An overview of the situation in Israel/Palestine after my first trip there in 2009

1. Report from
Palestine
and Israel –
What are the facts on the
ground?
Report on a visit made
October 31 – November 13, 2009
Peter Larson

2. Presentation outline
• My own objectives
• How my trip was organized
• Where we went, what we saw
– Jerusalem
– West Bank
– Inside Israel
• My conclusions/observations

3. My trip objectives
1. To see the “facts on the ground”
2. To answer a bothersome question - “Is it fair
to call Israel an “Apartheid” state?”
3. To do some tourism

4. We did have fun…

5. A little
geography
reminder…..

6. Where we
went
Jaffa
Beersheba
Jordan Valley
Jericho

7. ETT STUDY TOUR TO ISRAEL & PALESTINE
31 October - 11 November 2009
List of persons/organizations visited
1. Jeff Halper, President, Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions
2. Yahay Zohar, guide, ICAHD (walking tour of E. Jerusalem)
3. Salim Shawamreh, Beit Arabiya
4. Dina Awad, Bethlehem University
5. Usama Nicola, Wi’am Mediation Centre, Bethlehem
6. Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem
7. Hazem Jamjoum, Badil Information Centre on Refugees,
Bethlehem
8. Nuri el-Ukbi, Bedouin, Negev Desert
9. Dr. Yeela Livnat Raanan, Ben Gurion University
10. “Unrecognized Bedouin village” of Al-Sira, Negev
11.Halil el Amour, Regional Council for the Unrecognized
Bedouin Villages in the Negev.
12. Dr Abed Haiek, future School for Girls, Beit Hanina
13.Leigh Brady, Defense for Children International, Ramallah

8. 14.Alex Kuttoub, Negotiating Affairs Unit of the PLO, Ramallah
15.Sami Awad, Director of The Holy Land Trust, Bethlehem
16.Hannah Barag, Machsom Watch, West Jerusalem
17.Alwyn Knight, Christian Peacemaker Team, Hebron
18.Hashem Al Azzeh, Hebron
19.Women in Black, West Jerusalem
20.Four Homes of Mercy, Bethany
21.Daher Nassar, Tent of Nations, East Jerusalem
22.Mikhael Manekin, Breaking the Silence, West Jerusalem
23.Aaron Snyder, Lod Community Foundation, Lod
24.Yudit Ilany, Public Committee of Housing and Land Rights, Jaffa
25.Fathe Kdirat, Jordan Valley Solidarity organization
26.Humsa family, Jordan Valley
27.Jonathon Cook, Author, Nazareth
PLUS
27.Jon Allen, Canadian Ambassador to Israel
28.Graeme McIntyre, Canadian Representative to Palestinian Authority
29.Margaret Evans, CBC Middle East Correspondent
30.Barbara Shenstone, Director, West Bank Operations, UNRWA
31.Nomi Levitsky, Israeli television commentator/journalist

9. Historic Jerusalem – a
fascinating place to visit
Inhabited for more than 5000 years
1867 pop’n estimate:
6,000 Muslims,
5,000 Jews,
2000 Christians

13. Hundreds of Pilgrims (and a
holiday atmosphere) at the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher

14. The Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque

15. The Western or “Wailing” wall

16. Palestine and Transjordan
Map source: Encyclopedia Britannica,
1935

17. Where is
Palestine
today???
It has been literally
“wiped off the map”

19. UN Partition plan
• Israel 56%, Arab state 43%
•Jaffa Palestinian
•Jerusalem to be international
Post 1949 truce
• Israel 72%,
Arab state 28%
•Jaffa Israeli,
Gaza smaller
•Jerusalem
divided

20. Where did the
Palestinians
go when
Israel was
created?

21. Where are the
Palestinians today?
Refugee Camps
(Lebanon, Egypt,
Jordan, Syria) 4.7 M
TOTAL 10.1M
Israel 1.5 M
West Bank 2.4
Gaza 1.5 M

22. The
geography
of
Jerusalem

23. In Jerusalem there are multiple points of tension
between Palestinians and Israelis
1. Israeli settlements - Construction of thousands of
illegal settlements in the occupied territory
surrounding Jerusalem
2. Israeli security and the wall (or “separation
barrier”) – economic and social impact on
Palestinians
3. Service levels – disparity between East and West
Jerusalem
4. Demolition of Palestinian houses (and the building
freeze)
5. Eradication of traces of Palestinian culture and
religion

24. 1. Israeli settlements in
East Jerusalem
Above – Ma’Ale Adumim
Right – its recreation facility

26. The Israeli
settlements
have been
growing
since the
Oslo
Agreement.
There are
now over
250,000
(Jewish)
Israeli
citizens
living in
Occupied
East
Jerusalem

28. 2. Israeli Security and
the wall

29. The wall
effectively
annexes a
huge area
of
Palestinian
land to
Israel and
cuts
Jerusalem
off from its
Palestinian
hinterland

