Conditions of the Palestinian People on the Eve of the 71st Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba
- Dr. Ola Awad, President, Palestinian
Central
Bureau of Statistics -
Dr. Ola Awad, President of the Palestinian Central
Bureau
of Statistics, through historical and current data, reviewed the
geographic, demographic and economic situation of the Palestinian
people on the eve of the 71st anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba
on May 15. Information based on that data
follows.
The Nakba: Ethnic Cleansing, Displacement of
Palestinians
and Settler Colonization
Nakba in Palestine describes a process of ethnic
cleansing in which an unarmed nation was destroyed and its
population displaced systematically by gangs and individuals from
all over the world. The Nakba resulted in the displacement
of 800,000 of the 1.4 million Palestinians who lived in 1,300
villages and towns in historical Palestine in 1948. The majority
of the displaced Palestinians ended up in neighbouring Arab
countries and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and other countries
around the world. Further, thousands of Palestinians -- who
stayed in the area controlled by the Israeli occupation in 1948
-- were driven out of their homes and lands, which were seized by
the Israeli occupation.
According to documentary evidence, the Israelis
controlled 774
towns and villages and destroyed 531 Palestinian towns and
villages during the Nakba. The atrocities of Zionist
forces also included more than 70 massacres in which more than
15,000 Palestinians were martyred.
Demographic Reality: The Palestinian Population Has
Doubled Nine Times Since the 1948 Nakba
The population of Palestine in 1914 was around 690,000,
of
whom only 8 per cent were Jewish. In 1948, the number of Palestinians
in
Palestine exceeded 2 million, 31.5 per cent of them were Jews, their
numbers doubling more than six times during this period. Between
1932 and 1939, the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine
reached 225,000 and between 1940 and 1947, more than 93,000
migrated to Palestine. Palestine received around 318,000 Jews
between 1932 and 1947, and 540,000 from 1948 to 1975.
Despite the displacement of more than 800,000
Palestinians in
1948, and the displacement of more than 200,000 Palestinians (the
majority of them to Jordan) after the 1967 War, by the end of
2018 the Palestinian world population totalled 13.1 million,
which means that the number of Palestinians in the world has
doubled more than nine times since the events of the Nakba
in 1948. More than half of them live in historical Palestine,
where at the end of 2018 their numbers reached 6.48 million
(compared to 1.57 million in the occupied territories in 1948).
Estimates indicate that the population in the West Bank at the
end of 2018, including Jerusalem, was 2.95 million, with around
1.96 million in Gaza Strip. The population of Jerusalem
Governorate, was about 447,000, of which approximately 65 per cent
(about
281,000) live in those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by
Israeli occupation in 1967, an area referred to as J1. The data
show that Palestinians represent 49 per cent of the population living
in
historical Palestine, while Jews constitute 51 per cent at the end of
2018. The Israeli occupation continues to control over 85 per cent of
the
area of historical Palestine, which amounts to 27,000 square
kilometres, while the remaining areas continue to endure further
attempts at usurpation and control. It should be noted that under
the British Mandate only 1,682 square kilometres of historical
land of Palestine was used by Jews, which represents 6.2 per cent.
Palestinian Refugees Status
Writing on wall of UN Refugee agency office in Bethlehem reads "Dignity
is priceless."
Records of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency
(UNRWA)
reported on January 1, 2018 that the total number of Palestinian
refugees was 6.02 million, 28.4 per cent of whom live in 58 camps (10
in
Jordan, nine in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank and
eight in Gaza Strip). Estimates, however, indicate that this is a
minimum number of refugees as many are not registered. This
number does not include the Palestinians displaced in the period
from 1949 till the Six-Day War in June 1967. The UNRWA definition
of refugees does not cover the Palestinians who migrated or who
were displaced after 1967 because of the war and who were not
registered refugees. On the other hand, the Population, Housing
and Establishments Census 2017 showed that refugees represented
43 per cent of the population of the State of Palestine.
Population Density: Gaza Strip Has One of the
Highest Population Densities in the World
The
population density in the State of Palestine at the end of 2018
was 816 individuals per square kilometre: 522 individuals per
square kilometre in the West Bank and 5,375 individuals per
square kilometre in Gaza Strip, noting that 66 per cent of the total
population of Gaza Strip are refugees. The flux of refugees has
turned Gaza Strip into one of the most densely populated areas in
the world. Despite the small area of Gaza Strip, the Israeli
occupation set up a buffer zone more than 1,500 metres long along
the Eastern border. Consequently, the Israeli occupation controls
about 24 per cent of the total area of Gaza Strip (365 square
kilometres).
