Are the Palestinian People threatening Israel’s health?
Tags: Virus, Coronavirus, Palestine, Israel

CARTOON: CARLOS LATUFF

Are the Palestinian People threatening Israel’s health?

The global spread of Covid-19 caused movements restrictions and full-on lockdowns in many places all over the world, including the area of Israel and Palestine. As an occupying force, Israel had always controlled every entry and exit in the West Bank and last week closed every area under Palestinian administration to allegedly curb the spread of the infected. It may be clear that Israel is using the pandemic to quicken the process of annexation of Palestinian land: as a matter of fact, Israeli settlers are allowed to attack Palestinian civilians, interfering with health authorities attempts to fight the contagion.

The goal of these strict limitations could be the safeguard of public safety, but it would mean that the measures would be applied to Israeli citizens as well, since the virus infects both populations alike. That is not the case since Israeli settled in the West Bank, despite living only a couple hundred meters from the Palestinian communities in forced lockdown, are not subjected to the same rules. The imposition of these guidelines is a glimpse into what would have happened if the “Trump peace deal” had been implemented.

A violent series of attacks towards Palestinians farmers is underway: one example is Bethlehem, where Palestinians are facing a harsh quarantine and thousands of trees belonging to them were cut down. Israel has also started to build in the immediate vicinity of Nablus, a blatant attempt to create ghettos and bantustans for Palestinians. Gaza, that has already registered a small number of covid-19 cases, caused stark preoccupations regarding the readiness of its healthcare system, already put under stress by the embargo forced by Israel.

More than 5000 Palestinians, including women and children, are detained as we speak in Israeli prisons, known for being old, dirty, crowded and underserved from a hygiene perspective. Cells are claustrophobic, unclean and without windows, and on top of everything ex-prisoners testified that psychological and physical tortures are commonplace in there. In conclusion, the health of prisoners is completely overlooked.

Palestinians are trapped and fighting on two sides: one battle is fought against the pandemic, the other against the brutal Israeli occupation, in which these people are the perfect scapegoat to blame for the Covid-19 spread in Israel. They are considered a threat to the health and lives of Jewish citizens, presented as a sort of “fifth column” and considered illegal aliens.

The health sector has been since ’48 one of the most representative for Palestinians (despite many racist incidents happening in this system as well). 17% of doctors in Israel is Palestinian, and many nurses, pharmacists, technicians and ecological operators are as well. While in Israel a big part of the population is being tested, only 5% of Palestinians were guaranteed Covid-19 testing. On one side the Israeli government is promoting health precautions methods among Jewish citizens, on the other it’s not doing the same for Palestinians. Instructions haven’t been translated into Arab for weeks, and no investment has been made available to support the health infrastructures in Palestinians cities and villages. Palestinian people, like other native and discriminated people, are at a structural disadvantage when it comes to healthcare; this situation combined with a deadly pandemic can lead to devastating results.

The average distance between Palestinians communities and the nearest hospitals is almost double the Israeli one, and the quality of healthcare facilities in Palestinian territories is lacking: as a result many people there suffer chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. For Palestinian Bedouins the threat is even greater. Around 150 000 Bedouins live in 40 villages not considered legitimate by the state and as such not granted running water, sanitary services and healthcare infrastructures. Despite the calls for actions made by Bedouin authorities, the State refused to do anything in regards of testing, social distancing enforcement and access to hospitals or medical care. Judging by these facts, Israeli response to Covid-19 could reveal indifference towards Palestinian lives.

Coronavirus’s spread among Palestinians could also provide Israel with the opportunity to intensify control on them, maybe even coming to isolate them politically and physically. In the last few days in Jaffa, for example, Israeli police attacked Palestinians residents for allegedly violating social distancing norms, even going as far as throwing shock grenades. This could be only the beginning, and if the pandemic hits seriously Palestinians villages and cities, we could see their inhabitants rise against the lack of healthcare and as a reaction the Israel state militarize even more to react to the protests. This emergency could make the Palestinian population even more controlled, punished and militarily oppressed than It already is.