UN OCHA report examines humanitarian consequences of Israeli policies for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem
LONDON (AlertNet) - Kifaya al Khatib, a 65-year-old Palestinian with 11 children, has lived with her husband since the early 1970s in part of the West Bank that lies within the Jerusalem municipal boundary and on the Jerusalem side of the barrier the Israeli government began erecting in 2002.
Yet they cannot get Jerusalem resident ID cards or authorisation to enter the city because their house was built without a permit. Lacking ID, they cannot own a car, take a taxi or go shopping in East Jerusalem.
To buy food, they must pass through a checkpoint to reach the West Bank village of Hizma, where five of Kifaya's daughters live, but they are forbidden to bring back some types of meat, dairy products and eggs.
Two of Kifaya's other daughters are disabled, and largely confined to wheelchairs. They rarely make it to the hospital in Ramallah for their weekly massage, as that involves negotiating a rocky track, going through security at the border and then taking a taxi or a bus.
The family used to earn some money from keeping animals, but were forced to demolish their stable, and sell the livestock. Kifaya says she hardly gets out of the house and sees only a few relatives who are registered on a list at the checkpoint, allowing them to enter Jerusalem.
"If I think about the future, my biggest hope is to be able to feel relaxed and to move freely. The way it is now, we feel like we're living in a cage," she says.
Kifaya's case features in a report released this week by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It examines the humanitarian consequences of Israeli policies for the estimated 270,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem and their increasing isolation from the rest of the Palestinian territories.
The report focuses on the area unilaterally annexed by Israel and included within the municipal boundary of Jerusalem following the 1967 war - an annexation that is not recognised by the international community.
The report says Israel has since pursued measures, in particular land confiscation, settlement building and construction of the barrier, "which serve to alter the status of East Jerusalem, contrary to international law".
These, together with government and municipal policies, have significantly increased the "humanitarian vulnerability" of East Jerusalem's Palestinian residents, curbing their access to education and health services, and their ability to plan and develop their communities, the report finds.
The situation has become more complex since 2002, when the Israeli government approved construction of a barrier to stop West Bank suicide bombers from entering Israel. Some Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem are now on the "West Bank" side of the wall, meaning they must cross checkpoints to access the health, education and other services they are entitled to as residents of Jerusalem.
And some West Bank residents are on the "Jerusalem" side of the barrier, leaving around 2,500 Palestinians in 16 communities with uncertain residency status, limited access to basic services and the prospect of displacement.
NOT ENOUGH CLASSROOMS
The United Nations says education facilities for Palestinians in East Jerusalem are substandard or unsuitable, with a chronic shortage of classrooms - partly due to planning restrictions that prevent new construction and the expansion of existing buildings.
Some children are not enrolled in school, but among those who are, many fail to complete secondary school, with an especially high drop-out rate for boys aged 12 to 14, the report says. And teachers and students with West Bank ID cards face problems getting to schools in East Jerusalem.
When it comes to health care, Palestinians with Jerusalem ID cards are entitled to access health services provided by the Israeli authorities and six non-profit Palestinian-run hospitals. But those from other parts of the territories struggle to reach these facilities, as do staff who work in them but live outside the municipal boundary and security wall.
"Although Palestinians are remaining in the city, in the long term, failure to address these 'push factors' risks undermining the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem," the report says.
East Jerusalem has traditionally been the hub for Palestinian social, economic and religious activity, and access to the city from across the Palestinian territories is essential to maintain Palestinian life there, said Maxwell Gaylard, the U.N. humanitarian and resident coordinator for the Palestinian territories, in a statement.
"As the occupying power, Israel is responsible under international humanitarian and human rights law for ensuring that the humanitarian needs of people under its occupation are met, including in East Jerusalem, and that Palestinian residents are able to exercise their human rights, including the right to freedom of movement, work, housing, health, education, and to be free from discrimination, among others," the report concludes.
Improving conditions for the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem is "a key concern" for U.N. agencies and their non-governmental partners, which have also faced restrictions on the movement of humanitarian staff in the area, it notes.
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