The right to education is an internationally protected right under international law and an integral part of the international law foundation. In the case of Palestine, education has always been a challenge like every aspect of Palestinian lives. Frequent closures of cities, hundreds of military checkpoints and the construction of the annexation wall prevents thousands of students and teachers from reaching their schools and universities. Palestinian students are regularly subjected to intimidation, assault and arbitrary arrest by Israeli soldiers, many schools have been closed down, raided and attacked by military orders, making it harder for them to practice and pursue their education freely and fulfil their potential.

The continuing Israeli occupation significantly impedes education in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). As noted by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education: “military occupations are another appreciable curb on the human right to education, the most egregious example being the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” There is substantial evidence that Israel is failing in its duties under international human rights and humanitarian law with regard to education. In this research; the researcher will focus mainly on the challenges that women face in practicing their right to education and the definition of the right to education under international law; with a focus on the effect of the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian authorities' funding and quality for education concluded with an overall impact of these aspects on the right to education in Palestine and the role of international law in protecting this right.

The right to education has been recognized in a number of international and regional legal instruments: treaties (conventions, covenants, charters) and also in general comments, recommendations, declarations, United Nations resolutions and frameworks for action. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted in 1948, states in Article 26: 'Everyone has the right to education. Since then, the right to education has been reaffirmed in various international treaties including:

• UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960)
• International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
• International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their families (1990)
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).

The right to education has also been recognized in ILO Conventions and international humanitarian law, as well as in regional treaties. International human rights law guarantees the right to education. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights adopted in 1948, proclaims in Article 26: “everyone has the right to education. The right to education is legally guaranteed for all without any discrimination, states have the obligation to protect, respect, and fulfil the right to education and there are ways to hold states accountable for violations or deprivations of the right to education”. Article 26 must be read along with Article 2 UDHR, which sets out the principle of non-discrimination: [E]veryone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

The principle of non-discrimination and equality is a general principle of international human rights law which is essential to the exercise of and enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to education. It is also enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the ICESCR and the ICCPR,8 as well as all the major international human rights treaties. Furthermore, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has commented on the principle of non-discrimination, underlining that it is an “immediate and cross-cutting obligation” for States parties to the ICESCR. As a result, States’ constitutions and other legal and policy texts must not contain any form of discrimination, and States must also ensure that non-discrimination is applied in practice. The principle of non-discrimination and equality is particularly important for the realization of the right to education. Indeed, before the right to education was even adopted in the Covenants, a specific treaty was adopted to prohibit discrimination in education

The right to education under international law encompasses both entitlements and freedoms, including the :

• right to free and compulsory primary education.
• right to available and accessible secondary education.
• right to equal access to higher education.
• right to fundamental education for those who have not received or completed primary education.
• right to quality education both in public and private schools.
• freedom of parents to choose schools for their children which are in conformity with their religious and moral convictions.
• freedom of individuals and bodies to establish and direct education institutions in conformity with minimum standards established by the state.
• academic freedom of teachers and students.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979) mentioned the right to education under article 10: -

Article 10 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:

(a) The same conditions for career and vocational guidance, for access to studies and for the achievement of diplomas in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in urban areas; this equality shall be ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional and higher technical education, as well as in all types of vocational training;

(b) Access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard and school premises and equipment of the same quality;

(c) The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods;

(d) The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants;

(e) The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education, including adult and functional literacy programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing, at the earliest possible time, any gap in education existing between men and women;

(f) The reduction of female student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for girls and women who have left school prematurely;

(g) The same Opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education; (h) Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) devotes two articles to the right to education, articles 13 and 14. Article 13, the longest provision in the Covenant, is the most wide-ranging and comprehensive article on the right to education in international human rights law. The general comment 13, adopted by the committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights provide interpretation and clarification of Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.

Article 13 (2): The right to receive an education - some general remarks

- While the precise and appropriate application of the terms will depend upon the conditions prevailing in a particular State party, education in all its forms and at all levels shall exhibit the following interrelated and essential features:

(a) Availability - functioning educational institutions and programmes have to be available in sufficient quantity within the jurisdiction of the State party. What they require to function depends upon numerous factors, including the developmental context within which they operate; for example, all institutions and programmes are likely to require buildings or other protection from the elements, sanitation facilities for both sexes, safe drinking water, trained teachers receiving domestically competitive salaries, teaching materials, and so on; while some will also require facilities such as a library, computer facilities and information technology.

(b) Accessibility - educational institutions and programmes have to be accessible to everyone, without discrimination, within the jurisdiction of the State party. Accessibility has three overlapping dimensions:

(i) Non-discrimination - education must be accessible to all, especially the most vulnerable groups, in law and fact, without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds (see paras. 31-37 on non-discrimination);

(ii) Physical accessibility - education has to be within safe physical reach, either by attendance at some reasonably convenient geographic location (e.g. a neighbourhood school) or via modern technology (e.g. access to a “distance learning” programme);

(iii) Economic accessibility - education has to be affordable to all. This dimension of accessibility is subject to the differential wording of article 13 (2) in relation to primary, secondary and higher education: whereas primary education shall be available “free to all”, States parties are required to progressively introduce free secondary and higher education;

(c) Acceptability - the form and substance of education, including curricula and teaching methods, have to be acceptable (e.g. relevant, culturally appropriate and of good quality) to students and, in appropriate cases, parents; this is subject to the educational objectives required by article 13 (1) and such minimum educational standards as may be approved by the State (see art. 13 (3) and (4));

(d) Adaptability - education has to be flexible so it can adapt to the needs of changing societies and communities and respond to the needs of students within their diverse social and cultural settings.When considering the appropriate application of these “interrelated and essential features” the best interests of the student shall be a primary consideration.

II. STATES PARTIES' OBLIGATIONS AND VIOLATIONS

General legal obligations:-

43. While the Covenant provides for progressive realization and acknowledges the constraints due to the limits of available resources, it also imposes on States parties various obligations which are of immediate effect. States parties have immediate obligations in relation to the right to education, such as the “guarantee” that the right “will be exercised without discrimination of any kind” (art.2 (2)) and the obligation “to take steps” (art. 2 (1)) towards the full realization of article 13. Such steps must be “deliberate, concrete and targeted” towards the full realization of the right to education.

44. The realization of the right to education over time, that is “progressively”, should not be interpreted as depriving States parties’ obligations of all meaningful content. Progressive realization means that States parties have a specific and continuing obligation “to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible” towards the full realization of article 13.

