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israel/occupied palestinian territories separate and unequal israel s discriminatory treatment of palestinians in the occupied palestinian territories humanrightswatch

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separate and unequal israel s discriminatory treatment of palestinians in the occupied palestinian territories

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copyright © 2010 human rights watch all rights reserved printed in the united states of america isbn 1-56432-729-9 cover design by rafael jimenez human rights watch 350 fifth avenue 34th floor new york ny 10118-3299 usa tel +1 212 290 4700 fax +1 212 736 1300 hrwnyc@hrw.org poststraße 4-5 10178 berlin germany tel +49 30 2593 06-10 fax +49 30 2593 0629 berlin@hrw.org avenue des gaulois 7 1040 brussels belgium tel 32 2 732 2009 fax 32 2 732 0471 hrwbe@hrw.org 64-66 rue de lausanne 1202 geneva switzerland tel +41 22 738 0481 fax +41 22 738 1791 hrwgva@hrw.org 2-12 pentonville road 2nd floor london n1 9hf uk tel +44 20 7713 1995 fax +44 20 7713 1800 hrwuk@hrw.org 27 rue de lisbonne 75008 paris france tel +33 143 59 55 35 fax +33 1 43 59 55 22 paris@hrw.org 1630 connecticut avenue n.w suite 500 washington dc 20009 usa tel +1 202 612 4321 fax +1 202 612 4333 hrwdc@hrw.org web site address http www.hrw.org

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december 2010 isbn 1-56432-729-9 separate and unequal israel s discriminatory treatment of palestinians in the occupied palestinian territories i summary 1 background 8 construction permits zoning and demolitions 11 freedom of movement 14 water 17 land confiscation 19 ii recommendations 21 to the government of israel 21 to the government of the united states 23 to the international community including the united states and european union 23 to the united nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination 23 to businesses profiting from settlements 24 iii methodology 25 iv background 26 israeli jurisprudence and discrimination 30 land confiscation 35 discriminatory restrictions planning and forced displacement in area c 40 discriminatory enforcement 43 east jerusalem 46 settler incentives and funding sources 51 corporate involvement in settlements 61 v northern jordan valley 65 vi bethlehem district 89 jubbet al-dhib 89 nahalin 94

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vii nablus district 101 yanun and itamar 101 viii ramallah district 112 al-janiya and talmon 112 ix jahalin bedouin and ma ale adumim 120 x east jerusalem 130 background overview of israeli planning and building policies in east jerusalem 130 al-bustan and the city of david 136 discrimination in silwan 137 coda increasing harassment 142 discrimination and forcible transfer in international law 143 forcible transfer 148 xi rights to a home adequate housing and property 151 appendix human rights watch letters to israeli authorities and their responses 153 acknowledgments 164

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i summary this report consists of a series of case studies that compare israel s different treatment of jewish settlements to nearby palestinian communities throughout the west bank including east jerusalem it describes the two-tier system of laws rules and services that israel operates for the two populations in areas in the west bank under its exclusive control which provide preferential services development and benefits for jewish settlers while imposing harsh conditions on palestinians the report highlights israeli practices the only discernable purposes of which appear to be promoting life in the settlements while in many instances stifling growth in palestinian communities and even forcibly displacing palestinian residents such different treatment on the basis of race ethnicity and national origin and not narrowly tailored to meet security or other justifiable goals violates the fundamental prohibition against discrimination under human rights law it is widely acknowledged that israel s settlements in the west bank including east jerusalem violate international humanitarian law which prohibits the occupying power from transferring its civilian population into the territories it occupies israel appears to be the only country to contest that its settlements are illegal human rights watch continues to agree with the nearly universal position that israel should cease its violation of international humanitarian law by removing its citizens from the west bank this report focuses on the less-discussed discriminatory aspect of israeli settlement policies and analyzes serious and ongoing violations of other rights in that context the case studies in this report show that discriminatory israeli policies control many aspects of the day-to-day life of palestinians who live in areas under exclusive israeli control and that those policies often have no conceivable security justification for example jubbet al-dhib is a 160-person palestinian village to the southeast of bethlehem that is often accessible only by foot because its only connection to a paved road is a rough 1.5 kilometer-long dirt track children from jubbet al-dhib must walk to schools in other villages several kilometers away because their own village has no school jubbet al-dhib lacks electricity despite numerous requests to be connected to the israeli electric grid which israeli authorities have rejected israeli authorities also rejected an internationally donor-funded project that would have provided the village with solar-powered streetlights any meat or milk in the village must be eaten the same day due to lack of refrigeration residents often resort to eating preserved foods instead villagers depend for light on candles kerosene lanterns and when they can afford to fill it with gasoline a small generator 1 human rights watch december 2010

