Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25170
THE STATS OF THE SITUATION TEXT: DEREK LOOSVELT On May 14, 1948 Israel proclaimed the creation of "the State of Israel." The following day, the US backed Israel's declaration by recognizing the new state. Today, the inhabitants of Israel are Israeli citizens, whereas the people living in the Occupied Territories (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) are registered Palestinian refugees. Israel: Established in 1948, the State of Israel is the official name of the area north of Egypt. south of Lebanon, east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Jordan River, and exclusive of the Occupied Terri tories. Occupied Territories (also called Palestine): The combined areas of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Golan Heights area and the Gaza Strip. governed by an Israeli Civil Administration. The 1993 Oslo Accords called for Israel to give limited self- ruling rights of the Occupied Territories to the Palestinians, with Israeli sovereignty. West Bank: The area west of the Jordan River that Israel captured from Jordan in 1967. Currently the West Bank is partially under Palestinian self-rule (40 percent) with Israeli sovereignty. Gaza Strip: The Mediterranean coastal region southwest of Israel, bordering Egypt, Wllich Israel captured from Egypt in 1967. Currently the Gaza Strip is partially under Palestinian self-rule (80 percent) with Israeli sovereignty. East Jerusalem: At the end of the 1948-9 War of Independence, Jerusalem was divided into an eastern sector, including the Old City, which Jordan then controlled , and the western sector or New City, which Israel controlled . Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967. In 1980, Israel formally annexed East Jerusalem, which is considered part of Israel by the Israeli authorities. This annexation is not recognized by the United Nations or most countries. WHAT'S IN A NAME? WHAT DIFFERENT GROUPS CALL EAST JERUSALEM, THE WEST BANK AND THE GAZA STRIP UN: "Occupied Palestine" Israeli government: "The West Bank and the Gaza Strip" Palestinians: "Palestine" Right-wing Israelis: "Israel" Left-wing Israelis: "The West Bank and the Gaza Strip" or "Administered Territories" US government, World Bank: "Occupied Territones" or "The West Bank and the Gaza Strip" Palestine Nationat Authority: "Palestiman Autonomous Region" (excludes East Jerusalem) Israel Defense Forces: "Judea and Samaria" (West Bank only) Lonely Planet: "Palestinian Territories" blue: "The most disputed. coveted, sacred 3.900 square miles on the planet." CONTROL. WHO'S GOT tT? -Despite several UN Resolutions (see timeline) calling for Israel to give full control of the West Bank and Gala Strip to the Palestinians. Israel today controls: East Jerusalem: all West Bank: over 60% Gaza Strip: 20% EXODUS -Number of European Jews displaced as a result of WWII (1939-1945): 8 million -Number of Palestinians displaced as a result of the 1949 War of Independence: 720,000' *According to the UN REFUGEES -·Current number of Palestinians registered as refugees: 3.3 million ' (1.2 million live in the West Bank and Gala Strip and 2.1 live in Jordan. Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic.) ' Palestin ian refugees currently registered with the UNRWA POPULATION OF ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Jews Arabs 1917* % of Total 1948 % of Total 2000 % of Total 6,500 1% 608,000 32% 5.014,334 56% 500.000 88% 1,270.000 68% 3,962,481 44°1 '0 "The uprising is a strategic choice of the Palestinian peoille, and it can't be stopped." -Marwan Barghouti, head of the Palestinian al-Fatah movement. Intifada means uprising in Arabic. CASUALTIES OF RISING UP Total number of people killed since the second Intifada began on September 28,2000: »Jews: 45 » Arabs: 341 'AS 01' TIME Of PRINTING. JANUARY 2001 MORE THAN ROCKS AND AK 47S. WHO'S REALLY GOT WHAT? Estimated number of weapons held by Palestinians in the Occupied Territories Legal: less than 1,000 . Illegal: between 30,000 to 40,000 54 Footnote Both Jews and Muslims regard AbrCltlam a~ their direct {je<;c~:nuant: Accord ing 10 the Torall, Abraham's son Isaac. conceived