46. The right to education, like all human rights, imposes three types or levels of obligations on States parties: the obligations to respect, protect and fulfil. In turn, the obligation to fulfil incorporates both an obligation to facilitate and an obligation to provide.

47. The obligation to respect requires States parties to avoid measures that hinder or prevent the enjoyment of the right to education. The obligation to protect requires States parties to take measures that prevent third parties from interfering with the enjoyment of the right to education. The obligation to fulfil (facilitate) requires States to take positive measures that enable and assist individuals and communities to enjoy the right to education.

Finally, States parties have an obligation to fulfil (provide) the right to education. As a general rule, States parties are obliged to fulfil (provide) a specific right in the Covenant when an individual or group is unable, for reasons beyond their control, to realize the right themselves by the means at their disposal. However, the extent of this obligation is always subject to the text of the Covenant.

Violations

59. By way of illustration, violations of article 13 include: the introduction or failure to repeal legislation which discriminates against individuals or groups, on any of the prohibited grounds, in the field of education; the failure to take measures which address de facto educational discrimination; the use of curricula inconsistent with the educational objectives set out in article 13 (1); the failure to maintain a transparent and effective system to monitor conformity with article 13 (1); the failure to introduce, as a matter of priority, primary education which is compulsory and available free to all; the failure to take “deliberate, concrete and targeted” measures towards the progressive realization of secondary, higher and fundamental education in accordance with article 13 (2) (b)-(d); the prohibition of private educational institutions; the failure to ensure private educational institutions conform to the “minimum educational standards” required by article 13 (3) and (4); the denial of academic freedom of staff and students; the closure of educational institutions in times of political tension in non-conformity with article 4.

Article 50 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) states: "The Occupying Power shall, with the cooperation of the national and local authorities, facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the care and education of children." Israel is therefore obligated to ensure the orderly operation of the educational institutions in the territories.

ICL prohibits persecution as a crime against humanity in the treaty statutes of the ad hoc tribunals as well as the ICC. The Rome Statute defines persecution as the “intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group of collectively”. Unlike other expressions of the crime, the Rome Statute also requires that persecution be committed in connection with another crime or at least one inhumane act. Although untested, it is possible that the intentional and severe deprivation or prevention of education of a particular group can, if the other elements of the crime are fulfilled, constitute persecution. In order for the deprivation of education to amount to a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute, it must meet the following criteria:

• education must be defined as a “fundamental right”;
• its deprivation must be intentional and severe. Further, it must be contrary to international law, and not, for example, consistent with limitations permitted by IHRL;
• the denial of education of a particular group must on discriminatory grounds: based on a group’s political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, or gender identity (or other grounds universally recognized by international law, potentially including disability);
• the deprivation of education must be part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population or in connection with any other act prohibited by the Rome Statute; and
• the perpetrator or perpetrators of this deprivation knew it was part of a widespread or systemic attack. International criminal jurisprudence has so far recognized examples of persecution including murder, imprisonment, deportation and other related conduct. However, persecution can include other conduct that “severely deprives political, civil, economic or social rights”. In particular, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia “ICTY” has recognized that the exclusion of members of an ethnic or religious group from educational institutions can potentially constitute persecution under the ICTY Statute, even though it was not specifically listed as an example therein. This demonstrates the potential protection that the crime of persecution offers to ensuring education in situations of insecurity and armed conflict.

The right of children to receive an education belongs to this category of rights which are irrevocable under any claim or pretext. Historically, peoples and states that prevented children from exercising their right to education have been viewed as barbaric. Humanity having recognized, in the lengthy course of the formation of civilization, that children have the right to education - that is, that education is no mere favor conferred by parents, states, churches, or whoever implements the right -considers all those who infringe this right to be acting inhumanely. Categorically, such behavior is no different from any other abridgement of human rights.

The Right to Education in Palestine

Since the start of the Intifada in 1987, the Israeli authorities have closed down the majority of the education institutions in different areas under occupation for extended periods. The education system has also suffered from strikes and from clashes with the Israeli occupation forces have forcibly entered schools, sometimes opening fire; many students and teachers have been arrested, killed, or physically injured.

For decades Israel has been violating Palestinians' right to education through numerous education-related incidents, such as attacks or threats of attacks on schools, delays at checkpoints, military presence at school entrances, closed military areas in addition to the use of live ammunition and tear gas in and around schools, school search, confiscation of education items, detention of students and school staff, settler related violence, or school demolitions and stop-work orders . Israel’s measures prevent the development of the Palestinian educational system. Not at once, Israel was held accountable for its violation of the Palestinian right to education or any violation.

These violations play a huge role in creating obstacles to Palestinians' education, making it hard for them to have quality education and to enjoy their right safely. These violations affect Palestinian women the most with a consideration that the Palestinian society is a patriarchal society that may stand in the face of women education if they may face such obstacles and violations. Even though these violations affect the life and education of Palestinians and especially women; the percentage of educated women in Palestine is remarkable and one of the highest around the world with a 99.6% in 2020 for completion of different educational levels (elementary education, secondary education, upper/senior secondary education) and according to data of 2019-2020, the net enrollment ratio in the elementary stage increased for 98.4% .

One of many measures Israel undertakes is the demolition and closure of schools, especially in the South Hebron Hills area. Since the start of 2021, Israel has demolished 1,032 Palestinian-owned structures across the occupied West Bank. The list includes homes, schools, shops and farming facilities. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that Israeli demolitions have displaced 1,347 Palestinians in that period . Usually, the “reason” behind the demolishing in Area C is building without a permit which is nearly impossible to be issued in Area C.

One of these schools is located in the Bedouin village Abu Nuwar, where 670 Palestinians live in tents and sheet-metal shacks. The only school in the village was partially demolished for the sixth time since 2016. The 26 children study in a local community center and barbershop.

One of the most targeted villages is “Burin”. Burin is home to about 3000 Palestinian and is surrounded by two illegal settlements, an illegal outpost, and a military base. The only school in Burin sits at the entrance of the village and is attended by about 300 boys and girls. The school is often on the frontline of settler and soldier raids on the village. According to Middle East Eye interview with an activist from Burin, “Every week there are at least two or three attacks, from both settlers and soldiers. “The settlers will come down from the mountain and try to break the school windows and attack teachers and students with rocks. Sometimes they even shoot live bullets”.