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approximately 350 meters away is the jewish community of sde bar it has a paved access road for its population of around 50 people and is connected to jerusalem by a new multimillion dollar highway the lieberman road which bypasses palestinian cities towns and villages like jubbet al-dhib sde bar operates a high school but jubbet al-dhib students are ineligible to attend for palestinians settlements are closed military areas that may be entered only with special military permits residents of sde bar have the amenities common to any israeli town such as refrigerators and electric lights which jubbet al-dhib villagers can see from their homes at night both jubbet al-dhib and sde bar fall within area c ­ land that was designated under the 1995 oslo interim peace agreement to fall under israeli civil and military control but while israel grants sde bar residents access to roads electricity and funds for housing development it deprives residents of jubbet al-dhib of similar amenities since sde bar s founding in 1997 israel has invested millions of dollars in nearby jewish settlements like tekoa and nokdim to build homes schools community centers health clinics and swimming pools the same is not true for jubbet al-dhib which dates to 1929 development and infrastructure there are at a standstill strictly prohibited by israeli authorities who prevent villagers from building new houses or expanding those they already have.1 israel has human rights obligations towards all persons under its control including those in territory it occupies as has been stated by the international court of justice and other international bodies israel denies that its human rights obligations apply to palestinians in the west bank except for east jerusalem which it considers part of israel it argues against the applicability of human rights law based on an interpretation that restricts its applicability to the territory of a state and not to occupied territories and on the argument that the law of occupation applies to the west bank to the exclusion of human rights law the international court of justice as well as several un human rights committees have rejected this interpretation on the basis of the text of the relevant human rights treaties which define their applicability based on the degree of a government s control over a person rather than on a state s borders and on the principle that human rights law and the law of occupation as written and interpreted are not mutually exclusive but complementary obligations that may both apply to populations under a government s effective control international law does not require israel to treat palestinian residents of the west bank as though they were israeli citizens for example non-citizens do not have the right to vote however the rights of with the exception of settlements in east jerusalem where israel has applied its civil law palestinians are virtually excluded from living in settlements by the requirement that they obtain renewable permits from the israeli military to enter settlements human rights watch is not aware of cases of palestinians applying for or the military granting permits allowing them to purchase homes in settlements 1 separate and unequal 2

