The following is reprinted from War On Want. Access the site HERE.
Fighting occupation in Palestine
The UN reports that 70% of Palestinians are now living in poverty. Four out of five people in Gaza are now dependent on food aid to survive.
Palestinians are not victims of a natural disaster. The poverty they face is an acknowledged product of the Israeli occupation, a fact recognised by the UK Department for International Development, which has stated that "Poverty in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a product of occupation and conflict." Only by ending the Occupation can the root causes of poverty be addressed.
In 1967 Israel invaded the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights and has been illegally occupying them ever since in defiance of UN resolutions and global outrage.
Through the continuing occupation, Israel has engaged in excessive and disproportionate force, including targeted assassination, and also demolished homes, detained minors, held people without trial, destroyed water supplies, razed schools and hospitals, denied people access to food and attacked medical personnel and equipment. The Occupation has destroyed any semblance of a Palestinian economy.
In addition, millions of Palestinians live in refugee camps, where they face human rights abuses and crushing poverty.
The international community has largely ignored international law with respect to Israel's crimes. Instead the British government amongst others has rewarded Israeli aggression with financial, military and diplomatic support.
Palestine is in crisis. We must put pressure on our government to play its part and end the injustice.