Masafer Yatta area of the Hebron hills, 210 Palestinian children living in a cluster of 12 small villages face daily challenges getting to class in an active military training zone. There are only three schools in the entire area, and most of the communities do not have access to school buses, forcing kids to walk several kilometers to and from school, any busses secured for children were often stopped and turned around by Israeli forces in addition, during active training periods, soldiers will close certain areas leading to the school for up to 10 days, leaving teachers and children sitting at home until the army reopens the area. Recently Israel's court paves way for the eviction of over 2000 Palestinians from Masafer Yatta which will lead to the displacement of thousands of Bedouin Palestinians and cause a severe effect on education. According to the Palestinian ministry of education report in 2021; 26,808 students and 1,029 teachers were either prevented from getting to school or faced long delays at checkpoints, resulting in "35,895 classes wasted".

Even though human rights are inherent to all human beings, they cannot be given or taken away. Israel slips Palestinians of their basic human rights on a daily basis even the simplest ones including their right to education. In many cases many Palestinian women stop their education in the early stages because of the obstacles that they face, many women do not feel safe going to school or college for many days and sometimes years. The lost feeling of safety that every Palestinian feel prevent many from pursuing their passion, many dreams were killed because of these violations. These challenges do not affect only the lives and rights of the people affected; they have a huge effect on the social and economic aspects too and it leads to early dropouts from school.

According to a report published by MIFTAH; the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research spending in 2020-2021 on education is (3.140.7) Millions ILS from (16.120.3) Millions ILS annual budget, meaning overall (19.5%) of the overall annual budget. Meaning that the spending from the side and the budget provided by the Palestinian authority for education are very low compared to the needs and the development that the education sector in Palestine needs. Manny Palestinian villages do not have more than one school in the whole village and that leaves a lot of students to go to another village which adds to transportation expenses. On the other side; In 2021 the youth unemployment rates reached 40% in the West Bank and 62% in Gaza and about half a million children in Palestine need humanitarian assistance to access quality education. The high rates of unemployment leave no choice to many Palestinian than to dropout from school and in many cases go to work inside the green line or in settlements. Despite the impact of conflict on education, very low levels of humanitarian funding are provided for education. This prevents the education sector from responding swiftly to needs after periods of intense conflict – including responding to the effects of attacks on education and restoring schooling

Children and women are the vast majority of those adversely affected by the occupation and in the reaffirming of the implementation of international humanitarian law and human rights law that protect the rights of women and girls during and after conflict. These two majorities require a special lens that can provide detailed protection and recognition; after many movements towards creating this lens for the protection of women and children; the women, peace and security (“WPS”) agenda was formally initiated by the united nations security council (UNSCR) 1325 resolution in 2000, that was the first landmark resolution on women, peace and security that addresses the impact of war on women and the importance of women’s full and equal participation in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. The resolution also calls for special measures to protect women and girls from conflict-related sexual violence and outlines gender-related responsibilities of the United Nations in different political and programmatic areas . The 1325 United Nations Security Council Resolution has four pillars: - protection, prevention, participation and relief and recovery.

When we talk about any aspect of Palestinian lives there is a cycle of connection between every aspect of the obstacles that women face in practicing their right to education from the Israeli occupation, the quality and funding from the Palestinian authorities to the education sector and the high rates of unemployment leaves too many social, economic, psychological effects. The 1325 UNSCR main purpose is to provide the four pillars (protection, prevention, participation and relief and recovery) to women and children. In the case of Palestine, it is strongly believable according to the reality and data provided that the 1325 UNSCR is not fulfilling its obligations towards Palestinian women and children and this falls on the state parties. It should provide protection to women and women are not being protected in any aspect of their lives including in pursuing their education, it should provide prevention from assaults and harassment but on the other side women are facing harassment from the Israeli soldiers and settlers on a daily basis, it should provide participation for women but they can’t participate in decision making if they can’t pursue their education freely and enjoy their basic human rights, it should provide relief and recovery and I don’t even think we are in this stage because women are still facing these violations on the day to day life and in every moment of their lives. Many women lives are being slipped because of these violations on every side, especially in the educational sector. The state parties of the 1325 UNSCR and the International bodies and community must hold Israel accountable of the continuous commitment of Human rights violations which amount to crimes against humanity, of which is the right of education to women and girls; Violence against women in all its forms is a source of grave concern that threatens women education and future potential. Children experience distress, fear and intimidation when going to and from school in high-risk areas, often having to pass through checkpoints or walk-through settlements. Constant exposure to soldiers and settlers' violence in addition to the mentality that women have that they need to protect themselves when they go to school should be stopped and it won’t stop without action from every international body.

Challenges that Palestinian women and girls face to exercise their education rights under military occupation, they are exposed to violent and terrorist attacks due to settlement expansion, forceful displacement, mobility restrictions imposed by Israeli occupation forces.

At the end, education is not a privilege that is asked for, it is a human right and human rights are inherent to all human beings, they cannot be given or taken away.

Education is a sacred right that is protected in every international convention and under international law. Israel is committing human rights violations towards every aspect of Palestinian lives, under the eye of the international community and the world, the Israeli occupation is violating its obligations towards the Palestinian making their lives miserable by every aspect.

The violations towards education and specially regarding Palestinian women by the Israeli authorities is a gender-based violence that is directed against women because she is a woman and it affects women disproportionately and according to the 1325 UNSCR, the party states should protect women from all kinds of violence against women, including by prosecuting those responsible for violations of international law. The application of women, peace and security agenda that is supposed to protect women rights and prevent a violation towards it is not serving it required obligations towards empowering Palestinian women rights and protecting it, day by day women rights are descend more and more and in my opinion, even though 1325 UNSCR is created and centered towards the protection of women in times of conflict, the women in Palestine are still facing many obstacles and restrictions, it is crystal clear to any eye that the Israeli occupation have no respect to the international law, conventions and resolutions related to the protection of human rights and it’s failing its obligations, therefore it’s time to stop calling for respect and start calling for an end to the lifelong impunity and accountability.

This paper was written by Ola Sami, the second scholarship recipient from the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA ) of Sweden in support of women, peace and security in memory of Zaida Catalan.

To view the full article as PDF

A.H. is undemanding in the life she wants to live. A resident of Hebron’s Old City, she dreams of a normal life for herself and her family, her little girl in particular. “My daughter always clutches her dolly to her chest, crying. She tells me she wants to go outside or go shopping, but she is afraid they might shoot her or shoot us. I swear, this is no life.”

A.H.’s testimony is one among many women living in Hebron’s Old City, who suffer from severe restrictions to their freedom of movement, due to Israeli measures and regulations that dictate to Palestinians where, when and how they are allowed to move throughout their own city.