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israeli citizens including settlers do not include the right to benefit from discriminatory treatment that violates the rights of palestinians in israeli-occupied territory israel s differential treatment in law regulations and administrative practice directly affect the roughly 490,000 jewish settlers and 420,000 palestinians in areas under its exclusive control in the west bank including in area c and east jerusalem in addition the implications of israel s discriminatory policies are far broader affecting many of the roughly 2.4 million palestinians living in the cities and towns in the occupied west bank known as areas a and b where israel has ceded most civil responsibilities to the palestinian authority that is because area c contains substantial amounts of water resources grazing and agricultural land and the land reserves required for developing cities towns and infrastructure it is also the only contiguous area in the west bank effectively isolating the cities and towns which fall outside area c into disconnected enclaves.2 as a result israel effectively controls movement and access between palestinian population centers.3 palestinians must cross checkpoints to travel through area c and need permits to build infrastructure that would connect to cities towns and villages including roads water and sewage pipes and electricity towers it is often impossible for palestinian cities towns and villages that have outgrown municipal lands to expand into area c where israel strictly controls palestinian construction to the extent that israel which remains ultimately responsible for persons in the territories it occupies has conferred powers on the palestinian authority pa in certain areas the pa also has human rights responsibilities since 1967 when it seized the west bank from jordan during hostilities and under a variety of governments since the right-wing likud party first came to power in 1977 israel has expropriated land from palestinians for jewish-israeli settlements and their supporting infrastructure denied palestinians building permits and demolished illegal palestinian construction i.e palestinian construction that the israeli government chose not to authorize prevented palestinian villages from upgrading or building homes schools health clinics wells and water cisterns blocked palestinians from accessing roads and agricultural lands failed to provide electricity sewage water and other utilities to palestinian communities and rejected their applications for such services such measures have not only limited the expansion of palestinian villages but imposed severe hardships for residents 2 3 world bank the economic effects of restricted access to land in the west bank october 21 2008 p 4 see ocha the humanitarian impact of israeli infrastructure in the west bank 2007 chapter 2 b tselem land grab israel s settlement policy in the west bank may 2002 p 50 3 human rights watch december 2010

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including forcing children to walk long distances for school and leaving residents with limited access to medical care which can often be accessed only by crossing multiple checkpoints because there are no palestinian general hospitals in area c road blocks checkpoints and substandard roads delay ambulances and people seeking medical care in addition to the costs they impose on the palestinian economy since palestinians need special military permits to enter settlements usually as laborers medical services there are effectively unavailable to them in some cases israel s discriminatory policies have forcibly displaced palestinians from their communities such policies have not been applied to jewish settlements notwithstanding israel s evacuation of settlers from gaza and four west bank settlements in 2005 and its evacuation of a handful of outposts unauthorized settlements settlements have expanded in size growing from approximately 241,500 inhabitants in 1992 to roughly 490,000 inhabitants in 2010 including east jerusalem settlers enjoy continuing government subsidies including funding for housing education and infrastructure such as special roads in most cases where israel has acknowledged differential treatment of palestinians such as barring them from accessing settler-only roads and subjecting them to 505 roadblocks and checkpoints within the west bank as of june 2010 it has asserted that the measures are necessary to protect jewish settlers and other israelis who are subject to periodic attacks by palestinian armed groups particularly during the second palestinian intifada or uprising from 2000 to around 2006.4 but no security or other legitimate rationale can explain many instances of differential treatment of palestinians such as permit denials that effectively prohibit palestinians from building or repairing homes schools roads and water tanks repairing a home does not under any stretch of the imagination constitute a security threat in cases where israel has justified policies that harm palestinians on the grounds of security whether that of residents of israel or of settlers it has often done so based on policies that define all palestinians as a security threat by virtue of their race and national origin rather than on policies that are narrowly tailored to well-defined security interests a government s differential treatment of different populations can sometimes be justified but only to the extent that it serves a legitimate purpose and is narrowly tailored to have the least harmful impact possible 4 violent attacks by palestinian armed groups killed 202 israeli civilians in the west bank between 2000 and august 31 2010 during the same period israeli settlers killed 43 palestinian civilians in the west bank and israeli security forces killed 1823 palestinian civilians there according to the israeli human rights group b tselem separate and unequal 4

