Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Página 54

Occupied
Palestinian
Territory

Conclusion
and recommendations
There are many gaps in the existing security structures in the
Palestinian territories. The major gaps are due to Israeli control
and hostile occupation and therefore can only be addressed
by ending the occupation. Internally, there are gaps in the
enforcement of the law and in the laws themselves. While there
is some progress on this front, the confusion around the laws
themselves leaves too much leeway for abuse and criminality.
Without even a legal government, rule of law is hardly enforceable.

At the national level, there is a need for forms
of security that can unite rather than divide
the population, and for efforts that build social
cohesion and revive disintegrating values. While
traditional practices can be oppressive in some
cases, they also have their cohesive and positive
side, insofar as they help to solve internal disputes.
Palestinian society also has strong traditions of
openness in relation to women and to different
groups of all kinds, from Gaza to Jerusalem and
Ramallah, to villages and refugee camps.
Another national need is for the protection of
natural resources and for the development of the
economy via control of borders and full human
rights. This includes freedom of movement, which
is one of the most ubiquitous of Israeli abuses
of Palestinian rights. Palestinians are not able
to travel freely within or outside the occupied
territories. There is no control of borders for
Palestinians – the Israeli state has to approve all
entries and exit. Not only are visas granted by
Israel, but so-called Palestinian passports also have
to be approved by Israel.
The primary international implications are that
the human security threats against Palestinians
undermine international law. The history of the
conflict, at least since 1948, has been an example
of the continuous violations of international law.h
This indicates a need for far more advocacy and
awareness raising to encourage the application
of international law. Both regionally and
internationally, the absence of human security for
Palestinians increases the risk of global terrorism,
h See for instance International Court of Justice: Legal Consequences of
the Construction of a Wu11, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory
Opinion, I. C. J. Reports 2004 and UN General Assembly, GA/11317:
‘General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to accord Palestine ‘non-member
observer state’ status in United Nations’. UN. Web. 29 November 2012.
54 stories of Human Security | Palestine

Recommendations

whether by angry and disaffected Palestinians or
by others exploiting the Palestinian cause.

▪  ake a broad and overarching human security
T
approach, focussing on the Palestinians (as well as
the Israelis), to be explored as an option towards
the solution of this long-standing conflict. Ideally it
would be the foundation for a new approach that
would be based on reciprocal dignity and would
therefore negate some of the gross inequalities
of power and economy that currently make real
negotiations impossible. The focus on the official
peace process itself – even on details such as dates
for its prolongation or non-prolongation – should
not take precedence over what people need as
components of peace.

The contributions of the Palestinian perspectives
add up to an urgent need to focus on Palestinian
security and empowerment. An interconnecting
threat is the absence of a state and therefore state
protection. The stories that contributed to this
chapter fuel the argument for a human security
approach towards a solution, so that the real needs
and interests of the Palestinian population can
be addressed. Human security needs to be taken
seriously as the essential ingredient for peace.
Israel has overwhelming military and economic
advantages over the Palestinian population. People
who are frustrated and fragmented and unable
to see a positive future are far more likely to be
violent, especially against those who they see
as immediately responsible for their condition.
Since the root cause of the conflict and of the
absence of human security (including freedom
from fear, want and indignity) for Palestinians is
the Israeli occupation, in place since June 1967,
the occupation needs to be brought to an end.
This would restore a level of dignity to the lives of
the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
who have by now lived for so long under hostile
and humiliating occupation, that humiliation has
become internalised and barely figured in the focus

E
▪  nsure the immediate implementation of
international law, such as in particular the Fourth
Geneva Convention as it applies to territories
occupied by war, and UN resolutions that pertain
to Palestine. A proper adherence of Israel to
international law would immediately improve the
situation of Palestinians. For instance, it would halt
Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank,
which is illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention, which states that “The
Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer
parts of its own civilian population into the
territory it occupies” (Articles 33 and 53).
Focus on a participatory, bottom-up human
▪ 
security approach towards the achievement
of human rights for all, in such a way that it
encourages the contribution of all to the process
of state-building and community building. Such
a process is essential to assure that individual
security needs, including those of women and
girls, are fully understood and met. It is also an
essential part of the empowerment process that
is necessary to overcome the profoundly negative
experience of constant humiliation. This should
also be done in a way that overcomes the ’culture
of dependence‘ that has been built up in recent
years by the international community – however
well-intentioned. A participatory approach
will also generate a strong locally directed and
oriented civil society.

Human security needs
to be taken seriously
as the essential
ingredient for peace.
group discussions and interviews. While there might
be considerable risk from factional disagreements
or from the far from perfect Palestinian security
services, if the