Gaza and the West Bank - Reflections on my visits
Sandra Osborne MP
Background
I’ve been in the Occupied Territories on several occasions firstly with the Foreign Affairs Committee and most recently with CABU and the Council for European Palestine Relations. I’m a member of Labour Friends of Palestine
These slides give an impression of what I saw but also give me the chance to talk about the issues behind the events and what should be done to bring about a solution. The context remains that peace and justice in the Middle East can only be achieved through the implementation of international law and respect for human rights. In respect of Palestine this means a viable two state solution that delivers justice and freedom for the Palestinian people as called for by the overwhelming international consensus and enshrined under international law and in UN resolutions.
First visit was with FAC shortly after Operation Cast Lead when Israel bombed the Gaza Strip followed up by ground forces – a ceasefire followed two weeks later.
The full impact of the Israeli action only came to light later and was documented in the Goldstein Report - over 1,300 Palestinians killed, 5,300 wounded, over a 1,000 buildings destroyed and tens of thousands left homeless. These figures are given a whole new meaning and dimension when you see the situation and the aftermath for yourself as we did.
As we viewed the devastation in Gaza and talked to key people involved, the goal of a two state solution seemed as far away as ever. My second visit just confirmed this.
We visited the UN Health Centre in Gaza City where we met doctors, staff and patients. Even amidst all their difficulties I was impressed to hear that Gaza has 100% child immunisation rates..
We also visited the Islamic Relief Distribution Centre at Swdani Shelter where we saw the aid distribution funded by the UK Government through the Department for International Development (DfID) and met with refugees.
In contrast to the devastation, we also had the chance to see the Gaza War Cemetery with the graves of British servicemen in the 1st World War – many of them serving with Scottish Regiments. It is an oasis of calm and well-maintained order in the otherwise chaotic Gaza Strip but it too had been hit by Israeli bombardment with hundreds of headstones damaged. Ibrahim Jerradeh is the Palestinian man who has looked after these graves with loving care since 1958 and who received an MBE in recognition of this service (he wore it proudly at our meeting).
Back in Israel we moved on to the town of Sderet, the target of Palestinian rockets and mortar shells fired by Hamas terrorists over an 8 year period killing 15 Israelis and injuring many more. As we surveyed the collection of burned out rockets and talked to staff and students at the nearby Sapir College we picked up a sense of frustration and pessimism. They see only stalemate and feel let down by their Government. The Hamas rocket attacks on Israel provided an excuse to Israel for Operation Cast Lead although this was as much to do with the imminent Israeli General Election as anything else. (Palestinian rocket attacks have been in the news again recently)
It is important not to demonise all Israelis because of the actions of their Government and elements of Israeli society. I had the privilege of visiting the Rabin Museum in Tel Aviv in the company of Yitzhak Rabin’s daughter Dalia who carries on his great work – the former Labour Prime Minister who sought a peaceful solution and was assassinated by one of his own people.
As well as seeing the areas most affected by the attacks we also met with politicians and Human Rights organisations. We visited the Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem and also the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank where we met with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. This slide is of me meeting with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
If matters were not bad enough, the split between Hamas controlled Gaza and the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah in the West Bank is another piece of this unfinished jigsaw. On my second visit it was clear that national reconciliation is now the priority for most Palestinians
Apart from the most recent assault on Gaza I have seen a number of human rights abuses in the Occupied Territories- refugee camps, the so-called security wall which separated farmers from their land and severely restricts movement within West Bank; supported by crossings; illegal settlements; violence by settlers; harassment of Bedouin tribes and the flouting of Geneva Convention in military prisons; and of course the total blockade of Gaza
I attended a military court at Ofer inside Israel. There was a jangle of chains outside the door of the courtroom. Army officers led child detainees into the military courtroom, their legs shackled, their hands cuffed, kitted out in brown jumpsuits. Did the soldiers feel threatened by 13 and 14 year old boys?
Every year an average of 700 Palestinian children are prosecuted in Israeli military courts mainly for stone throwing. These children largely get picked by Israeli soldiers from their homes in the middle of the night and are bundled into military vehicles, blindfolded and cuffed. Their families are not told where they are taken. Their interrogations are not videotaped; no lawyer or family member is present. A whole generation is criminalised through this process.