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in some cases the harm caused to palestinians by israel s discriminatory policies has been vastly disproportionate to the stated goal and has been carried out despite less harmful alternatives for example the israeli military requires many palestinians to obtain military coordination in order to access their olive groves and other agricultural lands where those lands are located near settlements such a policy purportedly protects settlers from potential attacks as well as protecting palestinians from settler attacks but in practice the israeli military prohibits by refusing to coordinate access palestinian villagers from accessing their lands for almost the entire year residents of al janiya a palestinian village near the settlement of talmon cannot adequately cultivate their lands during the roughly two weeks per year that they have coordinated access to them with the result that agricultural yields have declined sharply and their livelihoods have been harmed the israeli military has not attempted to alleviate this near-permanent exclusion of palestinians from their lands by increasing the amount of time they are given access or by imposing restrictions on the settlers to enhance palestinian access effectively forcing palestinians to bear the entire burden of ensuring settlers security israel s desire to protect settlers in the west bank and east jerusalem and citizens within israel from the threat of attack by palestinian armed groups does not justify policies that have nothing to do with security or that discriminate against all palestinians as if they were all security threats discriminatory practices also often violate israel s obligations towards palestinians under the law of occupation as the occupying power in the west bank including east jerusalem israel is obliged to ensure the welfare of the occupied population and to limit its actions according to the law of occupation as set forth in international humanitarian law in some cases israeli policies have made palestinian communities virtually uninhabitable and effectively forced residents to leave according to a survey of households in area c and east jerusalem in june 2009 some 31 percent of palestinian residents had been displaced since 2000.5 the unnecessary and effectively forcible transfer of the occupied population by the occupying power to other parts of the territory by unlawfully demolishing homes or by other measures that make it impossible to remain in a given community is a serious violation of israel s obligations under the law of occupation israel s confiscation of land and natural resources for the benefit of settlements exceeds its authority as an occupying power as save the children uk fact sheet jordan valley october 2009 http www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/docs/english_jordan_valley_fact_sheet_and_citations.pdf p 2 accessed july 21 2010 the survey found that palestinian residents in area c in the west bank had been temporarily or permanently displaced primarily as a result of israeli home demolitions military orders and other policies preventing development 5 5 human rights watch december 2010

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does its demolition of palestinian homes and other property in any case except for urgent military necessity israel s highest court has ruled that certain measures imposed against palestinian citizens of israel were illegal because they were discriminatory the court has also ruled that certain israeli military measures in the west bank including bans on palestinian drivers using certain roads and the route of certain parts of israel s separation barrier have disproportionately harmed palestinians when weighed against the benefit to settlers and other israelis however human rights watch is not aware that the courts have adjudicated on the merits of the question of whether any israeli practice in the west bank discriminated against palestinians although petitioners have raised such claims in a number of cases.6 in the cases that human rights watch has examined there appears to be no legal justification for israel s differential treatment of palestinians which breaches israel s obligations under international law violating the prohibition against discrimination as well as a host of associated rights including the right to freedom of movement the right to a home and the right to health this report is not a comprehensive overview of all instances of discrimination between settlers and palestinians or a complete survey of all of the policies and practices that have resulted in the forcible displacement of palestinians rather it addresses a representative sample of discriminatory policies laws and regulations that privilege jewish settlers to the detriment of palestinians as noted israel contests the illegality of its settlements quite apart from that isolated position israel should nonetheless immediately cease these discriminatory policies and allow palestinians to build and develop their land travel and move freely with equitable access to water electricity and basic infrastructure except to the extent that limits are justified by narrowly-tailored security needs israel s allies above all the united states should strongly encourage the israeli government to abide by its obligations and should themselves ensure that they are not contributing to or complicit in the violations of international law caused by the settlements such as the discriminatory human rights violations that are the focus of this report foreign governments that are export markets for settlement products should thus not provide incentives such as preferential tariff treatment for those products particularly in cases 6 see israeli jurisprudence and discrimination below israeli courts have not addressed the legality of the settlements under the law of occupation since 1979 or addressed whether security measures intended to protect settlers that harm palestinians are legitimate alternatives to removing settlers to within israel proper separate and unequal 6