by Sarah, contmues the JeWish lineage. Accordmg to the Koran. Abraham's son Ishmael, conCt~lved by Hagar, GontlrluE::S tile Mu<;llrn lineage. NOTE: TillS inlormatlon was the larest available as of JanlJilry 2001. GUNS --Pistols, grenades and M-16 and Kalashnikov assault rifles are smuggled into Gaza and the West Bank from Jordan and Egypt, stolen from Israeli soldiers or purchased from Israeli criminals. Prices average US$500 to US$2,000 a gun. -·The Pentagon publishes an annual report detailing all US small arms deliveries. Since 1995, that list has totaled more than 300,000 weapons, including: 158,000 M-l6Al assault rifles (principally to Israel, Bosnia and the Philippines) and 10,570 grenade launchers (principally to Israel, Bahrain. Egypt, Greece and Morocco). --In December, Yasser Arafat carried a gun in public for the first time since 1994, after Jewish settlers blocked the main road into Gaza City. NUCLEAR ARMS --Israel has never publicly admitted to possessing nuclear capabilities. -In 1986, a technician at a nuclear reactor in southern Israel was sentenced to 18 years in prison for giving pictures taken inside the reactor to The Sunday limes of London. Based on the photographs. Israel was estimated to have the world's sixth- largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. - In 1998. the Pentagon estimated that Israel has enough plutonium to produce 70 nuclear warheads. WILL HISTORY REPEAT tTSELF? Intifada #1 (1987- 1995) -Annual per capita income in the West Bank in 1990: $2.200 -Annual per capita income In the West Bank in 1995: $1.200 Why the decline? Forced business closings due to politically-mandated strikes, expulsion of Palestinian workers and closure of checkpoint crossings in the West Bank and Gaza which prevent Paleslinian workers from entering Israel. Intifada #2 (September 2000-?) -Estimated annual per capita income In the West Bank prior to September 2000: $2.050 -Estimated annual per capita Income In the West Bank by the end of December 2000: $1.825 01 % decline) Why the decline? Closed borders. Since Israeli-Palestinian fighting began September 28, Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza have not been allowed to enter Israel to work. -Number of Palestrnian laborers kept away from their jobs as a result:· 120,000 -In the first 60 days of the second Intifada, the amount in dollars that the Palestinian economy lost In wages and trade: $500 million -The amount In dollars lost each additional day: $10 million 'UN STUDY LIFE IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP Prior to the recent Intifada Unemployment rate ..... -- • AS OF DECEMBER 2000 People below poverty Irne 12% 20% Current· 40% 33% Getting Technical Number 01 Internet Service ProViders Isracl West Bank Gaza StriP (UNITED SlATES 23 8 3 7.600) WHO, WHO ARE YOU? IDF (ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES): Established in 1948. the Israeli army. navy and air force. PA (PALESTtNIAN AUTHORITY): Headed by Yasser Arafat, the PA is not a fully sovereign state like Israel or the Unrted States, but srnce 1994 it has proVided municipal services and attempts to maintain order in the areas under Its control. PLO (PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ORGANIZATION): Founded in 1964, an umbrella organization for rnany Palestinian groups inside Israel and the Occupied Territories and Jordan. AL-FATAH: The largest faction of the PLO. al-Fatah is a movement for the National Liberation of Palestine. In the current uprising in ttle Occu~ied Territories, al-Fatah units have coordinated l11udl of the street fighting for the Palestinians. HAMAS: Sheikh Ailmed Yassin founded the Hamas rnovement In Gaza in 1987 at the beginning of the first Intifada. Described by CNN as a grass roots Palestinian organization known in Gaza and the West Bank for humanitarian efforts. The military wing of Hamas, Izzedine al-Quassam. has been accused of carrying out attacks and suiCide bombings that have killed dozens of people in Israel. Harnas means zeal in Arabic. "I do not want those who flee to return. Their return must be prevented now." - Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, June 1948