32. 3. Disparity in
services
West
Jerusalem
East
Jerusalem

33. East Jerusalem — Facts and Figures
June 2008
• Number of residents: 256,820 (34% of the Jerusalem population)
• Families under the poverty line: 67% (vs. 21% in W. Jerusalem)
• Children under the poverty line: 77.2% (vs. 39.1% in W.
Jerusalem)
• Sewers: 70 kilometers of main sewage lines are lacking.
• Water: Approximately 160,000 Palestinian residents have no
connection to the water network.
• Schools: There is a shortage of 1,500 classrooms.
• School dropout rate: Currently stands at approximately 50%.
• Post offices: 2, plus 5 postal agencies (as opposed to 50 postal
facilities in West Jerusalem).
- Association for Civil Rights in Israel

34. 4. Demolition of
Palestinian
homes in East
Jerusalem

35. Reasons for demolishing
Palestinian houses
• The wall
• “beautification”
• Security - “military/police sites”
• National historic purposes
• Reprisals for terrorism
• Illegal construction

36. 50 Palestinians evicted from Jerusalem homes
Israeli police then allowed Jewish settlers to move into the houses
MSNBC - Sun., Aug 2,
2009
JERUSALEM - Israeli
police evicted two
Palestinian families in east
Jerusalem on Sunday, then
allowed Jewish settlers to
move into their homes,
drawing criticism from
Palestinians, the United
Nations and the State
Department.
Police arrived before dawn
and cordoned off part of the
Arab neighborhood of
Sheikh Jarrah before
forcibly removing more
than 50 people, said Chris Gunness,
spokesman for the U.N. agency in
charge of Palestinian refugees.
U.N. staff later saw vehicles bringing
Jewish settlers to move into the
homes, he said.

37. 5. Gradual
elimination of
traces of
Palestinian
civilisation in
Jerusalem

38. Hotel of the Shepherd
Former residence of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (religious leader)
taken over by Israel after 1967. Potential site of new Palestinian
government.

39. Demolished, January 2011
To be replaced by new Jewish
housing units, built by American
developer

40. ‘Beautification’
of old city of
Jerusalem by
creating a park
…
By destroying
Palestinian
houses in East
Jerusalem

41. Destruction of the Palestinian
village of Silwan, (and forcible
removal of its inhabitants) to create
a new Jewish cultural history park
Ancien village arabe de ‘Silwan’ –
sous menace de démolition pour en
faire un parc de l’histoire juive

42. Proposed new ‘Museum of
Tolerance’ (financed by Elie
Wiesenthal Centre in Los
Angeles) to be built in East
Jerusalem….
… On the site of a
Muslim Cemetery

43. Summary – Palestinian point of
view on the Jerusalem situation
Since 1948, Israel has been waging a low intensity war to take over
Jerusalem and make it the capital of the ‘Jewish’ State of Israel. It
wants the Palestinians to get out.
Key elements of the strategy:
• Build huge settlements for hundreds of thousands of Jews in East
Jerusalem, using subsidies and other enticements
• Cut Jerusalem off economically from its historic Palestinian hinterland
• Make it hard for Palestinians to live in Jerusalem by destroying their houses
and preventing new Palestinan construction
• Buy up or expropriate Palestinian houses and encourage religious Jewish
fanatics to move into Arab neighbourhoods
• Provide minimal level of service (sewers, schools, etc.) to Palestinians
• Generally push Palestinians to leave Jerusalem.

44. The occupied West Bank
- Bethlehem
- Hebron
- Jordan Valley
•2.4 million Palestinians
•Military rule since 1967
•No civil rights
•2/3 of adult males have
been in prison
•Complete take over of
Jordan Valley
•Israeli control of water
•Growth of Jewish
settlements
•Hundreds of
“checkpoints”
•Many settler only roads

45. Bethlehem University

47. On Wednesday, 28 October 2009, we
learned that Ms. Berlanty Azzam, a 21
year old Bethlehem University student,
was arrested by the Israeli military at a
check point in the West Bank.
She was loaded into a military jeep -
blindfolded and handcuffed - and taken
to Gaza - against her will.
Berlanty, a Christian, had been a
student at BU since 2005.
“For 3 years I stayed in Bethlehem. I
didn’t dare visit my family in Gaza for
fear that I would not be permitted to
return to my studies in the West Bank,”
said Berlanty. “Now, just two months
before graduation, I was arrested and
taken to Gaza in the middle of the
night.”
Text taken from the
Bethlehem University
of the Holy Land
Website – December
8th, 2009

48. El Aida Refugee
Camp - Bethlehem

51. Hebron

54. Hebron – 120,000 Palestinians, 600 Jewish settlers. City now divided into
Jewish and Palestinian areas. Jewish areas are growing….