The Old City of Hebron is a small, enclosed bubble in a larger Israeli system of racial discrimination, set up to protect the few thousand illegal Israeli settlers living in its heart, over the hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians who have lived there for centuries. According to OCHA, there ae 22 Israeli settlements in the Hebron district, in addition to 15 illegal settlement outposts and four industrial settlements, in which around 19,000 settlers live in total. The armed settlers in Hebron are deemed the most hostile, even among the other 200,000 West Bank settlers, attacking and harassing Palestinians who live in close proximately to their enclaves. What’s more, there are nearly 100 Israeli military checkpoints peppered throughout the Old City, closing it almost completely off from the rest of Hebron.

While Israeli restrictions curtail the movement and everyday lives of all residents of Hebron, women and girls are affected. Economic hardships hit families in general, but like in the case of “A.H’ the financial squeeze resulting from Israel’s measures has impacted her even more. “My husband used to work in a shoe factory and he used to take additional shifts and stay late so we could cover expenses. But then Israeli occupation authorities imposed stricter curfews and my husband is no longer allowed to stay out late. He has to be home by sunset and this has had a negative impact on our economic and social lives.”

The women living in the Old City think twice about having visitors over because they worry the Israeli occupation army may invade or, even worse, settlers could attack. They are also hesitant to leave their homes to visit family or friends, in fear that they will not be able to return since they are forced to go in and out of Israeli checkpoints whose soldiers harass or close the checkpoints at whim. “I would love to go to a wedding or to visit my parents, but I am always nervous that I won’t be able to get back to my house. The latest I have ever stayed out is 9:00 p.m.” A.H. says.

Freedom of movement is a basic right, guaranteed in all international treaties and conventions and protected under international humanitarian law. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

Israel is in flagrant violation of this and other treaties that safeguard this right, given it is the occupying power. For Palestinian women, this violation is compounded in the patriarchal society in which they live. UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was passed in order to provide protection for women in areas of conflict, but the international community has sorely fallen short of guaranteeing this to Palestinian women under the yoke of Israeli occupation.

As the situation stands, the Israeli colonial-occupation in place has severely stymied the basic right of movement, among other rights. The hundreds of military checkpoints throughout the West Bank and Jerusalem, the Annexation Wall and the sporadic, but systematic closure of entrances to cities, towns and villages are some of Israel’s many forms of collective punishment. Palestinian residents of the West Bank cannot visit Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, or Palestinian areas inside the Green Line. They are subject to a humiliating and endless system of permits for travel, whether inside Palestine or abroad. They are insulted, harassed and detained for hours at military checkpoints between cities, camps, towns and villages, and in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians are confined to what has been called the biggest open-air prison due to Israel’s siege on it for the past 16 years.

In Hebron, Israel applies all of these tactics in addition to the especially cruel policy of forced expulsion. According to a MIFTAH research on the commercial and tourist situation in Hebron’s Old City, estimated losses from ongoing Israeli closures amounted to approximately $485 million in the past 25 years, or $1.6 million a month. On Shuhada Street alone, 304 stores shut down, 218 by Israeli military order, forcing dozens of families in the Old City to leave their homes. Forced expulsion is a crime against humanity, according to the ICC Rome Statute and is therefore in violation of international law. Israel widely employs this tactic in several parts of Palestine such as the south Hebron district of Masafer Yatta, where 10,000 Palestinians are at risk of forced expulsion by Israeli military order.

All of these and other Israeli policies affect Palestinian women and girls in a way distinct from the rest of society. A.H. is wracked with anguish over concern for her teenage daughters who are often badgered by Israeli soldiers, slinging sexual innuendos at them every time they pass through a checkpoint. “When they get home they always say: ‘Mama, they [soldiers] tell us things we cannot even repeat’”. The fear of sexual assault is real for these girls and their families and prevents them from exercising aspects of their lives most others take for granted.

Palestinians have lived under this Israeli occupation for over 55 years, while the international community allows it to exist and expand unabated. Basic rights are enshrined in international law for a reason. No person, anywhere, should be deprived of this right and no power should be allowed to deny it with impunity.

It is time for this community to ‘practice what it preaches’ and implement the many international laws, conventions, treaties and resolutions that call for the protection of people under occupation and of women and girls in particular, who are often the most vulnerable in any society.

This paper was written by Ola Sami, the second scholarship recipient from the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA ) of Sweden in support of women, peace and security in memory of Zaida Catalan.

Joharah Baker contributed to this article

Introduction:

Since the 1990s, the international community’s view regarding conflicts developed in terms of encompassing broader aspects, and its perspective was no longer confined to threats against a state and its sovereignty. This included observing the ramifications of conflicts on individuals and their welfare, especially among the less fortunate segments of society. Accordingly, the term “Human Security” came to replace the previously used term “Security”. That term (i.e., Human Security) was first mentioned in a 1994 report issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Its introduction helped create a new perspective towards militarization and armed conflicts, thus expanding the traditional view of security to include individual security in addition to state security.

Until now, there is no consensus regarding a particular definition of “Human Security”. Nevertheless, this term involves two main aspects, namely: freedom from fear and freedom from want. Due to important changes in the international arena, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 was issued in the year 2000. This resolution examines the multiplier effect of conflicts on women in four main aspects: protection, prevention, participation, and accountability. However, this resolution – which was followed by a number of similar subsequent resolutions which promote the implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda – did not explicitly refer to the Occupation as a threat to human security, especially with regard to women. Rather, it sufficed by mentioning the “state of conflict”, which is legally different from the case of military occupation. Moreover, it was noticed that UNSCR 1325 and its subsequent resolutions mainly focused on sexual crimes.

The “Women, Peace and Security” agenda is considered a broad field. It includes the concept of “Human Security”, as referred to in the 1994 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, and later developed to include conflict and post-conflict situations. Seeing that Palestinian women have been suffering from occupation and its association violence since the establishment of Israel on Palestinian soil in 1948, substantial efforts were exerted to promote the Women, Peace and Security agenda and implement the related international resolutions in the Palestinian homeland. However, this requires a clear definition of “Security” and its determinants, components, and measurability.

This study aims to reach a definition of “Human Security” and specify its components and framework in order to highlight the violations of the Israeli occupation under that definition. In particular, we try to assess the effects of the Israeli occupation on the security of Palestinian women in Occupied Jerusalem. This study is based on the premise that the Occupation is the main cause of human insecurity in Palestine, especially vis-à-vis Palestinian women in Occupied Jerusalem.