Continuous Siege of Gaza Strip
The continuous Siege of the Gaza Strip, one of the most
densely populated areas in the world, has led to a sharp rise in
unemployment. The unemployment rate has reached 52 per cent, around 72
per cent
of youth aged 15-24 years are unemployed. The siege also shakes
the economy of Gaza Strip and has made over half of its
population poor (53 per cent), and 11 per cent of households use an
improved
drinking water source in Gaza Strip due to the deterioration in
the quality of water extracted from the coastal basin.
More than 100,000 Martyrs Since the Nakba
1948
Funeral, March 31, 2019 for Tamir Abu Al-Khair, one of 4 youth killed
in land day protests in Gaza.
The number of Palestinian and Arab martyrs from
the Nakba in 1948 up to the present day (inside and
outside Palestine) has reached about 100,000. The number of
martyrs killed between September 29, 2000 and May 7, 2019 was
10,853. The bloodiest year was 2014 with 2,240 Palestinian
martyrs, of whom 2,181 were from Gaza Strip. The number of
Palestinian martyrs reached 312 persons during 2018, among them
57 children and three women. The Israeli occupation also detained
the bodies of 15 martyrs.
About 17,000 Wounded Since the Start of the Marches of
Return
Youth injured on Land Day, March 30, 2018 as the Great Return
March begins.
The number of wounded Palestinians reached about 29,600
persons in 2018, while data from the Ministry of Health indicates
that the number of wounded in Gaza Strip has reached 16,800 since
the Marches of Return began on the occasion of Land Day, March
30, 2018. It is noteworthy that 136 citizens have had amputations
as a result of the Israeli occupation forces' aggression against
the Palestinians in the March of Return and breaking the siege
east of Gaza Strip. The number of martyrs was 272 citizens, among
them 54 children and six women and elderly, along with four
paramedics and three journalists.
About 1 Million Detentions Since
1967
The Israeli occupation has detained about 1
million Palestinians since 1967. This year, the Israeli
occupation had arrested about 5,700 Palestinians, as of the end
of March, of whom 250 were children and 47 were women. Since the
beginning of 2018, the Israeli occupation has arrested 6,500
Palestinians, including 1,063 children and 140 women. In
addition, the Israeli occupation has imposed house arrest on 300
children in Jerusalem since October 2015. Around 36 children are
still under house arrest.
Continuous Confiscation of Land
The Israeli occupation uses land classification
according to
the Oslo Agreement (A, B, C) to tighten control over Palestinian
land, especially in areas classified as (C) -- an area of
3,375,000 dunums. About 2,642,000 dunums -- constituting 76 per cent of
the total area classified (C) -- is exploited by the Israeli
occupation directly. The area classified (A) is about one million
dunums, the area classified (B) is 1,035,000 dunums, and the area
classified "Others" is 250,000 dunums and includes Natural
Reserves, J1 in East Jerusalem and H2 in Hebron, along with
unclassified areas. In 2018, the Israeli occupation confiscated
508 dunums of Palestinian land, in addition to confiscating
hundreds of dunums of the Palestinians through the expansion of
Israeli checkpoints and the establishment of military checkpoints
to protect the settlers.
Israeli Occupation: Continuous Expansion of Settlements
There were 435 Israeli occupation settlements and
military
bases in the West Bank (including 150 settlements and 116
outposts) by the end of 2017. Data indicate that the total number
of settlers in the West Bank was 653,621 by the end of 2017;
306,529 (47 per cent) lived in Jerusalem Governorate, including 225,335
of them in Jerusalem J1. In demographic terms, the proportion of
settlers to the Palestinian population in the West Bank is around
23 settlers per 100 Palestinians compared with 70 settlers per
100 Palestinians in Jerusalem Governorate.
The expansion and annexation wall isolates more than 12
per cent of
the West Bank area. This has imposed restrictions on 1.9 million
people living in areas close to the wall and/or settlements.
Around 400,000 people live in Area "C." The expansion and
annexation wall that surrounds the city of Jerusalem is about 93
kilometres long and isolates about 84 square kilometres of the
area of Jerusalem Governorate; while the incomplete part of the
wall, about 46 kilometres long, will isolate about 68 square
kilometres.
The Jurisdiction Area of the Israeli occupation
settlements in
the West Bank reached 541.5 square kilometres at the end 2018,
representing about 10 per cent of the West Bank, while the confiscated
areas for the purposes of military bases and military training
are about 18 per cent of the West Bank, which deprives the Palestinian
farmers and herders of access to their farms and pastures. The
Israeli occupation places obstacles to tighten the siege and
restrict the Palestinians' urban expansion, especially in
Jerusalem and Area (C), in the West Bank, which are still under
full Israeli occupation control.
