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Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory: West Bank life in the shadows of the settlements
16-02-2010 Photo gallery
Life is hard for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Restrictions on movement and violence from settlers often make it difficult to earn a living or obtain essential services.
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Life is hard for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Restrictions on movement and violence from settlers often make it difficult to earn a living or obtain essential services.
Illegal Israeli settlements have been built throughout the occupied West Bank, making life for Palestinians who live close by very difficult. Some Palestinian families, like this one in the Hebron region, try to get by without any modern-day conveniences, while the settlement in the background has everything it needs readily available.
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Manal (Um Geith) prepares a meal for her children on the fireplace. She lives in an area which is under full Israeli civil and military control near the city of Jenin. Palestinian families have neither mains electricity nor running water. A settlement a few hundred metres away has both. The house is falling apart and the roof leaks when it rains, but the family cannot just carry out the urgently needed repairs. That requires permission from the Israeli authorities – something the family has given up on ever getting.
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The old city centre of Hebron, which used to be a bustling market place, is a mere shadow of its former self. Settlers routinely throw all sorts of objects down on Palestinian shoppers and shopkeepers from their apartments above the market street. Shopkeepers have tried to protect themselves with mesh – but there is still no protection against filthy water or urine. As a result, many shoppers stay away.
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Izzat Othman Nassar (74) owns a number of fields and olive groves in Awarta Valley outside Nablus. Most of these fields have been out of bounds for him for a number of years because of violence by settlers. It has simply been too dangerous to get near the land. An ICRC project has helped a number of farmers in the valley regain access to some of their fields. ICRC teams have been present when the farmers ventured into the valley, which helped them feel safer. But it is still too dangerous for him to go to his olive groves closest to the settlement.
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For shepherds who live close to where settlements have sprung up, it can be almost impossible to lead a normal life. This boy from the Yanoun area close to Nablus might not be able to follow in his father's footsteps and become a shepherd. The family has already sold part of its flock. Harassment by settlers is a regular feature of life and the family is considering selling the rest of the flock and moving away because they no longer feel safe in the area.
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The routing of the West Bank barrier has created a range of problems that seriously affect everyday life in the West Bank. In many places, the barrier deviates from the so-called "Green Line," the armistice line of 1949, and cuts deep into the West Bank. Where it does so, it hampers normal movement between Palestinian neighbourhoods and villages, it impedes trade and contact between family members and friends and, in some cases, makes it difficult to reach a hospital quickly.
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The village of Azzun Atme has been cut off from the rest of the West Bank by the barrier. As this checkpoint is closed at night, most pregnant women from the village leave several days or weeks before their due date in order to make sure that they can get to a hospital in time when they go into labour.
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Life in the West Bank has improved somewhat for Palestinians in the larger urban areas as some checkpoints have been removed or checks by Israeli soldiers have become more sporadic. As a consequence, trade and the economy have grown in some areas. Nevertheless, everyday life for a great many other Palestinians remains very difficult.
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