The West Bank settlements; the situation in Gaza and the lack of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation remain key factors which undermine the peace process. My most recent visit particularly focused on the latter two.
Egypt and the Arab Spring
Israel does not allow entry to Gaza through the Erez crossing which is the most convenient entry point so it was necessary to go via Egypt and make the long bus journey from Cairo to the Rafah crossing. However it did give us the opportunity for meetings in Cairo to get a feel for the Egyptian perspective on the situation in Gaza. We were also able to discuss the events in Egypt following the uprising which led to the removal of President Mubarak amid popular demands for democracy in the first wave of rebellion which has become known as the Arab Spring and has spread throughout the Middle East.
We met with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic group which has re-launched itself as the Freedom and Justice Party. It claims to be more moderate than in the past and has strong support. They had a strong showing in the recent elections although they do not intend running a Presidential candidate. On the situation in Gaza the President of the Brotherhood was, of course, against the occupation of Palestine by Israel and in favour of legal resistance, but supported a one state solution. He favoured one state based on citizenship although he accepted the two state solution as an interim measure if it can be achieved
We then met with the Trustees Committee of the Revolution who organised the protests in Tahrir Square. As you can imagine this was an inspirational meeting with some extremely brave professional young people including a journalist, an educationalist, an artist, four doctors who had tended the dying and the wounded in Tahrir Square, a pharmacist, and a representative of a charity They take the view that the military council reflects the previous regime and is more interested in self preservation than in moving the country forward.
And so to Gaza.
We travelled by bus across the Sinai Desert but it took us three and a half hours to get out of Cairo. Traffic management will need to be high on the priority list for the new government!
We had to stay overnight in Egypt about an hour from Rafah as it was too dangerous to go any further in the dark. So far it had taken ten hours and we went to bed at 2am and left at 7am the next morning.
On reaching Rafah Crossing the first thing we saw were three large trucks from Scotland driven all the way with much needed medical supplies donated by Scots. They had been waiting for two days to get in. We later found out they were refused entry because of two items the Egyptian authorities were not happy with but when they agreed not to take them they simply named another two items. We assumed they had to turn round and go all the way home but later back home in Scotland I was told that their persistence paid off and they did get in.
There were crowds of people who had been waiting since 5am to get over the border and home to Gaza. There were women with small children and elderly people standing in the baking sun or sitting on the ground. The whole process took three to four hours until we could enter Gaza and start our first meeting of the visit. When we arrived at the other side we were met by a welcoming party of local members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
The Palestinian Legislative Council has a base in Gaza city as well as Ramallah in the West Bank. In the last election in 2006 Hamas the Islamist movement which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the US; EU; Canada, Israel and Japan took 74 of the 132 seats leaving the previous ruling Fatah with 45. Although Hamas had been expected to put up a strong show, few thought it would achieve an overall majority. Gaza is run by Hamas which is the movement’s stronghold.
Our first meeting was with the Palestinian Legislative Council in the Chamber of the Parliament in Gaza city. It was originally in a three storey building which was destroyed in Israeli attacks.
The main priority for the Council is national reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah after internal violence has paralysed progress in the struggle and allowed Israel to divide and rule. Reconciliation can only work with international support and they therefore called on us to provide an ‘incubator’ to enable reconciliation to take place.
Many in the UK campaigned for our Government to support statehood recognition for Palestinians when it went to the UN in September (I raised this in the House of Commons myself). It is currently supported by 122 countries. We were keen to hear the views of the Legislative Council on this. They felt there was no point in declaring statehood if it is not accompanied by implementation of all UN resolutions, complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories, right to return for refugees and acceptance of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Since my visit, President Abbas has very successfully increased world understanding of the Palestinian issue with effective visits to the UN; the Council of Europe on which I serve as part of the UK Delegation; and at Westminster.
UNWRA
UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) provides assistance, protection and advocacy for some 5 million registered Palestine refugees throughout the Middle East.