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where ongoing discriminatory rights violations against palestinians have contributed to the production of goods ­ for example agricultural crops exported from settlements that use water from israeli-drilled wells that have dried up nearby palestinian wells limiting palestinians ability to continue cultivating their own agricultural lands and even gaining access to drinking water the united states should consider suspending financing to israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of the israeli government s spending in support of settlements and the discriminatory policies documented in this report since the us s $2.75 billion in annual military aid to israel substantially offsets these costs foreign governments also should ensure that laws and regulations granting tax exemptions for private charitable donations or charitable organizations that support settlements are consistent with governmental obligations to ensure respect for international law including human rights prohibitions against discrimination for example numerous us-registered taxexempt organizations fund settlements that were established through discriminatory means of land confiscation planning and construction that exclude palestinians from any similar benefits and continue to violate the human rights of palestinian residents of the west bank through ongoing expansion and land confiscation continued restrictions on freedom of movement and other practices the us congress should request the general accounting office to prepare a report on the amounts and end-uses of tax-exempt funding flows to settlements and the lawfulness of tax-exemptions for such support according to the us s international obligations israeli and multinational corporations and their subsidiaries profit from settlements in a variety of ways including by receiving producing exporting or marketing settlement agricultural and industrial goods and by financing or constructing settlement buildings and infrastructure companies have directly contributed to discriminatory rights violations against palestinians for example through business activities based on lands that were unlawfully confiscated from palestinians without compensation for the benefit of settlers or activities that consume natural resources like water or rock quarries to which israeli policies provide settlement industries preferential access while denying equitable access to palestinians these businesses also benefit from israeli governmental subsidies tax abatements and discriminatory access to infrastructure permits and export channels palestinian businesses deprived of equitable access to these government-provided benefits are sometimes as a result unable to compete against settlement-based companies in palestinian israeli or foreign markets 7 human rights watch december 2010

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companies that benefit directly from discrimination should urgently and impartially review the impact of their activities on palestinians human rights and identify and implement plans to prevent and mitigate these violations in accordance with their corporate codes of ethics and with international standards such as the ruggie framework developed by the special representative of the un secretary-general on business and human rights and the organization for economic co-operation and development oecd guidelines for multinational enterprises which require businesses to respect the human rights of those affected by their activities in cases where companies involvement in activities in the occupied palestinian territories is found to contribute to serious violations of international law including prohibitions against discrimination companies should in consultation with affected settlers and palestinians end such operations background this report focuses on east jerusalem and on area c the latter an administrative area that derives from the temporary agreement known as oslo 2 signed by israel and the palestine liberation organization plo in september 1995 which created and granted limited autonomy to the palestinian authority pa ahead of an as-yet unreached final status agreement oslo 2 divided the west bank excluding east jerusalem into three administrative areas a b and c as modified by subsequent agreements area a which includes palestinian cities and covers approximately 18 percent of the land of the west bank was transferred to the civil and military control of the pa.7 israel retains military control over area b which covers 22 percent of the territory including most of the built-up areas of the palestinian villages but transferred civil control to the pa.8 israel retained full control of security planning and building in the remaining 60 percent of the west bank some 340,000 hectares of land known as area c which includes israeli settlements main roads and smaller palestinian villages and agricultural lands most palestinians live in areas a and b some four percent live in area c the rationale for the division was in part that the agreement granted the pa control of the majority of the palestinian population while leaving sparsely populated but extensive areas under israeli control.9 7 later israeli-palestinian agreements the wye agreement 1998 the sharm el-sheikh memorandum 1999 slightly altered the oslo agreements administrative division of the west bank 8 the israeli ngo bimkom notes that the 1998 wye agreement effectively increased the size of area c over which palestinians have no planning control to 63 percent of the west bank the wye agreement prohibited new construction in three percent of the total area of the west bank designated as green areas and/or nature reserves 9 as noted above the oslo agreements and subsequent israeli-palestinian agreements do not affect israel s obligations as the occupying power under international humanitarian law separate and unequal 8

