The Nature of the Occupation
6/6/01, Brian Wood
Colorado Daily
Reading about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict versus living amidst its stale dynamism render varying impressions. If
T.V. or print media is the sole source of one's information about this
situation, it would appear like a protracted war between two, basically
equal, military forces; the Palestinians are the bad guys, Israelis the good
guys; Palestinians attack and Israel responds; Palestinians want to drive Israel
into the sea leaving Israel in a constantly defensive situation.
On the other hand, living here demonstrates that the Palestinians have no
military. Without a military, armed factions of political parties wage the
armed portion of the struggle with whatever means available. Usually this
translates into bombs set off in cars
or on people. The Israeli Defense Forces are the largest military in the region
and the 4th largest in the world. Combined with billions of US tax dollars
every year, Israel, small in stature, is large in power.
The major components of Israeli occupation of Palestinian land are facilitated
through a well-designed, systematic--and most
importantly--behind the scenes plan which accomplishes two main purposes. The
first is the perpetuation of the occupation, despite numerous UN Resolutions and
human rights standards. The second is the dispossession and deconstruction of
Palestinian civilian life to facilitate Israel's growth.
A main component of occupation is building permits. One must have a
building permit to expand an existing structure or create a new one.
Palestinians are routinely denied building permits, even after exhausting the
months-long application process (at a cost of $5000 each attempt) two or three
times. This leaves them in desperation. With their backs against the wall, they
are forced to build without a permit. Without a permit, the construction
is then labeled "illegal" by the Israeli Civil Administration. This
position, vis-a-vis civil administrative law, leaves the builder, usually a
homeowner building a new home
or expanding one, with the constant threat of demolition, not only during
construction but after residency.
Without a permit, homes are bulldozed with or without notice. The day of
demolition brings a large convoy of Israeli civil administrators, soldiers, and
police, accompanied by the bulldozer. They tell the owners they have 15 minutes
to evacuate. If they protest, the 15 minutes expires immediately and the house
crumbles on all the belongings inside.
Since Israel occupied the West Bank,
Gaza, and East Jerusalem in 1967, at least 7000 Palestinian homes have been
destroyed. 1230 have been razed since the "peace process" began. From
January-April 4 this year, 495 homes were bulldozed. Another 4000 have
demolition orders. For those 4000 families, each day is lived in fear that their
home will be demolished.
In contrast, Ehud Barak, in an editorial in the International Herald Tribune,
said recently, "Israel should build no new settlements. But neither should
a young man, back from his army service and starting a family be barred from
building a hew home alongside his father's. It is a matter...of common sense,
like so much in life."
Another unseen tactic of the
oppressive, humiliating occupation is the hundreds of checkpoints that separate
Palestinian cities and villages from one another. These also function to control
the flow of people to and from Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
Publicly, the checkpoints keep potential terrorists out of Israel.
Realistically, they prohibit Palestinians from traveling in their own lands. My
colleague was not allowed to travel the 3 miles to work today, all within
Palestinian territory.
Last night, a group including myself
were traveling the 8 miles from Jerusalem to Ramallah. At the 3rd checkpoint,
traffic was heavily backlogged. It took us one hour and 40 minutes to travel 400
yards. Instead of waiting in the car, we walked to the checkpoint and observed
the interactions. We found the soldiers bragging about how many Palestinian
I.D.s they had
confiscated. It is a months-long, expensive process to retrieve an I.D.
card.
The Palestinians have lived with this treatment every day for 35 years. These
are realities of the occupation, varying widely from international perception
and media attention, which suggest the occupation must end.