[News] The Nakba: Ethnic cleansing, displacement of Palestinians and settler colonializm

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://english.pnn.ps/2019/05/13/on-71-st-annual-palestinian-nakba-the-number-of-palestinians-worldwide-has-doubled-about-nine-times-pcbs-report-say/ 



  On 71 st Annual Palestinian Nakba: The number of Palestinians
  worldwide has doubled about nine-times PCBS report say

May 13, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ramallah

Dr. Ola Awad, President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 
(PCBS), via figures, historical and current data, reviewed the 
geographical, demographical and economic situation of the Palestinian 
People on the eve of the 71th Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba, 
which occur takes place on May, 15th; and those figures and data run as 
the following:

*The Nakba: Ethnic cleansing, displacement of Palestinians and settler 
colonializm*

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 thousand out of the 1.4 million Palestinians who 
lived in historical Palestine in 1948 in 1,300 villages and towns. The 
majority of the displaced Palestinians ended up in neighboring Arab 
countries and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and other countries in the 
world. Furthermore, 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 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 thousand Palestinians were martyred.

*The Demographic Reality: Palestinian population has doubled nine times  
since the Nakba 1948*

The population of Palestine in 1914 was around 690 thousands of whom 
only 8% were Jewish. In 1948, the number of Palestinians in Palestine 
exceeded 2 million, 31.5% of them were Jews, while the number of Jews 
doubled more than six times during this period. Between 1932 and 1939, 
the largest number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine reached 225 
thousand Jews. Between 1940 and 1947, more than 93 thousand Jews poured 
into Palestine. Palestine received around 318 thousand Jews Between 1932 
and 1947 and 540 thousand from 1948 to 1975.

Despite the displacement of more than 800 thousand Palestinians in 1948, 
and the displacement of more than 200 thousand Palestinians (majority of 
them to Jordan) after the 1967 war, the Palestinian world population 
totaled 13.1 million by the end of 2018, which means that the number of 
Palestinians in the world has doubled more than 9 times since the events 
of the Nakba of 1948, more than half of them live in historic Palestine 
by the end of 2018 where their number reached 6.48 million, (1.57 
million in the occupied territories in 1948), population estimates 
indicate that the number of population end of 2018 in the West Bank, 
including Jerusalem, was 2.95 million, and around 1.96 million in Gaza 
Strip, and with regard to the population of Jerusalem Governorate, it 
was about 447 thousand people of which approximately 65% (about 281 
thousand people) live in those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by 
Israeli occupation in 1967 (J1), the data show that Palestinians 
represent 49% of the population living in historic Palestine, while Jews 
constitute 51% at the end of 2018. The Israeli occupation continues its 
control over 85% of the area of historical Palestine, which amounts to 
27 thousand square kilometer (km2), while the remaining areas continue 
to endure further attempts of usurpation and control. It should be noted 
that Jewish under the British Mandate used only 1,682 km2 of historic 
land of Palestine which represents 6.2%.

*Palestinian Refugees Status*

Records of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) reported on 
1st January 2018 that the total number of Palestinian refugees was 6.02 
million, 28.4% of whom live in 58 camps (10 in Jordan, 9 in Syria, 12 in 
Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank and 8 in Gaza Strip). Estimates, however, 
indicate that this is the minimum number of refugees since many of them 
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% 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 State of Palestine at the end of 2018 was 816 
individuals per square kilometer (km2): 522 individuals/km2 in the West 
Bank and 5,375 individuals/km2 in Gaza Strip, noting that 66% of the 
total population of Gaza Strip are refugees. The flux of refugees turned 
Gaza Strip into one of the highest population densities in the world. 
Despite the small area of Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation set up a 
buffer zone over more than 1,500 meter along the Eastern border of Gaza 
Strip. Consequently, the Israeli occupation controls about 24% of the 
total area of Gaza Strip (365 km2).

*Continuous Siege on Gaza Strip*

The continuous Siege on Gaza Strip, which is one of the most densely 
populated areas in the world, led to a sharp rise in unemployment in 
Gaza Strip, where the unemployment rate reached 52%, around 72% of youth 
aged 15-24 years are unemployed. The siege also shakes the economy of 
Gaza Strip and turns over half of its population into poor 53%, and 11% 
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 Thousand Martyrs since the Nakba 1948
The number of Palestinian and Arab martyrs since the Nakba in 1948 up to 
the present day (inside and outside Palestine) has reached about 100,000 
martyrs . The number of martyrs killed between September 29th, 2000 and 
May 7th, 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 the year 2018, out of 
them 57 children and 3 women. The Israeli occupation also detained the 
bodies of 15 martyrs.

*Around 17 Thousand Wounded since the Start of the Marches of Return*

The number of wounded Palestinians during the year 2018 reached about 
29,600 persons, while data from the Ministry of Health indicated that 
the number of wounded in Gaza Strip has reached 16,800 since the 
beginning of the marches of return on the occasion of Land Day on March 
30 2018. It is noteworthy that 136 citizens were amputated 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, while the 
number of martyrs 272 citizens, among the martyrs 54 children and 6 
women and elderly, and confirmed the martyrdom of 4 paramedics and 3 
journalists.

*About 1 Million detentions since 1967*

The Israeli occupation arrested around 5,700 Palestinians, end of March 
2019, of them 250 were children, 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 
imposed house arrest on 300 children in Jerusalem since October 2015. 
Around 36 children are still under house arrest. Most of those children 
have been arrested after the end of the period of a house arrest, which 
ranged from six months to one year.

