had to stay at
my parent’s house to give birth in Jerusalem to
prove that my baby was born in Jerusalem and
has the right to get the blue ID and get health
insurance. My husband was able to visit me for
one day. He entered Jerusalem illegally because
he wasn’t given a permit. And when I was in labour
he couldn’t make it because police were all over
the place. It was very heartbreaking to feel that at
the hardest mom V