Theft of Agricultural Land
The total area of land classified as being of high or
medium
agricultural value in the West Bank is 2,072,000 dunums,
constituting about 37 per cent of the West Bank. The Palestinians use
only 931,500 dunums which constitutes about 17 per cent of the West
Bank
area.
The reason for the non-exploitation of agricultural land
in
the West Bank is that Area (C), which constitutes about 60 per cent of
the area of the West Bank, is still under full Israeli occupation
control. The Israeli occupation prevents many farmers from
accessing their land and cultivating or caring for cultivated
areas, which has led to the destruction of most of the crops in
those areas. Israeli occupation forces have also bulldozed and
uprooted 7,122 trees in 2018, bringing the number of trees
uprooted to more than one million from 2000 to the end of 2018.
Thousands of dunums have been confiscated by settlers to be
cultivated. The area planted in the Israeli settlements in 2018
reached about 110,000 dunums, the majority irrigated
agriculture.
Jerusalem: Intensive and Systematic Displacement of
Palestinians
Protest against July 2018 Israeli destruction of Bedouin village of
Khan al-Amar near East Jerusalem, to extend an illegal settlement.
The Israeli occupation forces have issued deportation
orders
for 12 Bedouin communities in East Jerusalem, comprising about
1,400 people.
In 2018, the Israeli occupation issued orders to
demolish 546
buildings in the West Bank and Jerusalem, at a time when the need
for new housing units for Palestinians increases. According to
figures and the data of the Housing Conditions Survey 2015, about
61 per cent of households in Palestine will need new housing units over
the next decade. The Israeli occupation demolished 471 buildings
in 2018 (houses and establishments), of which about 46 per cent were in
the city of Jerusalem with 215 demolitions, leading to the forced
displacement of 217 people, including 110 children. Of the
demolished buildings, 157 were residential buildings and 314
establishments. During 2018, the Israeli occupation approved
building permits for 5,820 settlement units.
A Bitter Reality: 22 per cent of Available Water in
Palestine Purchased from Israeli Water Company
"Mekorot"
Israeli occupation measures contribute to
limiting the ability of the Palestinians to exploit their natural
resources, especially water. Palestinians are forced to
compensate for the water shortage with purchases from the Israeli
water company "Mekorot." In 2017, the quantity of water purchased
for domestic use reached 83 million cubic metres (MCM)(22 per cent of
the
total 375 MCM of water used), in addition to 23.5 MCM flowing
from Palestinian springs, 264.5 MCM from underground wells, and
4.0 MCM of desalinated drinking water.
77 per cent of Available Water from Surface and Ground
Water
Data show that the percentage of surface and ground
water
exploited from available water in the year 2017 was high, with an
average of 77 per cent. It should be noted that the Palestinians have
been denied access to extract from the Jordan River since 1967,
which was estimated at about 250 MCM. On the other hand, the
quantity of water pumped from Palestinian wells in the West Bank
in 2017 was 86 MCM from the Eastern, Western and North-Eastern
aquifers.
The amount of water extracted from the coastal aquifer
for
domestic use was 178.7 MCM in Gaza Strip in 2017, an amount which
jeopardizes its sustainability, as it is known that the yield
should not exceed 50-60 MCM per year. More than 97 per cent of the
water
pumped from the coastal aquifer in Gaza Strip does not meet the
World Health Organization's water quality standards. It also
leads to the depletion of groundwater reserves, which in the
coastal aquifer have reached 19 metres below sea level.
Sources
1. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2018:
Israeli
settlements in the West Bank, 2017. Ramallah-Palestine.
2. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2019.
Revised
estimates based on the final results of Population, Housing and
Establishments Census 2017. Ramallah-Palestine.
3. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical
Abstract
of Israel. Jerusalem, 2018.
4. Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission 2019:
Summary
of the most Important Violations in Palestine, 2018. Ramallah-
Palestine
5. Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs,
Annual
Report, 2018.
6. Abdullah Al-Hourani Center for Studies and
Documentation,
Israeli Violations 2018, Ramallah 2019.
7. National Gathering of Martyrs' Families, Database of
Martyrs Families, 2019, unpublished data.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 18 - May 18, 2019
Article Link:
Conditions of the Palestinian People on the Eve of the 71st Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba - Dr. Ola Awad, President, Palestinian
Central
Bureau of Statistics
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
