The Palestinian Resistance to Israeli Occupation and COVID-19
The Palestinian resisitance towards the Israeli government has been ongoing for 73 years. During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the region had a very small percentage of Jews. Yet, tensions were high because of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and they turned into sectarian conflict between the Jews and the Arabs. Israel occupied several Palestinian territories in 1967 after the Six-Day War, but resistance has continued to this day. What started out as disputes over land, has now turned into the dehumanization of Palestenians who virtually hold little to no power.
A two-state solution is the most desirable solution, giving Palestine autonomy to be a free nation. Though, Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, it also makes it almost impossible for Palestine to be a free state. Challenges on having consensus over borders, sharing Jerusalem, return of Palestinian refugees, and providing any security for Palestine has been a nonstarter for the right-wing government of Israel led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Another challenge is the United States unwillingness to condemn Israel for any wrongdoing. The United Nations Security Council has condemned Israel for human right violations, but the US continues to block resolutions. The government has self-appointed itself to be the power broker in the Middle East post the Cold War. They strategically benefit by conservatively supporting nations like Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia who all are notoriously known for doing harm while getting away with it. With more money and arms-deals between all of them, it has enabled extremism, particularly with Zionists in Israel.
Zionists tie their Jewish roots to the state. This created a sense of self-isolation from the rest of the region. Being defensive towards any criticism of the state of Israel is compensated with being labeled as Anti-Semeitic and followed with public shaming. An attack on Israel is an attack against the Jewish religion. Which is not the case, but if world leaders do not see that then others will not either.
For example, there was a policy position titled “Free Palestine’’ on my campaign website when I ran for Congress last year. It advocated for fair and equal treatment for Palesntians living under Israeli occupation. Though Palestine was the centerpiece for human rights, the position included holding other US allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, accountable for human right violations. I was unsurprised to find out Jewish news outlets attempted to vilify me if I was only singling out Israel. Nevertheless, I believed that though there was no fight taking place at the moment, the tension would worsen during the coronavirus pandemic. We had to acknowledge that.
Palestnians are the minority population in Israel. They face constant discrimination from the government. Movements of goods and people are restricted in Gaza. The Israeli military says the restriction is to prevent Hamas from acquiring weapons. However, they also restricted food and medicine causing price inflation due to shortage of supply. Inadequate access to healthcare is a life-saving crisis. Hospitals in Gaza lack critical medical equipment and resources because of the blockade. Being casted as stateless people without citizenship amassed poor living conditions leading to poor health and poverty.
This was exacerbated during the COVID-19. West Bank movement was completely restricted. With the supply of vaccinations, Palestianans were not prioritized. While Israel surged in vaccine output to the public, Palestinians lagged behind unless they had Israeli residency. This led to a massive outbreak of coronavirus in the region. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have so far been more than 251,600 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 2,670 deaths among Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The first output of vaccines provided to help poorer countries access supplies has now only arrived in the West Bank and Gaza.
Getting vaccines to Gaza is faced with logistical challenges of the restrictions imposed on the area, which has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt since the militant Islamist movement Hamas took charge there in 2007. A recent report by the World Bank says that the Palestinians will need more financial and logistical help in order to cover 60% of the population. It has urged Israel to consider donating extra doses it has ordered but does not need to the Palestinians. Israel says it is giving 5,000 doses to the Palestinians, two thousand of which have been delivered to the West Bank so far. The recent attacks in Sheikh Jarrah have restricted access to vaccines for Palestinians. Netanhyahu claims no obligation to the safety of Palestinians as the Israeli military keeps displacing Palestinians from their homes.
The United Nations (UN) human rights body has released a statement saying it’s Israel’s responsibility to provide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The body says differential access is “morally and legally” unacceptable under international law laid out in the Geneva Conventions on the regulation of occupied territories.
It seems as if the Israeli government wants to be able to control Palestinan land without having any responsibility to Palestinians lives. Viability for peace between the two states will only worsen if it is not prioritized by the United States. President Joe Biden is shifting his focus to compete with China and build power in the Indo-Pacific region. Ignoring the Palestinian restance will encourage Israel to keep encroaching into Palestinan territory and put the two-state solution at risk or until Palestine is completely wiped out. If that is the direction this administration will allow to happen, then Biden is no different from Donald Trump, by allowing harm to be done on innocent people without the fear of consequences.