Everyone we spoke to in Gaza had one wish – the lifting of Israel’s blockade of Gaza which is keeping 1.5 million people under siege. UNWRA provide basic food supplies, have job creation programmes and are involved in reconstruction of 10,000 houses or shelters as well as building 100 schools. There are 300 illegal tunnels from Egypt to Gaza through which all manner of goods are transported which are not allowed through the official crossings by Israel. It is cheaper to get reconstruction materials through the tunnels. Meanwhile UNWRA can’t get access to the materials to rebuild the 50,000 homes that are needed.
Gaza is a coastal area with pleasant beaches and used to have a thriving fishing industry. Israel has now lowered the limit restricting fishing to three nautical miles which has all but destroyed any remnants of a fishing industry. The majority of arable land where cut flowers; strawberries and grapes have been grown is near the Green Line buffer zone where you can be shot on entry. The agricultural industry has suffered badly as a result. It is impossible to export and the main markets were the West Bank and Israel with a minority of goods going abroad.
Israel has deliberately pursued a policy of making the people of Gaza dependent on welfare which is unsustainable. Unemployment was 45% in last quarter of 2010 with 60% youth unemployment.
Meeting with Local Businessmen
Gaza used to have a thriving private sector. One man told us he started a cable manufacturing business in 1996. Eventually he invested in a new factory at a cost of 2m dollars. It was demolished during the Israeli attacks and he received no compensation. They said it was for security but there is no evidence that the factory had anything to do with rocket attacks on Israel. If you try to take the matter to court they cite ‘security’ and it goes no further. His company experiences the direct effects of the siege. Some materials needed for production do not get in. 2 million dollars worth of spare parts are sitting on the other side of the crossing. Despite complying with lengthy bureaucratic procedures they still can’t get in. He asked UNWRA to at least put the materials into storage but they didn’t help. They have been lying there outside the Gaza border for three months.
During the Israeli attacks 1480 factories were destroyed out of 2800 including every sector of the economy. The cost of the damage is estimated at 184m dollars with indirect costs upwards of 1 billion dollars.
The tunnel people compete with business people on a totally unregulated basis and also undercut them and charge high prices for goods businesses need. They do not want to act illegally. They believe that the economic situation cannot be separated from the political.
Fatah
The Fatah representatives who are in the minority in Gaza reported on an informal meeting held recently in Istanbul regarding reconciliation between the factions. They reached agreement on most of the problematic issues such as security, the role of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), elections, and the need to seek national reconciliation on a popular level. There has been external pressure on Fatah to promote the candidacy for President of Salam Fayyad. This brought Turkey to the table to try to convince Hamas and other European nations of his potential for that role. Fatah proposed delaying the formation of a coalition government - Hamas agreed to this. There should be elections at national council, parliamentary and presidential levels in May 2012 under proportional representation but brinkmanship has taken this to the wire – and they are now unlikely before June at earliest. I have been appointed to the Council of Europe’s team of Election Observers to oversee the elections when they take place.
Fatah are asking the international community not to squeeze them into a corner. If they cannot negotiate a peace they will lose control of the situation. They seek a reconciliation process on the lines of what took place in South Africa. The aim is to provide moral and financial support for the families of victims - 30m dollars will be needed. So far there are only pledges of support - nothing concrete. The most important part of the process will be bringing people together to promote conflict resolution. There are joint workshops taking place with Fatah and Hamas sitting down together. President Abbas has been criticised by Palestinians for making too many concessions in seeking peace but that criticism doesn't always take account of the wider international picture.
Prisoners’ Families
Animated is how I would describe our fairly chaotic meeting with prisoners’ families. Emotions ran high as they tried to get over their message and their concerns for individual family members. Some had not seen sons and husbands for years with no visiting rights and no letters allowed. Israel is in contravention of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners. Although tried in military courts, Palestinians are not afforded the status of prisoners of war.
Women’s Groups
Given my own involvement in women’s equality I was particularly interested in meeting their representatives. They stressed the burden of responsibility on women in Gaza given that so many men cannot work to support their families and many have partners who are held in Israeli jails or have been killed. They want to be treated as equals and play a full part in the political process including the reconciliation process. Women are advanced in Gaza compared to other parts of the Arab world and very much reminded me of Scottish women with a ‘no nonsense’ ‘feisty’ spirit. They resent a welfare dependency culture and go to great lengths to secure educational opportunities – flouting tradition on the way if needs be. However, in reality, women and children suffer most from the blockade. Sadly, some of the women involved in politics are acting on a male agenda while the women’s organisations strive for authentic women’s voices to be heard and a quota system for women’s representation.
