News Release

Palestinians lack basic human security

Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Lancet_DELETED

People living in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) lack the basic security that would allow them to be healthy and flourish as a society. Without human security, development aid will not result in development. These issues are discussed in the fourth paper in The Lancet Series on Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, written by Rajaie Batniji, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues.

This paper offers the first carefully corroborated synthesis of the threats to Palestinian life and well-being. By pulling together data from Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, international agencies, academic studies and news sources, the paper provides an authoritative and comprehensive view of the threats to health and human security that have intensified since 2000.

The authors look at health through WHO's broad definition of 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity'. A human security framework is used to describe the threats to survival, development, and well-being in the OPT.

Between 2000 and 2009, more than 4700 Palestinians—mostly civilians, including 900 children, were killed by Israeli military action. In addition, more than 1300 Palestinians were killed in the recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip, December 2008-January 2009. As well as these deaths, some 35,000 Palestinians have been injured in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2000. Deaths have risen as a proportion of total deaths and injuries since the first uprising—which began in 1988, with possible reasons for this cited as reduced Palestinian participation in the uprisings, under-reporting of injuries during major attacks, or use of increasingly lethal tactics by the Israeli military, also indicated by the high ratio of head and upper-body injuries in the second uprising.

Today, threats to homes and properties come from aerial bombing and shelling, direct demolition, occupation, and regulations that do not permit building on most of the land in the OPT. Land confiscation and destruction of crops, such as the uprooting of olive groves and fruit orchards, heighten insecurities.

Access to fuel, electricity, water, and sanitation in the occupied Palestinian territory is disrupted by Israeli restrictions and military incursions. Severe restrictions and destructions, particularly in the Gaza Strip, threaten basic survival because medical, sanitation, and sewage facilities cannot function. Pollution of beaches with sewage has created a potential public-health hazard. The UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported that since 2007, 50󈞨 million litres of untreated and partly treated sewage have been disposed of every day into the Mediterranean sea surrounding the Gaza Strip. Water restrictions have left Palestinians with some of the world's most acute water shortages at 320 m³ per person per year (threshold is 1700 m³ and absolute minimum is 500 m³).

Humiliation and degrading treatment occur for Palestinians at more than 600 Israeli-controlled checkpoints and road barriers in the West Bank. Movement restrictions affect every aspect of Palestinian life, such as the ability to travel, work, marry, study, worship, and be with family. These restrictions directly and destructively impact the social determinants of health. The separation wall, under construction since 2002, the continuous increase of Israeli settlements and settlers in the West Bank, and the loss of freedom of movement, creates a feeling of permanent distress and loss of hope for the future of Palestinians—while also obstructing access to healthcare facilities.

Social resilience, seen as a positive adaptation amid adversity, is holding together Palestinian society and its economy, including the health system. However, as conditions deteriorate, the social fabric of Palestinian society is eroding. Since 2007, community ties have been weakened by clashes between Fatah and Hamas forces, tearing families apart. The Israeli policy of exerting physical and mental pressure on those who need medical permits and Palestinian prisoners has strained Palestinian social cohesion.

The authors conclude: "Political solutions that improve Palestinian security will simultaneously reduce threats to physical, mental, and social health...most threats require social and political solutions that are beyond the capacity of the health sector. Social solutions should aim at strengthening social networks and the capacity of the health sector to provide support. Political solutions should address and reduce the threats posed by weapons, destruction of homes, torture, humiliation, and restrictions on movement and on the economy to a minimum. By identifying and communicating the link between human-security threats and health conditions, Palestinian health can become an integral part of the political solution to this conflict."

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Rajaie Batniji, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK. T) +44 (0)78 8145 5336 E) rajaie.batniji@politics.ox.ac.uk

For full Article see: http://press.thelancet.com/opt4.pdf


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