This year Mother Earth has sounded an alarm in response to the abuse of the natural world and the depletion of its resources by mankind, its most rapacious species. For over two decades, environmental debts have been accumulated by humans as they exhaust the earth’s natural resources and pollute the environment through unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. Environmental degradation, reckless behavior towards wildlife, pollution of earth, air and water, overfishing, and the introduction of invasive species have each contributed to the emergence of deadly zoonotic diseases manifested in major epidemics such as Ebola, Avian and Swine flu, West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and now, the new pandemic, COVID-19.
Such outbreaks are becoming more frequent. Among the many possible causes of this increased frequency is an association with the unprecedented decline in wildlife habitats due to human activity, including logging of vast areas of natural forest in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia, extractive mining worldwide and the steady encroachment of development on natural habitat. The world’s finite resources are being used up faster than they can be replenished, greenhouse gas emissions have led to global warming, a depletion of the ozone layer, acid rain, a lack of clean drinking water, and a continual decrease in biodiversity.
When by these various means humans destroy more and more natural habitat, this causes opportunistic growth of pathogenic organisms that spread quickly and cause pandemics such the one we find ourselves in currently. Such a decline may encourage rapid evolutionary processes heralding the emergence of genetic mutations which produce zoonotic diseases transmitted between humans and animals, the same process hypothesized for the spread of COVID-19.
While the origins of this particular virus are still being researched, probable causes include the so-called ‘wet markets’ trading in live sea animals, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds freshly captured from their natural environment, each a potential vector for trans-species disease. As fierce as they are on mankind and the human economy, this pandemic and previous manifestations of similar outbreaks have generated restrictions that are a saving grace for the rest of the natural world. This forced isolation is giving the earth an opportunity to breathe, for animals to reproduce rather than to be hunted and slaughtered, and for an anemone flower to survive its typical fate of being picked from the earth by a passer-by.
This year the meadows will bloom, nourishment for bees and butterflies will be provided, nature will see a resurgence of plants and animals, and there will be movement towards environmental justice. In the first three months of 2020 the decrease in air traffic by more than 40%, has contributed to a 25% reduction in China’s CO2 emissions in the same period and a projected fall of 5% worldwide.
In Palestine, this virus is unable protect the environment from a much stronger epidemic - the Occupation. This is an unending reality that continues to violate all environmental standards, including the use of tear gas that constricts the respiratory system with greater effectiveness than a virus. It is an oppressive epidemic and the cause of many of the Palestinians’ chronic diseases increasing the possibility of their death from COVID-19.
Even in the midst of this pandemic, the occupation firmly continues the destruction of Palestinian’s natural environment and the implementation ofpolicies that are contributing to their silent ethnic cleansing in a numbers of ways. In the north of the West Bank, where many Palestinians cannot access healthcare, Israelis recently shut down a first-aid community initiative in order to deal with the crisis, confiscating tents designated to be used for a clinic (B’Tselem). In these recent weeks, Israeli soldiers were reported spitting on Palestinian vehicles and properties with the intent of spreading the virus in the village of Beit Iksa located northwest of occupied Jerusalem, as well as in Hebron.
We see the continued destruction of Palestinian natural environment by the Israeli occupation through their cutting down of the West Bank’s olive trees by the hundreds. In the lands between Bethlehem and Hebron, specifically in the Oanoub area in the town of Sa’ir, near the settlement of Asfar, 300 olive trees were cut down by illegal settlers on Saturday, March 28th, 2020. Since Palestine declared a state of Emergency, settlers have also demolished 40 vine trees and 10 olive trees in the Sehel Al-Rajam region near Hebron. Moreover, Palestinian wells continue to be destroyed causing further degradation of the land. On March 26th, a farming water well was destroyed in the town of Deir Ballut, west of Salfit.
On top of all this, the destruction of Palestinian homes continues, increasing the number of internal refugees even at a time like this. According to the UN, in the month of March alone, Israeli occupation forces have demolished or seized 43 dwellings, displacing 31 people and affecting the livelihoods or access to services for 260 others. For decades, these oppressive practices have led to the direct and indirect worsening of the physical and mental health of Palestinians, which has weakened their immune systems, and thus increased their risk of mortality if infected by COVID-19.
When exploited, nature will react. When dehumanized and oppressed, human beings will do so too. This global health catastrophe is not only an opportunity to strongly assess our attitude towards the current state of our environment – one which threatens the well-being and integrity of the ecosystem – but it is also an occasion for us to reflect on what the words "we are all in this together" mean in the context of decades of occupation and dispossession. Just as we need to bring to an end our ruinous domination of nature, so we need to bring to an end the ruthless domination and injustices of Israel over the Palestinian people. Then, together, we will be able to find and implement new environmental, social and economic actions for positive change that will ensure the safe continuity of humanity.
Shatha Alazzah
Director of the Environment Unit, Lajee Center, Aida Camp in the West Bank
The Lajee Center's Environmental Unit is supported by 1for3.org, that raises funds through its annual Walk for Water for Palestinian Refugees. Donate here .
Sources
WHO. (2020, February 21). Corona disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation report – 32.
Ordway, D., Sokol, N. (2016, February 1). Global trends in human infectious disease: Rising number of outbreaks, fewer per-capita cases.
Wyns, A. (2020, April 2). How our responses to climate change and the coronavirus are linked. World Economic Forum.
Tanous, O. (2020, March 24). Corona outbreak in the time of apartheid. Aljazeera.
Qud, N. (2020, April 9). Report: Settlements a major source of Corona outbreak in Palestine. Palestine News Network.
Nassar, T. (2020, March 26). Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic. The Electronic Intifada.
Middle East Monitor. (2020, April 6). Israel settlers spitting on Palestinian cars raises concern over attempt to spread coronavirus.
Salam, A. (2020, March 27). Palestinian shed and water well destroyed by Israeli forces in West Bank. International Middle East Media Center.
B’tselem. (2020, March 26). During the Coronavirus crisis, Israel confiscates tents designated for clinic in Northern West Bank.
OCHA. (2020, April 20). West Bank demolitions and displacement.
Participants in the Lajee Center's food sovereignty program. Photo: Mohammad Alazza