Based on the aforementioned aspects, the study (through three research sections) will attempt to answer the following question: What is the effect of the Israeli military occupation of Jerusalem on the human security of Palestinians, especially women? The first section studies the concept of Human Security and its components. The second section highlights the human rights violations perpetrated by the Israeli occupation in Jerusalem in light of the human security concept. As for the third section, it examines the impact of the Israeli occupation and its practices on Palestinian women, with special emphasis on the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

The term “Human Security” emerged in the early 1990s as a result of several humanitarian crises and conflicts in the aftermath of the Cold War. Since that time, human security came to be considered an approach that can be widely implemented. As previously noted, the term “Human Security” was first mentioned by a UNDP report in 1994, whereby it includes the following aspects: economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security, respectively.

Unfortunately, the international community did not until this moment specify a single consensual definition of the term “Human Security”. However, everyone acknowledges its connection to human rights and the attainment of development. Therefore, conflicts, armed conflicts, and Occupation threaten human security as they directly jeopardize human rights and prevent individual and community development.

First Section: Concept of Human Security and its Connection to Military Occupation:

This section reviews the concept of Human Security, especially in light of military occupation. It also examines the components of human security as set forth in the UNDP report of 1994, in order to create a reference point to assess the fragility of human security in Occupied Jerusalem and its connection to ongoing human rights abuses. This will be analyzed in light of the Women, Peace and Security agenda and the relevant United Nations resolutions.

This section aims to answer the following sub-questions:

1. What is the definition of human security?
2. What are the components of human security?
3. How does the Occupation threaten human security?
4. What is the relationship between human security and the human rights system?

Definition of Human Security:

The term “Human Security” in its modern sense shifted the focus from states to individuals. Hence, the need for intervention and protection was no longer confined to military threats but also encompassed the individual realm, protection of basic human rights, and the achievement of welfare. It is also worth noting that human security does not mean the absence of threats but protection from different threats.

Thus, the most accurate definition of “Human Security” is “freedom from fear and freedom from want”, whereas freedom from fear is based on the traditional meaning of security related to protecting individuals from the use of force or violence or threats to one’s life. The latter acts require serious procedures to hold the perpetrators of international crimes accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is also in line with UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which calls for upholding accountability mechanisms and ending the impunity of those who commit crimes against humanity. On the other hand, freedom from want is more broadly related to human security; it considers security threats as a threat to people’s welfare.

Therefore, the concept of Human Security poses several questions beyond individuals’ protection from existential threats by finding ways to enhance safety in their daily lives, at home, and in the street and community. However, this should be done without losing sight of the linkage between violence, lack of security, and human rights violations.

The Human Security approach is considered an integrated one and the international community deals with it in a coherent manner without fragmenting the needs of individuals. They [i.e., the international community] also do not deal with Human Security in a hierarchical manner but focus on the basic rights and freedoms. Therefore, United Nations plans and developmental goals have embedded human security principles in order to reach a “world free of poverty, hunger, disease and want, free of fear and violence, with equitable and universal access to quality education, health care and social protection, where human habitats are safe, resilient and sustainable”.

Components of Human Security:

Human Security is about meeting basic human needs in the environmental, health, food, community, and political spheres, while focusing not only on conflict situations but also on issues of fair trade, access to health care, patent rights, access to education, and basic freedoms.

Recently, the international community became more open to the concept of Human Security and their relevant vision is entrenched through seven dimensions mentioned by the UNDP report of 1994. The said report indicated that the main categories of Human Security are as follows: economic; food; health; environmental; personal; community; and political security, thus expanding the notion of security and going beyond the traditional view of security (the traditional view focused on protecting the land from external aggression and protecting national foreign policy interests).

Due to this approach, the goal shifted from state security to individual security, thus enhancing the linkage between security and sustainable development. The “Human Security” term was thus expanded to include security from perennial threats - such as hunger, disease, and oppression - and protection from the sudden and harmful disruption of daily life patterns.

The concept of Human Security promotes the protection of all human beings in ways that enhance human freedoms and human realization. Therefore, the framework of human security includes several aspects, such as food, environment, housing, and human rights.

Human Security in light of the Occupation:

“The gross violations of human rights and the wide-scale displacement of civilian populations constitute a direct threat to human security.”

Military occupation involves multiple forms of human insecurity, whereas this form of occupation is characterized by violence and lack of security from one side and underdevelopment and poverty from another. In this regard, Arab Human Development Report 2009 indicates that military occupation threatens human security on three levels: institutionally, structurally, and materially/physically, as follows:

• On the institutional level, the Occupation violates international law, as it uses force for purposes other than self-defense, imposes its own laws on the occupied region, and practices its governmental authority to serve the occupier’s interests.
• On the structural level, the Occupation redistributes wealth and power under different terms which widen the social and economic gap between occupied civilians, thus creating internal divisions and a state of fragmentation.
• On the physical/material level, military occupation is imposed on civilians with the power of arms and violence, leading to victims, violent resistance, and substantial human losses. Moreover, military occupation restricts basic freedoms, economic activity, and people’s livelihoods.

Therefore, military occupation contravenes basic human rights, systematically leads to human insecurity, disrupts human development, and substantially undermines people’s lives and freedoms. This negatively affects people’s income, employment, nutrition, health, education, and environment, leading to a lack of human security and affecting its various components.

The said report mentions the compound impacts of military occupation on human security, as follows:

1. Threats to life, especially by murder/assassinations (extrajudicial killings) and the targeting of civilians.
2. Threats to liberty, such as restricting people’s freedom of movement and freedom of opinion and expression.
3. Threats to economic conditions and livelihoods: Military occupation impedes the management of economic affairs and leads to economic destabilization.
4. Threats to people’s access to food, health and education: In light of violence and the displacement of persons due to Occupation, people’s opportunities to obtain sufficient food, appropriate health care, and adequate housing inevitably crumble.
5. Threats to the environment.

The aforementioned report also states that the progress in sustainable development is slower in fragile and conflict-ridden countries, especially those suffering from occupation; where violence is rampant and a distrust is seen between different individuals and institutions. The report proposes an approach that focuses on attaining human security, prevents the exacerbation of crises, and identifies the causes of emerging crises. Therefore, achieving human security in such circumstances is only possible by tackling the main causes and seeking to end the Occupation.

Relationship of Human Security with the Human Rights System:

Human Security emerged as a concept that was greatly affected by and related to conflict. This concept was introduced to urge states and policy makers to focus on vital issues and provide the maximum level of protection to civilians. It is also worth noting that protection is not limited to protecting human lives and providing the minimum level of services.

