Recent history of Jerusalem

From 1948, when Britain 's mandate over Palestine ended, until Israel defeated Syria , Egypt and Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank were under Jordanian administration ( Gaza was under Egyptian rule). After the war, Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem along with 64 square kilometers of the rest of the West Bank which were seized and incorporated into the Jerusalem Municipality , and imposed Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration there. In 1980, the Knesset passed the Basic Law which declared all of Jerusalem the “united and eternal capital” of Israel , a declaration that is rejected and criticized by the international community, which considers East Jerusalem to be occupied in the same manner as the West Bank and Gaza under international law.

Since 1967, Israel has pursued a series of racist policies to ensure a Jewish majority of at least 70% in all parts of Jerusalem , so that the Palestinian goal to have Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestinian state cannot be realized. John Dugard, the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories refers to this process as the “de-Palestinization of Jerusalem ”. By building new settlements in East Jerusalem, assisting settlers in seizing Palestinian homes and depriving Palestinian Jerusalemites of their basic entitlements in terms of education, housing, economic viability, healthcare, freedom of movement and the right to family life, the Jerusalem Municipality is blatantly attempting to cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian population.

Legality of the Occupation

Israel is party to a series of international human rights and humanitarian conventions and covenants which it breaches regularly and with impunity in the context of its occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. They include, inter alia ,

• Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (19;
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
• International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights;
• Red Cross Fundamental Rules of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts;
• Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners;
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
• Convention on the Rights of the Child;
• United Nations Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects; and
• Additional protocols to relevant conventions and covenants.

Furthermore, Israel has over time disregarded a series of Security Council Resolutions with regard specifically to the status of Jerusalem and also the wider occupied territory.

The Fourth Geneva Convention is of utmost importance as it is intended to protect the civilian population in a time of occupation from inhumane treatment at the hands of the occupying force. Key articles of the Convention which are systematically breached include:

• Article 34 which states that: “ No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited .” Since the beginning of Israel 's occupation of Palestine , and particularly since the beginning of the second Intifada , it has pursued on ongoing policy of collective punishment of Palestinian civilians, most notably in the enforcement of harsh and unjustifiable restrictions on movement throughout the territory that brutally impacts on every Palestinian person's access to education, healthcare and employment opportunities.
• Article 38, paragraph five states that “children less than 15 years old, pregnant women and mothers of children less than 7 shall benefit from any special treatment that citizens of the concerned state enjoy.” Israel 's disregard of this article has had devastating consequences in scores of cases whereby women in labor have not been allowed to cross at a checkpoint in time to deliver their babies in hospital. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 69 women have given birth at checkpoints since 2000 – 35 of those babies died, as did five mothers. Furthermore, many of the babies who survived suffered brain damage due to the adverse conditions under which they were born. The anxiety suffered by pregnant women as a result of this callous practice has caused the number of home births in occupied Palestine to increase by 8.2% since 2000, putting both mother and child at further risk.
• Article 49 which states that: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”. The establishment of Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank including East Jerusalem directly contravenes this article. There are currently over 400,000 Israeli settlers living in occupied Palestine , and they are afforded many more rights and protections than Palestinian civilians.
• Article 59 which states that: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations”. Israeli forces regularly damage and demolish the private property of Palestinian civilians and organizations under a range of false premises. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions estimates that 18,147 Palestinian homes have been razed by the Israeli forces since 1967.

Role of Jerusalem Center for Women

Palestinian Jerusalemite women face a number of layers of oppression in their unique and difficult situation. The first layer consists of state oppression at the hands of the Israeli forces, which impedes the access of women to education by neglecting its obligation to provide education for all Palestinian Jerusalemite children and by restricting the movement of Palestinians so that they cannot easily or safely reach place of education. The Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem creates a culture of fear among the city's residents so that women are often discouraged from traveling to college or work by their families. Even when women remain at home, their security is not guaranteed as long as Israel continues its policy of home demolition and land confiscation, which violates a woman's most important space. Aside from losing their personal belongings and sense of safety, female victims of home demolitions lose their traditional sphere of influence. Furthermore, Palestinian Jerusalemite women face a constant and real threat of sexual violence from Israeli forces and settlers.

The second layer of oppression faced by Palestinian Jerusalemite women comes from within the home and Palestinian society, which is patriarchal by its nature. Domestic violence and honor crimes are very much a reality in Palestinian society and many East Jerusalemite women report that an increase in domestic abuse has corresponded with rising unemployment and oppression by the Israeli forces.

The reverse development of Palestinian women

The concept of human development refers to holistic improvement in standards of living for a population, encompassing quality healthcare and education, adequate nutrition and food security, the reasonable expectation of a long and healthy life, improvement in purchasing power and working conditions, political participation and the empowerment of minority groups in society. Despite the fact that there are many aspects of Palestinian society that are deeply unfavorable towards women i.e. prevalence of honor killings, forced early marriage, domestic violence, Palestinian women throughout the twentieth century achieved a reasonable level of human development, with impressive educational attainment in the context of the wider Arab region, high numbers of hospital births, a good level of involvement in civil society and a moderate level of economic activity outside of the home. However, since the onset of the second Intifada in 2000, a disturbing trend has intensified that can only be described as the de-development of Palestinian women, made all the more regrettable as Palestinian women were making considerable strides towards empowerment and equality within society.

Education

Educational attainment among Palestinian girls and women has historically been of a good standard, with almost full enrollment in primary education and significant numbers of young women completing third level education. However, the Israeli occupation is causing untold damage to the Palestinian educational system so that standards of education and numbers of children enrolled in school are slipping badly. In East Jerusalem ,

Healthcare

Healthcare for Palestinian women, and expectant mothers in particular,

Civil Society

Pro-poor growth

An important element in achieving pro-poor economic growth is to allow

Equal rights

Early marriage

Education

Empowerment

Revival of Civil Society

Counseling and assistance in reintegration

Fostering links with Israeli and international organizations

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard. UNHRC Doc. A/HRC/4/17, pg. 2

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