Visit to hospital
One of the most distressing parts of our stay was a visit to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with Health Minister, Bassem Naem. The hospital serves half a million people. They lack basic medicines and equipment including disposables like rubber gloves. This means they are unable to provide basic treatment at times. They have some dialysis facilities on site but the generators at the hospital frequently shut down for 8-10 hours per day interrupting treatment. There is a sophisticated radiology department donated by the Saudis which can’t be used due to Israeli blocks on essential components. This is under the spurious definition of ‘dual-use’ materials that could be used for civilian and military purposes. Very ill patients have to go to Egypt for cancer treatment often waiting there weeks for treatment that only takes minutes to administer. Only patients are allowed out of Gaza and relatives have to wait behind at home. During our time there we talked to patients and heard their stories including a number of children and elderly patients who clearly pose a threat to no-one.
We saw the work going on to provide safe water at the Coastal Municipalities Water Facility; a University visit on a former settlement site and :
Refugee Camp
I had previously visited a refugee camp in the West Bank and found the conditions appalling. I can truly say the one we visited in Gaza was far worse. I visited the house of an elderly woman with a 40 year old disabled son which can only be described as squalor. You have to ask questions too of the record of the Hamas authority who lay such emphasis on social action but have not been able to prevent an old woman like this having to exist in such a camp.
Meeting Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh
We were also able to meet with Ismail Haniyeh who is recognised as PM in Gaza (while Fayyad is still seen as PM in the West Bank), who heads up the successful Hamas Parliamentary Group.
He is a popular figure, living modestly locally in Gaza. He appears to have been pivotal in taking Hamas down a more moderate road hopefully leading to a renunciation of violence and keeping the more militant factions within Hamas under control while promoting engagement with rival Fatah. We discussed a wide range of issues but he made it clear that some of the most important could not be seriously addressed until Israel recognised the Palestinian State and real progress was made. We also met with Jamal al-Khoudary, an ‘independent’ presidential candidate for the forthcoming election.
Return Journey
Needless to say the return journey saw us held up for several more hours at the Rafah crossing out of Gaza into Egypt.
A moratorium on Israeli settlements was introduced as part of the last peace process. After the Israelis refused to extend their settlement freeze in September 2010, leading to the break-up of the peace talks, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would seek recognition as an independent state and membership of the United Nations at the General Assembly in September 2011. Already well over 100 countries (representing 80-90% of the world’s population) have recognised Palestine and have said they support Palestine becoming a member of the UN.
I was delighted Labour came out clearly in favour -. 116 countries said they would vote to admit Palestine to the UN and two thirds (128 or up to 134 if all countries are present) is needed to be certain. However Obama would have used his veto in the Security Council if it had been pressed to a vote this time
While we continue to press for the long-term two-state solution it is vital to continue to put pressure on Israel to meet its humanitarian and legal obligations. Israelis and Palestinians deserve the basic right to live in safety and dignity, and the international community has a crucial role to play in ensuring that these rights are respected. The current situation in Gaza is no better than it was – average wage has reduced by 20% in past six years; 38% of Gazans live in poverty; 75% qualify for food aid; Israeli army bullets keep Gazan farmers off 35% of their farming land; Israeli navy bullets keep Gazan fishermen off 85% of fishing waters; Israel’s refusal to allow building materials in means 50-80 million litres of partially treated sewerage is dumped in the sea each day; 90% of water is undrinkable; 85% of schools have to double up with morning and afternoon shifts. In terms of power Gaza needs 320 megawatts a day but only gets 220 (120 imported) – 4-6 hour power cuts every day. The end of the blockade is as urgent as ever.
Elections are in the balance, as I said earlier, as is reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Hamas are realigning themselves with Egypt and further away from Syria and Iran but there are differences within Hamas. I finish on an optimistic note with the press picture from Cairo only a few weeks ago of Abbas and Haniyeh shaking hands. As in all struggles, the solution only comes when unity prevails- that’s why Israel does everything it can to prevent reconciliation.
