Half a century after Israel seized control of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip, forced displacement of Palestinians is making them poorer and keeping them in misery and despair, according to a group of Catholic development agencies.
A report this week by International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), an alliance of Catholic development agencies, examines the forced displacement of Palestinians as a central issue in the Palestinian and Israeli conflict, not only in the West Bank and Gaza but in Israel as well.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, when more than a million Palestinians came under Israeli occupation. After the 1967 War the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, were occupied by Israel, and today there are now 4.7 million Palestinians living under occupation.
“The current status quo is unsustainable,” said CAFOD’s Director of Advocacy, Neil Thorns. “We are calling on Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to put the UK government’s weight behind a renewed peace process.
“Our Israeli and Palestinian partners describe worsening conditions on the ground, as families are driven into ever-deeper poverty and left to live on aid hand-outs. Displacement is a fundamental threat to the chance of a just peace.”
The report, ‘No Place Like Home’, says the factors contributing to displacement include:
- Restrictive planning processes
- Illegal settlements
- Military and other forms of violence
“Forced displacement and its effects are a central challenge to protecting the rights of Palestinians and promoting the development of their communities in both occupied Palestinian territory and Israel,” said Brigitte Herremans, from CIDSE’s working group on Palestine and Israel.
“Urgent action is needed by the international community, including the EU and its member states, in order to address the situation. Israel must uphold its duties under international law.”
Recurring Israeli military incursions and attacks, the closure of Gaza and internal Palestinian conflict have all contributed to the fact that around 80 per cent of Gaza’s population relies on humanitarian aid for survival, says ‘No Place Like Home’.
In the West Bank, Israeli settlements which are illegal under international humanitarian law not only take over Palestinian land and water resources, they lead to restrictions on movement, impeding Palestinian access to education, health care and employment. The damage to the economy worsens poverty.
“Violence targeting Israeli civilians is also an abuse of human rights”, said Neil Thorns, concluding that “the security of Israelis and that of Palestinians are intrinsically linked – one cannot exist without the other.”
Through the lens of international law, ‘No Place Like Home’ aims to create awareness, stimulate discussion and encourage dialogue; heeding Pope Francis’s call to ‘intensify efforts and initiatives aimed at creating the condition for a stable peace based on justice’.
SOURCE: Relief Web
