Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 46

Occupied
Palestinian
Territory

“Humans have
become the
cheapest thing –
even animals
are treated better.“
Housing insecurity

Home demolitions are an example of a
combination of the visible and the invisible
violence that Palestinians experience. Because the
Israeli government rarely grants building permits
to Palestinians, structures are often built without
permits, with the inhabitants living in constant

“One of my neighbours
had to demolish his house
with his own hands.”
fear of their homes being demolished. From
2006 through May 2014, at least 752 Palestinian
residential units had been demolished in the
West Bank (not including East Jerusalem), causing
3,568 people, – including at least 1,712 minors
– to lose their homes.12 Abdullah Al Khatib, 55
years old, a plumber in Jerusalem, asks, “Which
security are you talking about? We have forgotten
the meaning of this word a long time ago. Every
couple of weeks we see groups of Israeli forces
coming to our area to demolish houses. Many of
our neighbours’ houses were demolished. Israel
doesn’t give permission for Palestinians to build. It
takes from two to ten years to receive permission
and we have to pay very big amounts of money,
which we cannot afford. […] We pay very high
taxes and we receive actually none of the services
compared to what Israelis receive. One of my
neighbours had to demolish his house with his
own hands. They told him if he doesn’t demolish
it in two weeks they will come and demolish
it for him and he would have to pay for the
bulldozer as well.”
The broader sense of insecurity this situation
creates was described by a technical assistant
from the West Bank, who wished to remain
anonymous, “I have land near the settlements on
the Ramallah border, but I can’t build a house
there because it isn’t safe – there are often
confrontations between settlers and Palestinians
– and I can’t even sell it, because no one would
buy it, because they know the situation. If I ever
tried to build a house there they would just come
and demolish it.”
46 stories of Human Security | Palestine

Economic security and livelihoods

“Israel defines the depth of drilling allowed for
the extraction of groundwater. They [the Israelis]
do not allow Palestinian farmers to dig more than
100 meters of water. But, in the settlements they
allow them to dig 200 meters and not just 100.
Not surprisingly, the water is available when the
settlers dig, while the Palestinians cannot find water
in their wells. So farmers in areas north of Jericho
buy water from Israel at a high price despite the
presence of water on their land. They cannot access
it as they are banned by Israel from digging artesian
wells. Therefore many areas of Jericho now suffer
from the problem of water scarcity and crops are
beginning to suffer.” A young West Bank Palestinian
explains, “There is no port, no airport, we don’t
control our resources, and we can’t even import and
export without Israel. If the head of the family is not
provided with security of employment, how can he
provide security and protection for his family?”

Lack of economic security – defined as having stable
employment and being able to provide for one’s
family – was one of the main cross-cutting themes
across the three areas. Economic stability is both
threatened by, and creates, social instability, and thus
becomes the lynchpin of progress and development.
The Palestinian economy cannot provide an
environment whereby stable employment is
available for the majority of the population. A lack
of employment opportunities, whether one has a
degree or thirty years’ experience, was cited in the
West Bank as one of the biggest contributors to
the feeling of a lack of human security. Economic
security was viewed as even worse in Gaza and in
Jerusalem. Even education is seen as a hindrance
rather than a way ahead, as it simply delays the
moment when people will be able to start earning
money; financial gains, rather than academic ones,
are prioritised. Amjad al-Ahmad, in the Ministry
of Economics in Jenin, says, “Economic security is
the basis of development, and as long as there is
no economic security, there won’t be any kind of
security – whether political, social, or anything else.
But there are challenges facing economic security
– for example social challenges, environmental
challenges, unemployment, poverty and tribal
conflicts.”

In East Jerusalem, the economic situation has
deteriorated sharply for many inhabitants.
Restrictions on movement, lack of protection from
violence from settlers, and economic discrimination
have reduced opportunities for many to maintain
their traditional livelihoods. Abu Rashad owns
a shoe store on Salah Al Din street: “This street
used to be called the ‘shopping centre’ but in the
last couple of years, especially after the separation
wall, the market started getting weaker and weaker.
People used to come from many different places
to buy from here but now the market is dead.
Ten years ago and before the separation wall, my
store used to be one of the best stores. Now I’m
thinking of selling or renting it. The Israeli market
is much stronger than the Palestinian market.
The government is supporting them but for us it’s
the very opposite. When the Israelis have some
religious events, the municipality sticks warning
announcements on the doors of the Palestinian
stores which say that the stores have to close
because a big number of Israelis will be passing by
and might cause violent acts.”

The closure of Gaza has not only affected students
and recent graduates, but also the vast numbers
of workers employed in Israel, who used to cross
the border daily to get to work. In addition, high
levels of unemployment have decreased the worth
of education, as a degree is no guarantee of secure
employment. This has serious long-term implications
for society as a whole, especially since the youth
constitutes 70 percent of the population. Many
are unable to get any jobs at all, with 88 percent
aid-dependency, and this has led to a desperation
amongst some to emigrate. A lack of economic
security was seen as a serious threat to the security
of the family, possibly resulting in instability, violence
and fragmentation. If there is a class of disillusioned
youth who know that they will never work no
matter how educated they are, they will turn to
other, perhaps less salubrious means of employment,
which will surely only cause even less security.

Health and food security

In Palestine, food insecurity is driven by high rates
of poverty resulting from unemployment, which
is in part due to ongoing access and movement
restrictions, as well as high prices for food and
economic shocks. Food is available in markets, but
expensive, so households reduce the variety and
nutritional value found in their diet. The majority
of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Another consequence of the occupation which
affects livelihoods is access to natural resources.
Colonel Hilal Abdul Haq, Director of Preventive
Security in Jerusalem and director of Jericho, says,

Menu

In’am Abu Nada is a field worker for Oxfam
in Gaza.
My husband had hepatitis, and he began to have
problems with his nerves in his face. The doctor
was terrible. He didn’t diagnose him properly, didn’t
really try and investigate what was wrong. We were
just given cortisone, and my husband took two
courses. After this his liver failed. We wanted to go
to Egypt, but we had to treat him in Gaza. All they
gave him was painkillers. The treatment outside
Gaza was very expensive – $50,000. We had to
sell the house. We went to Egypt, and as soon as
the doctor saw him, he said ‘the treatment of your
husband is very simple, as long as he has never
taken cortisone’. I told the doctor that he had taken
two courses. My husband only lived six months after
that... He was an engineer at al-Azhar University,
but once he died, that was it, there was no life
insurance, they didn’t pay us anything... Humans
have become the cheapest thing – even animals
are treated better than humans.

spend more than half their income on food. Whilst
health security was a recurring issue across the
territories, the most extreme examples come from
the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip suffers specifically
from the Israeli siege, which does not allow for
even the minimum amount of food to meet the
population’s needs let alone luxuries such as
building materials, or chocolate.13
The blockade on Gaza since 2007 continues
to stifle the local economy and prevents any
meaningful recovery of the most productive
sectors. The already dire economic situation was
compounded in 2013 by the curtailment of the
unofficial tunnel trade, which meant that low-cost
products arriving from Egypt are being replaced by
more costly products arriving via Israel. In addition,
limits on importing construction materials into
Gaza have put pressure on employment.
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