The relationship of human security with the human rights system stems from international humanitarian law. This is because human security necessitates protection, which is strongly rooted in the human rights system (which highlights “the responsibility of protection in times of armed conflict”). The subject of protection was strongly emphasized in international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Conventions, which underscores the need to protect people from potential violence. Therefore, when civilians are subjected to harm or injury, the international community is obligated to assist them because the protection of civilians in times of conflict is among the main issues of human security.

The concept of Human Security is also related to post-conflict peacebuilding, which promotes and strengthens respect and adherence to international humanitarian law and International Criminal Court (ICC), along with exerting efforts to protect civilians in conflict situations and holding perpetrators of war crimes accountable and ending their impunity.

Moreover, the concept of Human Security is similar to human rights principles, especially the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The logic of human security is also based on supporting development; and it includes economic security, political security, and the right of human beings to have an adequate standard of living.

Therefore, human security cannot be isolated from the discourse of the human rights system in times of peace and times of conflict. However, human security is characterized by being more implementable and practicable. It also leads to more effectiveness and justice because it is not only concerned with protecting and preserving people’s rights, but also on developing these rights.

The notion of Human Security also takes the issue of social exclusion into consideration, and it highlights the impact of social inequality on development. Therefore, it addresses the exclusion of minorities and the multiplier effects on marginalized groups (including their deprivation of accessing basic public services). Hence, human security calls for providing services to meet the needs of these groups, while taking their different circumstances into consideration. This comes as part of a holistic development vision to reach the most marginalized communities and enhance welfare and social harmony, while aiming to make significant achievements in different countries.

These aspects led to a shift in global attention. Hence, the United Nations Security Council adopted a number of resolutions that cover broader aspects of protecting the rights of marginalized groups in conflict situations, such as countering the deliberate use of rape as a war strategy and considering sexual violence a war crime.

Second Section: Human Rights Violations in Occupied Jerusalem and their Ramifications on Human Security:

The conclusions of the first section indicate the presence of a direct correlation between human security and the human rights condition. For example, an improvement in the human rights condition will lead to a better human security status. On the other hand, a rise in human rights violations will show a declining human security status. And in the case of grave human rights violations, the lack of human security (i.e., “human insecurity”) is likely to be seen.

This section underlines the main human rights violations committed against Palestinians in East Jerusalem in light of the Human Security concept. In this context, we will assess the impact of these violations on human security and its components. This is done while taking gender aspects into consideration, such as examining the effects of these violations on Palestinian women in East Jerusalem.

We will therefore highlight five major violations of the rights of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, namely: the closure of cultural institutions and preventing cultural activities; extrajudicial killings; house demolitions; restricting economic rights; and attacking civilians in public spaces.

According to international law, East Jerusalem is under military occupation. Despite the United Nations Security Council’s call for Israeli troops to withdraw from East Jerusalem (as set forth in UNSCR 242), Israel illegally annexed it and imposed its laws on this occupied territory. The Israeli occupation treats the indigenous Palestinian population of Jerusalem as “permanent residents”, while considering Israeli settlers “full citizens”. Israel also enforces Judaization policies on Jerusalem, in violation of basic human rights, such as:

1. Closure of cultural institutions and prevention of cultural activities:

   The Occupation’s actions against East Jerusalem’s cultural sector strengthened Israeli control over the city and promoted the “Rabbinical Jewish” character versus the Palestinian indigenous one. This includes the forced closure of official Palestinian institutions and placing huge obstacles before cultural institutions and civil society organizations.

   Cultural organizations in occupied Jerusalem are forced to abide by administrative orders issued by the Israeli Ministry of Interior and senior Police officers. It is also worth noting that cultural institutions are considered a “security file” according to Israeli occupation authorities and not service entities, hence they are constantly subjected to Police censorship and monitoring.

   Numerous administrative orders prohibit Jerusalemite Palestinians from holding different activities, such as competitions, workshops, and other events. Statistical data shows that, as of 2019, a total of 120 cultural institutions were closed down in East Jerusalem. There are also different types of closure, such as completely closing down an organization by revoking its license; closure of an organization for a certain period of time under an administrative order; or the suspension of a certain cultural activity and prosecuting those who organized it.

   The suspension of cultural activities is accompanied by different forms of violence perpetrated against event attendees and organizers. Moreover, Occupation forces often destroy the properties of cultural venues and attack the audience in such activities.

   These actions violate the right to participate in cultural life, as well as other related rights, such as the freedom of expression. Such practices also weaken community security, which is one of the components of human security, thus undermining the safety of the occupied population. These policies also affect personal security, whereas they consider people’s expression of their culture a “legal violation”. Furthermore, numerous assaults are committed against the participants and attendees of cultural events, thus violating their freedoms.

   This systematic policy aims to minimize Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and obstructs women’s inclusion and participation in the activities of civil society organizations (CSOs), thereby reducing women’s involvement. In the absence of clear protection mechanisms, some women are forced to refrain from participating in community activities – or are reluctant to engage in civil society institutions – out of fear of being attacked by Israeli Police.

   Several reports have documented that the organizers of cultural activities are many times physically assaulted, detained for several hours, and even threatened with revoking their temporary residency.

   Israel’s actions against cultural organizations – which constitute a flagrant violation of cultural rights – greatly weakened these organizations, thus affecting the Jerusalemite community’s participation in cultural life. This led to poor cultural knowledge among Palestinian residents, thus decreasing their national, political, and societal awareness. Unfortunately, the problem of cultural organizations in Jerusalem is rarely mentioned due to considering cultural rights as “complementary rights” and not as a requirement for confronting the violation of the right to housing and decent living, which are the main problems suffered by the Jerusalemite Palestinian community.

2. Extrajudicial Killings:

   On the 16th of June 2021, PhD student Mai Afaneh was killed in cold blood by Israeli occupation soldiers in the district of Jerusalem. The soldiers shot at her while she was in her car and prevented any ambulances from reaching her. They also kept her corpse and prevented her family from bidding her farewell and burying her decently. Israeli news agencies claimed that Mai tried to run over the soldiers. However, Mai’s case is not an exception, and she is only one of more than 2,000 Palestinians who were unjustly killed since 2015.

