“The debate about IDF operations in the [Israeli Occupied] territories revolves around the question of whether terror can be wiped out by that means. The Palestinians as human beings simply do not exist. . . .The persecution of the Palestinian people is not a war on terror. There is a simple solution to the terrorism of suicide bombers – to leave the territories immediately and to give the Palestinians a reason to live. ”
— Tanya Reinhart in Yedioth Ahronoth March 9, 2003.

"It seems that this is not a war against terrorism. This seems to be a war against the hope and future of the Palestinian people."
— The Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem

As the world’s attention turns toward the war with Iraq, the situation in the Israeli Occupied Territories steadily worsens. In February, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that unless more funds were given to assist them in their work in the territories, more than a million Palestinians would be threatened by food shortages. That same population is already suffering from economic collapse, severe unemployment and malnutrition comparable to that in the Congo.

The Palestinian people are suffering from what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls the “hidden hunger” or micro-nutrient deficiencies. Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, stated in a recent article that this sort of hunger is not as obvious as the protein-energy malnutrition found in African food emergencies but it is just as grave.

Both adults and children who suffer from micro-nutrient deficiencies are impaired both mentally and physically. Children who suffer from this sort of malnutrition fail to develop normally. They suffer from stunted growth, their cognition is severely impaired, usually irreversibly, and their immune systems are severely weakened.

In the fall of 2002 USAID reported on the health conditions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The report stated that the West Bank has disturbing rates of acute malnutrition and that Gaza now faces a humanitarian emergency. Four out of five children in each territory have inadequate iron and zinc intake, which leads to anemia. Over half the children in each territory to not get enough calories or Vitamin A in their diet and half the children have inadequate folate intake. Expecting mothers are facing the same dire situation and the malnutrition threatens the healthy development of their children.

What has caused this crisis situation in the Occupied Territories?

The USAID found a direct correlation between the humanitarian conditions in the West Bank and the curfews imposed on the Palestinian population by the Israeli Government. The lengths of the curfews imposed in specific areas correlated directly with the families who gave curfew as the main reason their amount of food intake had declined. In Gaza, because curfews are not imposed, the main reason was lack of money.

The sweeping restrictions on freedom of movement that Israel imposes in the occupied territories are the main cause of the corrosion of the Palestinian economy and the extreme increase in unemployment and poverty. The siege on Palestinian towns by the Israeli Defense forces has seriously impaired the economic life in the territories.

When Palestinians are placed under curfew they are forced to say in their homes 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The curfew is lifted only occasionally to allow for food purchases. When residents are not under curfew, they have difficulty getting to work sites that are not near their homes and have trouble moving goods from place to place.

B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights and the Occupied Territories, states that Israel’s policy of restricting freedom of movement is a flagrant violation of human rights.

At last year’s World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization expressed deep concern over the deterioration of health conditions as a result of the Israeli Military acts against the Palestinian people. The following acts were listed in their report — firing on civilians, deliberate extrajudicial killing, which caused hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries among Palestinians, including a large number of children; imposition of siege on Palestinian areas, thus preventing medicines and food from reaching towns, villages and refugee camps; obstruction of ambulances, injuring a number of ambulance crew members; and denial of access of injured people to hospitals, thus condemning them to death.” The World Health Organization also strongly condemned the Israeli army’s aggression against hospitals and the use of Palestinian citizens as human shields during Israeli incursions into Palestinian areas.

What can you do?

While the situation seems hopeless, it is important to continue to try to lift the veil of silence around this situation. We must not abandon the cause of peace with justice for Israel/Palestine. While there is no legislative tool right now, advocacy is can be done in other ways. By networking, encouraging discussion, and sharing information we can help to shape the public debate. For additional resources go to the Middle East Issue Network. You can also sign up for our Middle East email list for updates on the situation.