Sandra Osborne MP
Background
I’ve been in the Occupied Territories on several occasions firstly with the Foreign Affairs Committee and most recently with CABU and the Council for European Palestine Relations. I’m a member of Labour Friends of Palestine
These slides give an impression of what I saw but also give me the chance to talk about the issues behind the events and what should be done to bring about a solution. The context remains that peace and justice in the Middle East can only be achieved through the implementation of international law and respect for human rights. In respect of Palestine this means a viable two state solution that delivers justice and freedom for the Palestinian people as called for by the overwhelming international consensus and enshrined under international law and in UN resolutions.
First visit was with FAC shortly after Operation Cast Lead when Israel bombed the Gaza Strip followed up by ground forces – a ceasefire followed two weeks later.
The full impact of the Israeli action only came to light later and was documented in the Goldstein Report - over 1,300 Palestinians killed, 5,300 wounded, over a 1,000 buildings destroyed and tens of thousands left homeless. These figures are given a whole new meaning and dimension when you see the situation and the aftermath for yourself as we did.
As we viewed the devastation in Gaza and talked to key people involved, the goal of a two state solution seemed as far away as ever. My second visit just confirmed this.
We visited the UN Health Centre in Gaza City where we met doctors, staff and patients. Even amidst all their difficulties I was impressed to hear that Gaza has 100% child immunisation rates..
We also visited the Islamic Relief Distribution Centre at Swdani Shelter where we saw the aid distribution funded by the UK Government through the Department for International Development (DfID) and met with refugees.
In contrast to the devastation, we also had the chance to see the Gaza War Cemetery with the graves of British servicemen in the 1st World War – many of them serving with Scottish Regiments. It is an oasis of calm and well-maintained order in the otherwise chaotic Gaza Strip but it too had been hit by Israeli bombardment with hundreds of headstones damaged. Ibrahim Jerradeh is the Palestinian man who has looked after these graves with loving care since 1958 and who received an MBE in recognition of this service (he wore it proudly at our meeting).
Back in Israel we moved on to the town of Sderet, the target of Palestinian rockets and mortar shells fired by Hamas terrorists over an 8 year period killing 15 Israelis and injuring many more. As we surveyed the collection of burned out rockets and talked to staff and students at the nearby Sapir College we picked up a sense of frustration and pessimism. They see only stalemate and feel let down by their Government. The Hamas rocket attacks on Israel provided an excuse to Israel for Operation Cast Lead although this was as much to do with the imminent Israeli General Election as anything else. (Palestinian rocket attacks have been in the news again recently)
It is important not to demonise all Israelis because of the actions of their Government and elements of Israeli society. I had the privilege of visiting the Rabin Museum in Tel Aviv in the company of Yitzhak Rabin’s daughter Dalia who carries on his great work – the former Labour Prime Minister who sought a peaceful solution and was assassinated by one of his own people.
As well as seeing the areas most affected by the attacks we also met with politicians and Human Rights organisations. We visited the Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem and also the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank where we met with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. This slide is of me meeting with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
If matters were not bad enough, the split between Hamas controlled Gaza and the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah in the West Bank is another piece of this unfinished jigsaw. On my second visit it was clear that national reconciliation is now the priority for most Palestinians
Apart from the most recent assault on Gaza I have seen a number of human rights abuses in the Occupied Territories- refugee camps, the so-called security wall which separated farmers from their land and severely restricts movement within West Bank; supported by crossings; illegal settlements; violence by settlers; harassment of Bedouin tribes and the flouting of Geneva Convention in military prisons; and of course the total blockade of Gaza
I attended a military court at Ofer inside Israel. There was a jangle of chains outside the door of the courtroom. Army officers led child detainees into the military courtroom, their legs shackled, their hands cuffed, kitted out in brown jumpsuits. Did the soldiers feel threatened by 13 and 14 year old boys?
Every year an average of 700 Palestinian children are prosecuted in Israeli military courts mainly for stone throwing. These children largely get picked by Israeli soldiers from their homes in the middle of the night and are bundled into military vehicles, blindfolded and cuffed. Their families are not told where they are taken. Their interrogations are not videotaped; no lawyer or family member is present. A whole generation is criminalised through this process.