55. But Jewish religious
fundamentalists
(many of them
Americans) have
taken control over
parts of Hebron and,
supported by the IDF,
have closed the main
commercial street of
Hebron

59. The Jordan
Valley

62. Jordan Valley: Palestinian
peasants without water, while
immigrant Jews have water
and electricity at subsidized
rates

63. Inside Israel
Palestinian Israelis, or
“Israeli Arabs”
Jaffa
Beersheba
Jordan Valley
Jericho

64. Jaffa

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68. Bedouins in the
Negev

71. Jewish National Fund’s
“Blueprint Negev
planned community”

72. My own
conclusions

73. Conclusion 1 Palestine is disappearing…..
…Israel’s 60 year old war to take over all of
Palestine continues to this day

74. Palestinian
Sovereign Areas
according to the
Sharon Proposal,
2001

75. Conclusion 2:
There are now 4 main groups
of Palestinians each with
different problems.
• Israeli Citizens
• West Bank
• Gaza
• Refugees
TOTAL 10.1 M
Israel 1.5 M
West Bank 2.4
Gaza 1.5 M
Refugees 4.7 M

76. Conclusion 3: The Palestinians do feel hostile
toward the Jews…
• …Not because they are Jewish, but because
the State of Israel and the Israeli military
– Have made 4 million people refugees and refuse their right to return
– continue to take over more and more Palestinian land
– continue to tear down Palestinian houses
– Allow hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers to move into occupied
territory
– have taken over the control of water, limiting access for Palestinians
while subsidizing it for illegal Jewish settlements
– practice a severe discrimination against Palestinians inside Israel
– hold 1.4 million people in an open air prison in Gaza
• And do all this in the name of Jews and a “Jewish state”

77. Conclusion 4: The Palestinians resist every day –
and most of the resistance is non violent
• Palestinian leadership knows that they cannot win militarily – Israel
is far too powerful – and they discourage individual acts of violence
• How do the Palestinians resist?
• Graffiti
• Demonstrations
• Rebuilding destroyed houses
• Appeals to the UN
• Non-cooperation
• Cultural – religion (Christian and Muslim), dress
• Democratic elections
• Civil society call for Boycott of Israel
• There is simmering resentment everywhere and there are some acts
of violence against Israel – and Israel makes sure we hear about
them. But the surprising thing is that there is not more.

78. Conclusion 5: The treatment of the Palestinians by
the Israelis is rooted in their own fears
Specifically many Israelis and Jews fear:
• that the Holocaust will somehow return
• that the Palestinians will want revenge
• that the Arab neighbours want to annihilate them
• that the West will abandon them
Therefore:
• Any lasting solution to the Israeli/Palestinian issue will
have to guarantee economic and physical security to
Israelis (as well as Palestinians). Their sense of fear has
to be recognized, understood, and dealt with.

79. Conclusion 6: Our guilt over what happened to the
Jews (and our inaction) has led Canada to look the
other way as a new injustice takes place
• Canada “officially” opposes the occupation, the demolition of
houses, the illegal settlements, the location of the wall, etc. etc.
• BUT - instead of speaking up – or imposing any sanctions on Israel
– we look the other way. We even signed a free trade agreement
with Israel in 1996 and carry on “business as usual”.
• Today, our hypocrisy is even more striking.
– “The Harper government has remained largely silent on the ongoing
building of illegal settlements, the demolition of Palestinian houses, the
ongoing siege of Gaza, all of which violate the Geneva Conventions that
Canada has signed and ratified”.
– Paul Heinbecker, Former Cdn. Ambassador to the UN

80. A challenge
• What should Canada do?
– Canada should drop its unconditional support of Israel
– Instead, we should be prepared to:
• support any initiative (by Israel or by Palestinians) that conforms to
human rights and international law, and
• criticize any activity which does not (and even apply economic and
political sanctions as appropriate)
• What can you do?
– Raise the issue for discussion among your friends, or in your church or
other social group. Don’t be intimidated by the argument that criticizing
Israel makes you “anti-Semitic”. You can support human rights for Jews
while still being critical of Israel.
– Learn more. I can suggest books, movies and articles.
– Invite me to talk to some of your friends.
– Go see for yourself – but make sure you visit with Palestinians as well
as Israelis.

81. Report from
Palestine
and Israel –
What are the facts on the
ground?
Report on a visit made
October 31 – November 13, 2009
Thank you.

84. Other observations
• More and more Palestinians (and Israelis) doubt whether a “2 state”
solution is still possible.
• But what is the alternative to a “2 state” solution?
– A one state solution? A greater Israel?
• But what to do with the 6 million Palestinians who live there? (To say
nothing of the 4 million still living in refugee camps?)
– Assimilation of the Palestinians?
– Expulsion of the Palestinians?
– Extermination of the Palestinians?
– Full fledged apartheid?
• The other alternative is a secular democratic state with equal rights for
all.
• This will no longer be a “Jewish” state

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86. Conclusion 2.
Palestinians are being
squeezed into the least
productive areas…

87. Palestine
and
Transjordan
Map source:
Encyclopedia Britannica,
1935