Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace | Page 31

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace

Palestinian economic problems. But without the ability to conduct purposeful economic
activity in Area C, the economic space of the West Bank will remain crowded and
stunted and its inhabitants’ daily interactions with the State of Israel will be
extraordinarily inconvenient, expensive, and frustrating. Already the constraints make it
impossible to sustain even the current standards of living without large donor inflows,
which also have become unsustainable.
Similarly, a 2015 report from the International Labor Office concluded:
The continuing occupation fundamentally affects the rights and well-being of Palestinian women
and men, including through confiscation of land, forced displacement, a myriad of [sic]
unpredictable and opaque access and movement restrictions and exposure to violence by Israeli
security forces and settlers. Measures taken by the Israeli authorities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory have created separate and different realities that favour Israeli citizens over Palestinians,
a situation that contradicts the principle of equality and non-discrimination.lxxvii

Gaza
Understanding the Israel-Palestine situation requires considering the part in Gaza.
The Gaza strip, 25 miles long and between 4 and 8 miles wide—141 square miles— is
now home to more than 1.8 million Palestinians. More than two-thirds of its inhabitants
are refugees, including descendants from the wars of 1948 and 1967. Most live in eight
refugee camps that surround Gaza’s cities and towns. Gaza’s population has tripled in the
past 30 years; most are under age 18.
Although Gaza has been relatively isolated from the Arab world for the last 50
years, it lies in the heart of the Middle East and has a long history. Throughout antiquity
Gaza was a prosperous Mediterranean port, strategically located at the intersection of
trading routes linking Egypt, Arabia and the eastern Mediterranean.lxxviii Religiously,
Gaza is mostly Muslim today and less secular than the West Bank, with its traditional
culture influenced by the proximity to Egypt. Approximately 1200 Palestinian Christians
live in Gaza today. Most are Greek Orthodox, while some are Roman Catholic.lxxix
Gaza has been under Israeli military control since the Six-day War in 1967.
Although the Israeli army withdrew from Gaza in 2005, along with several thousand
Israeli settlers, the Israeli government still controls access to