The West Bank settlements; the situation in Gaza and the lack of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation remain key factors which undermine the peace process. My most recent visit particularly focused on the latter two.
Egypt and the Arab Spring
Israel does not allow entry to Gaza through the Erez crossing which is the most convenient entry point so it was necessary to go via Egypt and make the long bus journey from Cairo to the Rafah crossing. However it did give us the opportunity for meetings in Cairo to get a feel for the Egyptian perspective on the situation in Gaza. We were also able to discuss the events in Egypt following the uprising which led to the removal of President Mubarak amid popular demands for democracy in the first wave of rebellion which has become known as the Arab Spring and has spread throughout the Middle East.
We met with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic group which has re-launched itself as the Freedom and Justice Party. It claims to be more moderate than in the past and has strong support. They had a strong showing in the recent elections although they do not intend running a Presidential candidate. On the situation in Gaza the President of the Brotherhood was, of course, against the occupation of Palestine by Israel and in favour of legal resistance, but supported a one state solution. He favoured one state based on citizenship although he accepted the two state solution as an interim measure if it can be achieved
We then met with the Trustees Committee of the Revolution who organised the protests in Tahrir Square. As you can imagine this was an inspirational meeting with some extremely brave professional young people including a journalist, an educationalist, an artist, four doctors who had tended the dying and the wounded in Tahrir Square, a pharmacist, and a representative of a charity They take the view that the military council reflects the previous regime and is more interested in self preservation than in moving the country forward.
And so to Gaza.
We travelled by bus across the Sinai Desert but it took us three and a half hours to get out of Cairo. Traffic management will need to be high on the priority list for the new government!
We had to stay overnight in Egypt about an hour from Rafah as it was too dangerous to go any further in the dark. So far it had taken ten hours and we went to bed at 2am and left at 7am the next morning.
On reaching Rafah Crossing the first thing we saw were three large trucks from Scotland driven all the way with much needed medical supplies donated by Scots. They had been waiting for two days to get in. We later found out they were refused entry because of two items the Egyptian authorities were not happy with but when they agreed not to take them they simply named another two items. We assumed they had to turn round and go all the way home but later back home in Scotland I was told that their persistence paid off and they did get in.
There were crowds of people who had been waiting since 5am to get over the border and home to Gaza. There were women with small children and elderly people standing in the baking sun or sitting on the ground. The whole process took three to four hours until we could enter Gaza and start our first meeting of the visit. When we arrived at the other side we were met by a welcoming party of local members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
The Palestinian Legislative Council has a base in Gaza city as well as Ramallah in the West Bank. In the last election in 2006 Hamas the Islamist movement which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the US; EU; Canada, Israel and Japan took 74 of the 132 seats leaving the previous ruling Fatah with 45. Although Hamas had been expected to put up a strong show, few thought it would achieve an overall majority. Gaza is run by Hamas which is the movement’s stronghold.
Our first meeting was with the Palestinian Legislative Council in the Chamber of the Parliament in Gaza city. It was originally in a three storey building which was destroyed in Israeli attacks.
The main priority for the Council is national reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah after internal violence has paralysed progress in the struggle and allowed Israel to divide and rule. Reconciliation can only work with international support and they therefore called on us to provide an ‘incubator’ to enable reconciliation to take place.
Many in the UK campaigned for our Government to support statehood recognition for Palestinians when it went to the UN in September (I raised this in the House of Commons myself). It is currently supported by 122 countries. We were keen to hear the views of the Legislative Council on this. They felt there was no point in declaring statehood if it is not accompanied by implementation of all UN resolutions, complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories, right to return for refugees and acceptance of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Since my visit, President Abbas has very successfully increased world understanding of the Palestinian issue with effective visits to the UN; the Council of Europe on which I serve as part of the UK Delegation; and at Westminster.
UNWRA
UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) provides assistance, protection and advocacy for some 5 million registered Palestine refugees throughout the Middle East.