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israel controls civil matters related to planning and construction and access to utilities and other services in area c it has granted jewish-only settlements control of roughly 70 percent of the area or 42.8 percent of the west bank including settlements built-up areas and land reserves and offers settlers sizable subsidies to move build and invest there israel effectively allows palestinians to build or improve their homes and agricultural lands in only one percent of area c by designating lands there according to several categories all of which restrict palestinians ability to use them in addition to areas controlled by settlers israel has designated roughly 18 to 20 percent of the west bank closed military zones often designated as firing zones that overlap with the large land areas designated as the territory of settlement regional councils and 10 percent as nature reserves where palestinian and israeli land use is prohibited only palestinians with special permits may enter the settlements usually for work such as construction cleaning or agriculture the pa is responsible under the 1995 oslo accords for providing services to all palestinian villages in the west bank including education and health services to communities in area c under those agreements israel was to retain its military control but progressively to transfer its civil authority over area c to the pa by 1999 israel transferred small amounts of area b to area a and of area c to area b in 1999 and 2000 following agreements at sharm el-sheikh egypt before the outbreak of the second palestinian intifada uprising in 2000 but continues to maintain its absolute authority over area c the civil administration the israel military authority that governs civilian matters in the west bank and the idf must approve any construction in area c from small-scale renovations and connections to utilities to the construction of homes schools and hospitals israel s complete control over all construction in area c has made it difficult for the pa to fulfill its limited educational and health responsibilities there a survey conducted in 2009 by united nations agencies found that the pa faced difficulties in obtaining building permits from the israeli civil administration for building or expanding schools and health clinics which significantly impedes the fulfillment of this responsibility as a result palestinians have generally been forced to fend for themselves in obtaining these services the israeli interior ministry recognizes as official communities 121 settlements established in the west bank after israel occupied the territory in 1967 israel considers as neighborhoods of jerusalem 12 other settlements located in the part of the west bank that israel annexed to the jerusalem municipality since the mid-1990s israel largely stopped officially recognizing new settlements leading to the establishment of an additional 100 unrecognized settlements usually referred to as outposts 9 human rights watch december 2010

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israel continues to expand and invest in the existing settlements in addition to providing infrastructure to settlements and unrecognized outposts alike such as connections to the road network and electricity grid water supply schools and hospitals and devoting significant security expenditure in the form of idf forces obliged to guard them israeli policies have provided a wide variety of financial incentives to jews willing to live in settlements a study by the israeli daily newspaper haaretz in 2003 found that government funding to settlements amounted to us$1.4 billion annually nis 5.5 billion including us$526 million in security costs to protect settlers in east jerusalem which israel unilaterally annexed from jordan in the 1967 middle east war it remains occupied territory under international law israel exerts full governmental control over 190,000 israeli and roughly 270,000 palestinian residents this report documents that israel has sponsored the development of jewish settlements in palestinian areas of east jerusalem even in houses from which palestinian residents are evicted while strictly limiting palestinian building and development including by demolishing homes palestinian residents of east jerusalem pay taxes but receive far fewer services than do residents of predominantly jewish west jerusalem many jews move to settlements due to their national-religious views they believe that the west bank is part of the historical ancient land of israel given to jews by god however many ultra-orthodox and secular jewish settlers move to the settlements primarily for economic reasons such as the low cost of housing large government subsidies undoubtedly contribute to the high levels of immigration to settlements in 2006 according to israeli statistics 20 percent of the population increase in the settlements resulted from migration from inside israel including new immigrants from other countries rather than natural growth a term the israeli government uses to justify settlement construction in 2007 37 percent of settlement growth was due to such migration in addition to receiving support from the israeli government settlements receive support from private foreign donors including jewish and christian individuals and non-profit organizations ngos in the united states the united kingdom and elsewhere donations to non-profit groups in foreign countries that fund jewish settlements in the west bank are often tax-deductible including in the us charities have funded many aspects of settlements including synagogues water networks vocational training for troubled settler youth rifle scopes thermal imaging systems and other security equipment settlers also benefit from israeli government subsidies that attract investment and produce agricultural and industrial products including for export to overseas markets several separate and unequal 10

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