*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 indicated that the total number of settlers in the West Bank 
was 653,621 by the end of 2017, 306,529 (47%), of them lived in 
Jerusalem Governorate, including 225,335 of them lived 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% of the West 
Bank area, this imposed restrictions on 1.9 million people living in 
areas close to the wall and / or settlements, around 400 thousand people 
live in Area “C”. In addition to the expansion and annexation wall that 
surrounds the city of Jerusalem with the length of 93 km isolating about 
84 km2 of the area of Jerusalem Governorate, while the incomplete part 
of the wall which is about 46 km will isolate about 68 km2 of the area 
of Jerusalem Governorate.

The Jurisdiction Area of the Israeli occupation settlements in the West 
Bank reached 541.5 km2 as at end of year 2018, representing about 10% of 
the West Bank, while the confiscated areas for the purposes of military 
bases and military training are about 18% of the West Bank, which 
deprives the Palestinian farmers and herders of access to their farms 
and pastures. The Israeli occupation places all obstacles to tightening 
the siege and restricting the urban expansion of the Palestinians, 
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 high or medium agricultural value 
in the West Bank is 2,072 thousand dunums, constituting about 37% of the 
West Bank. The Palestinians use only 931.5 thousand dunums which 
constitute about 17% of the West Bank area.

The reason for the non-exploitation of agricultural land in the West 
Bank is the fact that Area (C) constitutes about 60% of the area of the 
West Bank, which is still under full Israeli occupation control that 
deprived many farmers from accessing their land and cultivation or 
taking care of cultivated areas which led to the destruction of most of 
the crops in those areas, in addition to bulldozing and uprooting 7,122 
trees during 2018 by the Israeli occupation forces, bringing the number 
of trees uprooted more than one million trees since 2000 until the end 
of 2018. Thousands of dunums were confiscated by settlers, to be 
cultivated, where the area planted in the Israeli settlements in the 
year 2018 reached about 110 thousand dunums, the majority were of 
irrigated agriculture.

*Continuous Confiscation of Land*

The Israeli occupation used the land classification according to the 
Oslo Agreement (A, B, C) to tighten control of the Palestinian land, 
especially in areas classified as (C) with an area of 3,375 thousand 
dunums. About 2,642 thousand dunums, constituting 76% of the total area 
classified (C) is exploited by the Israeli occupation directly. The area 
classified (A) is about one million dunums, and the area classified (B) 
is 1,035 thousand dunums, and the area classified “Others” is 250 
thousand dunums includes (Natural Reserves, and J1 in East Jerusalem, 
and H2 in Hebron, and unclassified areas). In 2018, the Israeli 
occupation confiscated 508 dunums of the Palestinian land, in addition 
to confiscating hundreds of dunums of the Palestinians through the 
expansion of Israeli checkpoints and establishments of military 
checkpoints to protect the settlers.

*Jerusalem: Intensive and Systematic Judaization*

At the time that the Israeli occupation forces demolish Palestinian 
buildings, and put obstacles and impediments to the issuance of building 
permits, the Israeli occupation issued deportation orders for 12 Bedouin 
communities in East Jerusalem, comprising about 1,400 people, in the 
effort to Judaize the city of Jerusalem. During the year 2018, the 
Israeli occupation approved the building permits for 5,820 settlement 
units. The Israeli occupation demolished 215 buildings in Jerusalem 
Governorate, leading to the forced displacement of 217 people, including 
110 children.

The violations of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians 
continue, in terms of demolishing buildings (housing units and 
establishments) and forced displacement of residents. Israeli occupation 
demolished 471 buildings in 2018 (houses and establishments), of which 
about 46% were in the city of Jerusalem with 215 demolitions. The 
demolished buildings were divided into 157 residential buildings and 314 
establishments. In the year 2018, the Israeli occupation issued orders 
to demolish 546 buildings in the West Bank and Jerusalem, at a time when 
the needs of housing units for Palestinians increase. In figures and 
according to the data of the Housing Conditions Survey 2015, about 61% 
of households in Palestine need to build new housing units over the next 
decade.

A Bitter Reality for Water in Palestine, 22% of Available Water in 
Palestine Purchased from Israeli Water Company “Mekorot”
The Israeli measures contribute to limiting the ability of the 
Palestinians to exploit their natural resources, especially water, and 
to forcing them to compensate for the shortage of water through 
purchasing the needed amount from the Israeli water company “Mekorot”. 
The quantity of water purchased for domestic use reached 83 million 
cubic meters (MCM) in 2017, which constitutes 22% amounting to 375 
(MCM), in addition to 23.5 (MCM) of water flowing from Palestinian 
springs, 264.5 (MCM) flowing from underground wells, and 4.0 (MCM) of 
desalinated drinking water.

77% of Available Water is from Surface and Ground Water
Data showed that the percentage of the exploitation of surface and 
ground water from available water in the year 2017 was high, with an 
average of 77%. It should be noted that the Palestinians have been 
denied access to extraction from the Jordan River since 1967, which was 
estimated about 250 million cubic meters (MCM). On the other hand, the 
quantity of Water Pumped from Palestinian Wells in the West Bank in 2017 
was 86 MCM from Eastern aquifer, Western aquifer and North-Eastern aquifer.

The amount of water extracted from the coastal aquifer for domestic use 
was 178.7 (MCM) in Gaza Strip in 2017, but this quantity is obtained via 
unsafe pumping that jeopardizes sustainability of the source knowing 
that the basin sustainable yield should not exceed 50-60 MCM a year. 
More than 97% of the water pumped from the coastal aquifer in Gaza Strip 
does not meet the water quality standards of the World Health 
Organization, this leads to the depletion of groundwater reserves, where 
the groundwater level in the coastal aquifer reached 19 meters 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.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20190514/3c0d467f/attachment.htm>