Occupation: What does it entail?

In the last few days the European Union has persuaded the Quartet (comprising the US, EU, Russian Federation and UN) to provide limited support to the Palestinian people. While this relief will ameliorate the humanitarian situation it will not alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. Attempts to persuade the Israeli Government to pay tax revenues due to the Palestinian Authority seem doomed to fail.Palestinians understandably find it difficult to comprehend the response of the Quartet and many Western States to the Palestinian elections. They argue that Israel is in violation of major Security Council and General Assembly resolutions dealing with unlawful territorial change and the violation of human rights, has failed to implement the 2004 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice and should accordingly be subjected to international sanctions. Instead the Palestinian people have been subjected to possibly the most rigorous form of international sanctions imposed in modern times.I find it difficult not to support the above arguments. As a South African I recall the refusal of Western States to impose meaningful economic sanctions on South Africa to compel it to abandon apartheid on the grounds that this would harm the people of South Africa. No such sympathy is extended to the Palestinian people or their human rights. Moreover, I recall that the limited sanctions that were applied failed to produce regime change. Indeed history teaches us that the siege and humiliation of a people tend to strengthen rather than weaken support for the government. - Professor John Dugard of South Africa, Special Rapporteur for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights


It is extremely difficult to come to terms with the word “occupation.” I am amazed and disgusted that this term is still applicable to countries in 2007!!! It infuriates me. I want to shout and say, “NO!!! This isn’t right by ANY means!!! Occupation is forcing innocent people to suffer in their own land!!! Why is the international community letting this happen?!” Whenever this term was used to describe situations in countries, i.e. the British in Ireland, or the Europeans in our present day America, the history and the results are always quite devastating to read about, especially for the natives of the land that is being occupied. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines the word “occupy” as follows: to take or enter upon possession of, as a place by settling in it or conquering it.” However, the “how” is left out of this definition.
Professor Horowitz said in class that the Israeli government itself even refers to territories acquired after the 1967 war as “occupied territories.” How were Jewish settlements often built in Palestine? How does Israel ultimately occupy the state of Palestine? Israeli settlements are partly responsible for creating the Palestinian diaspora; the number of Palestinian refugees is among the largest in the world, along with the refugees from Afghanistan. The Jewish Diasporas were frequently written about, and it was a sad story to tell. Now, we must deal with the diaspora of the Palestinians created by Israel. Now the Palestinians suffer the same fate the Jewish people once did. Palestinians’ land deeds are just pieces of paper now, papers that often mean, “Here is land that you own, but you cannot return to it. You can no longer raise a family there, or cook food there, and reunite with family there.” “Now there will be a wall that cuts through your cities, and from your holy place as well, Jerusalem.” “Now I will tell you how I have suffered through pogroms, diasporas, and a holocaust, but I am sorry, my freedom is more important than yours. You will have to suffer for my happiness. Now, this is my land.” This is how I have interpreted the occupation, as do many Palestinians. In the same way I cannot deny the tragic past of the Jewish people, I cannot deny the human rights violations and injustices done to the Palestinian people by the government and military of Israel. This occupation means a suffocated and stifled existence for the Palestinians without the correct permits, for the Palestinians living in refugee camps, for the Palestinians in Gaza, living in poverty, getting by day by day.
Very rarely is occupation of any sort carried out in a peaceful and “fair” manner. This applies to Israel as well. For the Palestinians, occupation has now evolved into the bulldozing of houses to build often times illegal settlements, the withholding of taxes, the closing of roads, over 500 checkpoints in Gaza, increased Israeli settlements, resulting in an ultimate oppression and humanitarian crisis, as declared by the United Nations.
There needs to be an end to the occupation, one that truly has no Israeli-interference at all. Palestinians are not allowed to have a say in Israel’s government and policies, so why can’t the Palestinians have their freedom as well? Oppression and occupation by way of “protecting” the state of Israel is not the answer to a peaceful land, where people can live side by side.
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/0478C20910151B14C12571940058247A?opendocument
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5240424.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6387843.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6181119.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6270331.stm