Everyone we spoke to in Gaza had one wish – the lifting of Israel’s blockade of Gaza which is keeping 1.5 million people under siege. UNWRA provide basic food supplies, have job creation programmes and are involved in reconstruction of 10,000 houses or shelters as well as building 100 schools. There are 300 illegal tunnels from Egypt to Gaza through which all manner of goods are transported which are not allowed through the official crossings by Israel. It is cheaper to get reconstruction materials through the tunnels. Meanwhile UNWRA can’t get access to the materials to rebuild the 50,000 homes that are needed.
Gaza is a coastal area with pleasant beaches and used to have a thriving fishing industry. Israel has now lowered the limit restricting fishing to three nautical miles which has all but destroyed any remnants of a fishing industry. The majority of arable land where cut flowers; strawberries and grapes have been grown is near the Green Line buffer zone where you can be shot on entry. The agricultural industry has suffered badly as a result. It is impossible to export and the main markets were the West Bank and Israel with a minority of goods going abroad.
Israel has deliberately pursued a policy of making the people of Gaza dependent on welfare which is unsustainable. Unemployment was 45% in last quarter of 2010 with 60% youth unemployment.
Meeting with Local Businessmen
Gaza used to have a thriving private sector. One man told us he started a cable manufacturing business in 1996. Eventually he invested in a new factory at a cost of 2m dollars. It was demolished during the Israeli attacks and he received no compensation. They said it was for security but there is no evidence that the factory had anything to do with rocket attacks on Israel. If you try to take the matter to court they cite ‘security’ and it goes no further. His company experiences the direct effects of the siege. Some materials needed for production do not get in. 2 million dollars worth of spare parts are sitting on the other side of the crossing. Despite complying with lengthy bureaucratic procedures they still can’t get in. He asked UNWRA to at least put the materials into storage but they didn’t help. They have been lying there outside the Gaza border for three months.
During the Israeli attacks 1480 factories were destroyed out of 2800 including every sector of the economy. The cost of the damage is estimated at 184m dollars with indirect costs upwards of 1 billion dollars.
The tunnel people compete with business people on a totally unregulated basis and also undercut them and charge high prices for goods businesses need. They do not want to act illegally. They believe that the economic situation cannot be separated from the political.
Fatah
The Fatah representatives who are in the minority in Gaza reported on an informal meeting held recently in Istanbul regarding reconciliation between the factions. They reached agreement on most of the problematic issues such as security, the role of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), elections, and the need to seek national reconciliation on a popular level. There has been external pressure on Fatah to promote the candidacy for President of Salam Fayyad. This brought Turkey to the table to try to convince Hamas and other European nations of his potential for that role. Fatah proposed delaying the formation of a coalition government - Hamas agreed to this. There should be elections at national council, parliamentary and presidential levels in May 2012 under proportional representation but brinkmanship has taken this to the wire – and they are now unlikely before June at earliest. I have been appointed to the Council of Europe’s team of Election Observers to oversee the elections when they take place.
Fatah are asking the international community not to squeeze them into a corner. If they cannot negotiate a peace they will lose control of the situation. They seek a reconciliation process on the lines of what took place in South Africa. The aim is to provide moral and financial support for the families of victims - 30m dollars will be needed. So far there are only pledges of support - nothing concrete. The most important part of the process will be bringing people together to promote conflict resolution. There are joint workshops taking place with Fatah and Hamas sitting down together. President Abbas has been criticised by Palestinians for making too many concessions in seeking peace but that criticism doesn't always take account of the wider international picture.
Prisoners’ Families
Animated is how I would describe our fairly chaotic meeting with prisoners’ families. Emotions ran high as they tried to get over their message and their concerns for individual family members. Some had not seen sons and husbands for years with no visiting rights and no letters allowed. Israel is in contravention of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners. Although tried in military courts, Palestinians are not afforded the status of prisoners of war.
Women’s Groups
Given my own involvement in women’s equality I was particularly interested in meeting their representatives. They stressed the burden of responsibility on women in Gaza given that so many men cannot work to support their families and many have partners who are held in Israeli jails or have been killed. They want to be treated as equals and play a full part in the political process including the reconciliation process. Women are advanced in Gaza compared to other parts of the Arab world and very much reminded me of Scottish women with a ‘no nonsense’ ‘feisty’ spirit. They resent a welfare dependency culture and go to great lengths to secure educational opportunities – flouting tradition on the way if needs be. However, in reality, women and children suffer most from the blockade. Sadly, some of the women involved in politics are acting on a male agenda while the women’s organisations strive for authentic women’s voices to be heard and a quota system for women’s representation.