   Extrajudicial killings deprive Palestinians of their basic right to a fair trial. This is committed through a systematic policy adopted by Israeli forces since the beginning of the Occupation. Extrajudicial killings are also considered a compounded crime because they breach several international violations. This is because international law strongly supports the right to a fair and public trial by an independent and impartial court. The said acts also contravene the “presumption of innocence” (“innocent until proven guilty”) principle. It is also worth noting that, in some cases, extrajudicial killings are considered a war crime.

   In most cases, Israeli authorities claim that these killings are “acts of self-defense”. However, the facts regarding the majority of these incidents clearly show that these acts are arbitrary and unjustified extrajudicial killings. The said circumstances include the following:

   1. Absence of an imminent danger: In most cases, the victims do not pose any threat or danger to soldiers’ lives. For example, there are many cases of shooting at wounded persons or those who flee, as well as shooting at unarmed protesters. Reported cases also showed the extrajudicial murder of women and minors, although these groups are usually harmless and physically incapable of launching effective attacks on well-trained soldiers. Therefore, it is impossible that they would pose an “imminent danger” on the gunmen.

   2. A clear disregard for the principle of neutrality and proportionality: This is a major principle of international humanitarian law. The principle of proportionality seeks to limit the harm caused by military operations by requiring that the means and methods of warfare would not be disproportionate in relation to the desired military advantage. Therefore, this principle should be applied in cases where an Occupation soldier can greatly hamper the movement of the suspect by shooting at the lower parts of his/her body instead of shooting at the upper parts (leading to murder). Documented cases also showed that, in many cases, Israeli soldiers shoot to kill instead of neutralizing the suspects.

   3. [Israeli] Politicians who urge civilians to carry weapons and openly call for executions: For example, Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edri was quoted as saying: “Anyone who stabs Jews or hurts innocent people is due to be killed.” Moreover, Interior Security Minister Gilad Arden declared that “every terrorist should know that s/he will not survive the attack s/he is about to commit.”

   4. Use of Excessive Force by Israeli Soldiers: The use of excessive force has been perpetually practiced since the inception of the Israeli occupation, and it is clearly seen in cases of extrajudicial killings.

      The policy of extrajudicial killings pursued by Occupation authorities constantly threatens the lives of Palestinians and their personal and community security. This led to a state of fear, anxiety, and panic and it violates a number of basic human rights. Such policies enhance societal restrictions imposed on women under the pretext of “protection”. Therefore, the different human rights violations perpetrated by Israeli authorities curtail Palestinian presence in public spaces and restrict their free and safe movement between cities. The effects of these crimes are especially harmful to Palestinian women, who are constantly subjected to significant threats and dangers.

3. Restriction of Economic Rights:

   Since the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 and imposition of Israeli law therein, Israeli authorities have constantly exploited the law to limit the different aspects of Palestine life. This was done to undermine the livelihoods of the indigenous population and push them to leave their city under a “silent transfer” policy.

   Israel’s restriction of Palestinian economic rights is a vivid example of exploiting the Israeli law to Judaize the city and expand their control over it.

   The imposition of complicated Israeli laws on occupied East Jerusalem greatly puzzles local merchants and entrepreneurs. The Occupation also imposes exorbitant taxes and fees on East Jerusalem’s commercial enterprises and does not provide them with governmental support. Moreover, it is difficult for these businesses to receive tax reductions because most Palestinian merchants are ignorant of Israeli laws imposed by the occupier.

   In 2021, a quarter of the shops of Jerusalem’s Old City were closed down and had to discontinue their operations. On the other hand, Jerusalem is increasingly witnessing many small enterprises run by women. In this sector, women offer their distinctive handicrafts for sale and positively affect the society. In fact, women seem to be the most motivated to produce, hence they play a leading role in small-sized enterprises in occupied Jerusalem. Due to the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation on various business sectors, Jerusalemite women resort to bazaars organized by civil society organizations to present their diverse products. But even the bazaars are sometimes attacked and closed down, similar to what happens in cultural activities. This includes assaults on bazaar participants and organizers, as well as attacking and terrorizing the visitors.

   The economic environment in Jerusalem is in a terrible condition full of challenges. Therefore, small enterprises there need support and empowerment programs. However, empowerment programs are also subjected to limitations, similar to those suffered by cultural organizations. This is because the empowerment of small enterprises is considered a “security file” by the Occupation and not a vital right and service. Hence, empowerment programs require the approval and oversight of Israeli Police.

   These policies, along with excessive tax penalties imposed on Palestinian enterprises, are considered impediments of economic security in occupied Jerusalem. This reduces the opportunity to develop start-up companies and leads to the closure of current businesses. These restrictions prompt young potential entrepreneurs to think about alternative ways to find a livelihood under occupation.

4. House Demolitions:

   House demolitions are among the most obvious forms of forced displacement perpetrated by Occupation authorities. In several cases, these acts also constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity. Israeli occupation authorities use the pretext of “building without a permit” to destroy residential facilities, along with placing heavy restrictions in the procedures for obtaining building permits. During the first quarter of 2021, Palestinian families in Jerusalem witnessed a 40% increase in house demolitions compared to previous years. Also, the Occupation’s executive branch has the power to issue demolition orders which are often non-appealable; meaning that the Israeli judiciary has no authority to review them. These illicit acts are usually based on the “Kaminitz Law”, which grants broad powers to the executive branch regarding demolitions and the imposition of exorbitant taxes on house-related “violations”, thus undermining the power of judicial authorities. The said law also prevents courts from freezing demolition orders, hence the Planning and Building Department can freely issue an administrative order to demolish a building – along with imposing a fine of hundreds of thousands of Shekels - without court permission. The Israeli government boasts that, through this law, they were able to cut down 80 percent of the construction in “unregulated” Arab towns.

   This policy threatens to make many Palestinian families homeless overnight and imposes harsh and unbearable circumstances. The said practice breaches the right to adequate housing and contravenes the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the forcible transfer of protected civilians.

   This also threatens and undermines the personal security of individuals. Women are particularly vulnerable in such cases, as they are forced to adapt to a new situation and assume their previous responsibilities with must less means.

   The said policy also affects the roles of women due to moving to a new area and suffering from different circumstances after their house gets demolished. This transforms the lives of Jerusalemite Palestinian women from stability to displacement. It also affects their ability to access sufficient resources and restore their sense of belonging in light of constant fear and anxiety. It also destabilizes the economic situation and affects the family structure due to the loss of livelihoods, properties, and belongings as well as the loss of privacy.

