Bi-Weekly Brief for March 22, 2021
West Bank hospitals resemble ‘war zones’ as they struggle to cope with Covid cases
With data showing 251,668 Covid-19 cases in Palestine on March 21 and 2,677 deaths, West Bank hospitals are 115% over capacity and face a shortage of ventilators, oxygen, protective and cleaning materials and an overwhelmed staff. Seriously ill people are being turned away from hospitals, or sleeping in chairs or on mattresses on hospital floors. Israel has so far paid nearly $800 million for vaccines and half of Israelis are fully vaccinated. The admission by an Israeli health official that hundreds of doses have been thrown in the garbage daily because of missed appointments has angered Palestinians. With the number of active cases in Israel declining to just over 21,000, and deaths approaching 6,100, the Knesset passed a bill on March 17 approving digital surveillance of all arrivals to Israel. They must either be quarantined, wear digital tracking bracelets or be tracked through cellphones. Israeli night clubs and other public spaces continue to be open to vaccinated ‘green pass’ holders.
Vaccine distribution politically and ethically charged as more doses reach Palestinians
On March 8, Israel began vaccinating Palestinians workers with permits to enter Israel or work in settlements. By March 18, 105,000 workers had received their first dose. While 5 US Senators and 17 Members of the House called onSecretary of State Blinken to push Israel to fulfill its duty as occupier and vaccinate all Palestinians, the settler Yesha Council leader urged the vaccination of West Bank Palestinians for the more pragmatic reason that settlers come in contact with them daily. On March 11, the Gaza Strip received 40,000 Sputnik-V vaccines from the UAE, bringing to 61,440 the doses sent by the politically-ambitious Gazan Mohammed Dahlan, who has lived in the UAE since being exiled from Palestine in 2011. Dahlan said half the doses are meant for the West Bank, but it unclear if his arch rival President Abbas will accept them or if Israel would approve their transfer. On March 17, 60,000 vaccines for Palestinians supplied under the COVAX program arrived at Ben Gurion airport (20,000 are earmarked for Gaza). The PA’s vaccination drive began on March 21.
Run up to Palestinian legislative elections grows increasingly contentious
85-year-old President Abbas is restricting who can run for legislative seats on May 22 in an effort to keep his job. Yasser Arafat’s nephew Nasser al-Kidwa was expelled from Fatah’s Central Committee on March 11 when he refused to drop his challenge to the Fatah old guard, and Mohammed Dahlan (among others) is also contesting Abbas’ power. Israel worries that a fractured Fatah could lead to Hamas getting most seats. It has threatened to arrest potential Hamas candidates and reportedly has asked the PA to call off the elections.
March 23rd election could bring Israel “within spitting distance of the realms of fascism”
So writes Haaretz columnist Yossi Verter, who fears the election might bring to power “the most extremist, ultra-nationalist, racist and rabidly religious Israeli government ever.” Netanyahu is desperate for a victory that will enable him to put an end to his corruption trial. The final TV polls show him likely to win a majority with the help of the far right Religious Zionism party which mainstreams Kahanists. The Kach and Kahane Chai parties were banned in Israel following Baruch Goldstein’s 1994 murder of 29 Palestinians in Hebron’s Ibrahimi mosque and placed on the US State Department’s list of designated foreign terrorist organizations. Among those whose election Netanyahu backs is Itamar Ben-Gvir. His political affiliation is an offshoot of Kahane Chai and he calls Baruch Goldstein his “hero.”
‘Normalization’ moves ahead, with a few bumps along the way
Netanyahu had hoped to crown his election campaign with a triumphant visit to the UAE, but a spat with Jordan led to the trip being cancelled on March 11. The announcement that the UAE was setting up a $10 billion investment fund in Israel was a consolation prize. Muslim-majority Kosovo joined the US and Guatemala in opening its embassy in Jerusalem in exchange for Israeli recognition of its 2008 self-declared independence from Serbia.