Visit to hospital
One of the most distressing parts of our stay was a visit to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with Health Minister, Bassem Naem. The hospital serves half a million people. They lack basic medicines and equipment including disposables like rubber gloves. This means they are unable to provide basic treatment at times. They have some dialysis facilities on site but the generators at the hospital frequently shut down for 8-10 hours per day interrupting treatment. There is a sophisticated radiology department donated by the Saudis which can’t be used due to Israeli blocks on essential components. This is under the spurious definition of ‘dual-use’ materials that could be used for civilian and military purposes. Very ill patients have to go to Egypt for cancer treatment often waiting there weeks for treatment that only takes minutes to administer. Only patients are allowed out of Gaza and relatives have to wait behind at home. During our time there we talked to patients and heard their stories including a number of children and elderly patients who clearly pose a threat to no-one.
We saw the work going on to provide safe water at the Coastal Municipalities Water Facility; a University visit on a former settlement site and :
Refugee Camp
I had previously visited a refugee camp in the West Bank and found the conditions appalling. I can truly say the one we visited in Gaza was far worse. I visited the house of an elderly woman with a 40 year old disabled son which can only be described as squalor. You have to ask questions too of the record of the Hamas authority who lay such emphasis on social action but have not been able to prevent an old woman like this having to exist in such a camp.
Meeting Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh
We were also able to meet with Ismail Haniyeh who is recognised as PM in Gaza (while Fayyad is still seen as PM in the West Bank), who heads up the successful Hamas Parliamentary Group.
He is a popular figure, living modestly locally in Gaza. He appears to have been pivotal in taking Hamas down a more moderate road hopefully leading to a renunciation of violence and keeping the more militant factions within Hamas under control while promoting engagement with rival Fatah. We discussed a wide range of issues but he made it clear that some of the most important could not be seriously addressed until Israel recognised the Palestinian State and real progress was made. We also met with Jamal al-Khoudary, an ‘independent’ presidential candidate for the forthcoming election.
Return Journey
Needless to say the return journey saw us held up for several more hours at the Rafah crossing out of Gaza into Egypt.
A moratorium on Israeli settlements was introduced as part of the last peace process. After the Israelis refused to extend their settlement freeze in September 2010, leading to the break-up of the peace talks, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would seek recognition as an independent state and membership of the United Nations at the General Assembly in September 2011. Already well over 100 countries (representing 80-90% of the world’s population) have recognised Palestine and have said they support Palestine becoming a member of the UN.
I was delighted Labour came out clearly in favour -. 116 countries said they would vote to admit Palestine to the UN and two thirds (128 or up to 134 if all countries are present) is needed to be certain. However Obama would have used his veto in the Security Council if it had been pressed to a vote this time
While we continue to press for the long-term two-state solution it is vital to continue to put pressure on Israel to meet its humanitarian and legal obligations. Israelis and Palestinians deserve the basic right to live in safety and dignity, and the international community has a crucial role to play in ensuring that these rights are respected. The current situation in Gaza is no better than it was – average wage has reduced by 20% in past six years; 38% of Gazans live in poverty; 75% qualify for food aid; Israeli army bullets keep Gazan farmers off 35% of their farming land; Israeli navy bullets keep Gazan fishermen off 85% of fishing waters; Israel’s refusal to allow building materials in means 50-80 million litres of partially treated sewerage is dumped in the sea each day; 90% of water is undrinkable; 85% of schools have to double up with morning and afternoon shifts. In terms of power Gaza needs 320 megawatts a day but only gets 220 (120 imported) – 4-6 hour power cuts every day. The end of the blockade is as urgent as ever.
Elections are in the balance, as I said earlier, as is reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Hamas are realigning themselves with Egypt and further away from Syria and Iran but there are differences within Hamas. I finish on an optimistic note with the press picture from Cairo only a few weeks ago of Abbas and Haniyeh shaking hands. As in all struggles, the solution only comes when unity prevails- that’s why Israel does everything it can to prevent reconciliation.