   International law links the right to adequate housing with human security since the latter is a major component of the right to an adequate standard of living. Therefore, the “indivisible” approach applies to basic human rights, such as the right to food, water, health, work, property, well-being, safe housing, and protection from inhuman or degrading treatment. The definition of the “Right to Adequate Housing” shows that this term is more than providing a roof for a person to live under, but it also includes a person’s right to live a safe and honourable life in an adequate housing away from threats. Therefore, the international community considers forced displacement a gross violation of international law. This act [i.e., forced displacement] can even constitute a war crime or a crime against humanity in some cases.

5. Attacking Civilians in Public Spaces:

   Israeli occupation authorities intentionally restrict the Palestinian right to access or be present in public places. This is done by attacking civilians in public spaces, conducting arbitrary arrests, and issuing orders to ban persons from approaching their city. The policy of attacking civilians runs contrary to international humanitarian law, as Article (27) of the Fourth Geneva Convention requires Occupation authorities to protect civilians and guarantee their basic rights. It also stipulates that “protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs.” This Convention also states that individuals must be protected from any attack. Furthermore, the Occupation violates the Palestinian right of peaceful assembly, which was protected by Article (21) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

   The said policies directly affect Palestinian women, who are forced to stay in private spaces and are permanently threatened in the public sphere, including threats to their community security and personal security.

Hard times are exactly as they sound. But when these ‘hard times’ continue for close to 60 years, they become basically intolerable. Ask any Palestinian living under Israel’s brutal occupation and they will erase any doubts that ‘hard times’ doesn’t even come close.

Take this testimony from a woman, a teacher living in the northern West Bank city of Tubas, who told MIFTAH about the terrifying night the Israeli occupation army raided her home. The raid took place on February 23, 2022 at around 4:30 am. This is not unusual for occupation forces, which are trained to storm homes with families quietly sleeping in their beds, in the wee hours before dawn, to instill fear and panic and turn their lives and homes upside-down in a second.

This teacher, Maha, shares her home with her older sister, Dua’ and her elderly mother. She and her sister are also blind. “I was awakened by my sister yelling: who are you? Are you djinn or human? Maha, answer me! Is that you?” There was no answer. “I was still in bed when I felt something – I was not sure what – pull off my covers and push me to the floor. I was terrified and started calling out for Dua’. I could feel there were people in the room, all around me, right before one of them began to beat me. I was so scared and called out to my mother but I couldn’t hear her voice.”

Maha spent half an hour in sheer terror, alone, confused, being beaten and not knowing the fate of her elderly mother, as the Israeli trespassers ransacked her home, petrifying them all. “I cannot begin to describe the terror I felt; I have never felt that way my whole life,” she recounts.

Finally, after what seemed to be an interminable period, she heard the voice she was longing for the most: her mother. “She was screaming to us, telling us that the intruders were Israeli soldiers and that they had a large dog with them.” This terrified her even more, especially since she was forced to remain on the floor and she could hear her sister’s cries. “I remember thinking: if only I could see, to know what was happening around me, I would then go back to being blind. I just wanted to help and calm my sister down. I just wanted to help my mother. The soldiers made me totally incapacitated.”

Maha’s story is one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have endured grueling house raids, arbitrary arrests, home demolitions and settler attacks. Still, even when there are no ‘active’ Israeli assaults on Palestinians, merely existing under Israeli military rule is anything but normal. Every Palestinian in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip is all too familiar with the hundreds of Israeli checkpoints interrupting the geographic flow between Palestinian cities, villages and camps. They are accosted by the sight of the illegal annexation wall, cutting along, and in places, deep into, West Bank territory, severing Palestinians from their farmlands, from their loved ones, from Jerusalem and from historic Palestine. They must apply for permits to build, to travel, to seek medical attention or to visit their loved ones in Israeli prisons, all at the whim of Israeli occupation authorities.

The raid on Maha’s house that night ended in zero arrests, but hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians have not been as lucky. Since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip in the June, 1967 war, over one million Palestinians have been illegally arrested by its occupation forces. That is a staggering number for a population that stands at approximately 5.3 million, according to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates for 2022. At present, there are nearly 5,000 Palestinian men, women and children being held in Israeli prisons and detention centers inside the West Bank and in Israel, the latter illegal under international law, which does not allow an occupying party to imprison their ‘subjects’ outside of the territories it occupies.

International law has never been an obstacle for Israel, something the Palestinians know all too well. According to testimonies collected by MIFTAH field researches, collected between 2020 and 2022, Israeli occupation forces never presented a legal search or arrest warrant during the raids. All of the testimonies stated that large numbers of soldiers participated in the raids, sometimes exceeding 20 or 30, irrespective of children, women or the elderly. Once detained, the men, women and oftentimes children, are taken to Israeli detention centers, sometimes held for days on end without having access to legal counsel, mistreated, deprived nutritious food, sleep, appropriate clothing and in the worst case, tortured.

The detainee is then brought before a “kangaroo” Israeli military court, which for Palestinians, has an almost 100% conviction rate. They are charged with ‘crimes’, all related to some form of resistance to the occupation and summarily sentenced, or placed under administrative detention. While this form of detention, which allows Israeli authorities to hold Palestinians without charge or trial, is technically not banned under international law, it is never meant to be renewed for years, as is the case with the Palestinians.

The nightmare does not stop there, however. For the families of prisoners, visiting their loved ones in Israeli prisons is always a grueling process. According to a January, 2023 MIFTAH report on Israeli violations of Palestinian rights in the West Bank, affidavits from families visiting imprisoned relatives in Israeli prisons reported that on average, the entire process takes between 12-14 hours. What’s more, once they arrive, the actual visit only lasts 45 minutes and takes place in rooms with no direct contact and a glass wall separating them at all times. In a 2019 testimonial, documented by the Israeli rights organization B’Tselem, 80-year old Hilweh Shabaneh, from the Ramallah-area village of Sinjil sums up the horrific journey to visit her son in the Nafha Prison.

“From four o’clock in the morning to nine o’clock at night, 17 long hours of dragging around from one place to another, from one bus to another and one security check to another, getting on, getting off, on and off. Even if I were made out of iron I would collapse”.

Shabaneh then unwittingly sums up Palestinians’ sentiments regarding life under Israeli military occupation, overall.

“I swear to God, I wouldn't wish this on anybody.”

- https://www.btselem.org/freedom_of_movement20200212_arduous_journey_of_palestinians_visiting_relatives_jailed_by_israel

Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.

Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.

Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.

The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.

The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.

What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.

Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.

The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.

That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.

The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.

My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.

Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.

Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.

That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.

This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.

It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.

But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.

We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.