Settlers and soldiers stalk Palestinian children in ethnic cleansing drive
On March 10, 5 Palestinian children aged 8-13 who were picking the wildflower delicacy ‘akoub’ in the Masafer Yatta hills were harassed by settlers who then summoned soldiers to chase and arrest them. They were interrogated for hours at the Kiryat Arba settlement outside Hebron before being released, with the 12 and 13-year-old being summoned for another interrogation on March 14. On March 13 in the same area, settlers hurling stones and wielding clubs attacked the parents and 8 children of the Alwan family who were tending their land. The bloody assault which was filmed by B’Tselem led to the father being hospitalized with 5 fractures to his jaw and head. Israel has been ethnically cleansing the 19 hamlets in the Masafer Yatta area by repeatedly demolishing homes and water networks, most recently on March 11 when it destroyed the water supply serving 50 families. Some 1,000 Palestinians in the area are currently facing expulsion. Before the campaign visit Netanyahu paid to Masafer Yatta on March 15 in which he promised to legalize all settler outposts, the army attacked hundreds of protestors with sound bombs and tear gas, and declared it a closed military zone.
As Jerusalem demolitions accelerate, a lethal fire exposes inhumanity of Israel’s policies
Kafr Aqab is a forest of cheaply-built tower blocks standing in sewage when it rains and lacking paved roads, post offices and clinics. It is technically part of Jerusalem some 6 miles away, but actually in ‘no man’s land’ behind Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Lived in by 80,000 (or more) people who pay Israeli taxes but get no services, it is the place where displaced East Jerusalemites move if they want to keep their residency cards or live with a West Bank partner. On March 9, 34-year-old Ahmad Dola died and family members were injured when a fire broke out in their home in Kafr Aqab, and Jerusalem firetrucks were blocked at the Qalandiya checkpoint from passing through the Wall without a military escort. Meanwhile, an Israeli court has assented to the expulsion of 78 Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and destruction of as many as 100 homes, displacing 1,550, in Silwan, adjacent to Al Aqsa mosque. On March 14 and the following 2 days, and again on March 21, Palestinians were forced to demolish their own houses, shops and warehouses to avoid paying $30,000 - $45,000 each in demolition costs to the Municipality. In 2020, 148 homes were destroyed in East Jerusalem, displacing 450 people. It is unlikely that Israel will heed the 12 Members of Congress who, on March 11, denounced its demolition of homes as “a form of ongoing, de facto annexation that needs to be unequivocably opposed by the US.”
Israeli navy attacking both Palestinian fishing boats and Iranian oil tankers with impunity
On March 11, Palestinians investigating the death on March 7 of 3 Gazan fishermen reported that they had been killed by an Israeli explosive-carrying Matrix 600 quadcopter drone that had been caught in their nets and blew up as the nets were being lifted. The drone, parts of which had been retrieved and identified, could have been in the water since the Israeli navy sank a fishing boat off Gaza on Feb. 22. Gaza’s fishermen face near daily attacks by the navy which harasses them with machine guns, shelling and water cannon. In 2020, fishermen were attacked on 320 occasions, often when fishing only 3 nautical miles from shore. Meanwhile, Haaretz and the Wall Street Journal reported that the Israeli navy has attacked at least 12 Iranian oil tankers and other cargo ships bound for Syria, causing billions of dollars of damage.
Water Fact
On March 21, the Palestinian Water Authority and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics released a report showing that only 4% of households in the Gaza Strip have access to safe water for domestic use. 97% of the water from Gaza’s sole aquifer is not drinkable and the per capita daily allocation of water suitable for domestic use is only 22.4 liters per day, well below the 100 liters per day recommended by the World Health Organization.
Compiled by The Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
‘Water, Health and Human Rights: Marking World Water Day, from the US to Palestine’ is TONIGHT at 7 pm Eastern Time. Keynote: Rep. Rashida Tlaib. See program and speakers here. Register here. It will be live screened on our Facebook page and a recording will shortly be posted on our website.
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