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because when given self-rule in certain areas, the Palestinians from these areas were no longer
permitted access to areas under Israeli rule, including east Jerusalem. (The region is now
divided into three parts: Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, including some areas, which are still
under Israeli rule, but will supposedly – some day – be returned to the Palestinians). Thus, the
Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza are not allowed to enter Israel. People have
become isolated from the rest of the country. This does not only harm the Palestinian
economy (many people from the West Bank worked in Israel prior to this division but are now
no longer allowed to do so); their freedom to move and thus to integrate the scattered self-rule
areas was also compromised.
The Pass Laws present another parallel between South Africa and Israel, with the
bureaucracy of segregation attaining new heights in present-day Israel. A more essential
difference is contained in the fact that segregation was the chosen option of the main players
in the Israeli-Palestinian ‘peace process’. 411 In terms of the South African transition from
apartheid, this puts current Israeli-Palestinian relations into the 1976-1981 phase, when South
Africa granted ‘independence’ to the ‘Bantustans’ or ‘Homelands’. Similarly, the territories
granted to the Palestinians are of little interest to the Israelis. They are widely dispersed, and
they are not centres of economic development. To a large extent, the Israelis are also making
sure that they never will be centers of production or trade. The Israeli government uprooted no
less than 100,000 trees in the West Bank and Gaza during the first three months of the Second
Intifada. Many of these were olive and citrus trees and the losses incurred were estimated at
US$127 million. 412 Moreover, the Palestinian Homelands are landlocked, except Gaza, which
only started work on its first harbor in the year 2000 and was forced by Israeli army
demolitions to abandon the project in the following year 413 , and they have no water resources
411 Amr, H.: Palestinian and South African Elections Compared, 1996: 19-22
412 Ass’adi: Israel Uproots 100,000 Trees in West Bank and Gaza, 2001
413 ‘In September [2001] Israeli tanks rolled into the [harbor] site…and flattened the work site buildings. Israeli
officials say the action was taken because Palestinians were using the area to fire mortar shells at a nearby Jewish
settlement. Palestinians say it is collective punishment for their uprising against occupation.’ Subsequently, the
crucial financial backing from France and the Netherlands, needed to start the harbor project, was cancelled,
although a new project in the future was not ruled out. The reason given for the cancellation was ‘security
concerns’. In a parallel development, the runway of Gaza’s only airport was torn up for the third time by Israelis
in December 2001 in what also appeared to be a case of collective punishment. Blair: Flags at Half Mast as Gaza
Port Plans Fade, 2001. During 2001 alone, the IDF destroyed an estimated 14.5 million euros ($12.8 million)
worth of Palestinian projects funded by European Union taxpayers, the main financial donors to the Palestinian
Authority. In referring to a report on the damage, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said it was hard to see
how the destruction of civilian infrastructure financed by foreign donors could be related to combating terrorism,
which remained Israel’s official excuse for causing the damage. Aside from the destruction of the airport and
harbor, the Israelis had destroyed a forestry project, a counter-terrorism forensic laboratory, the Palestinian
central bureau of statistics, two schools, sewage, irrigation, road repair and housing projects financed by the EU.
N.N.: Israeli Attacks Hit EU-Funded Palestinian Projects, January 22, 2002. On the following day, the French
foreign ministry spokesman, Bernard Valero, said that the EU might ask Israel to pay for the damage it has
inflicted on these projects. On January 28, the EU officially reserved the right to claim reparations from Israel for
the damage. In response, Israel reiterated its claim that the destruction was unintended, adding that it would try to
avoid it in the future. N.N.: EU Could Ask Israel to Pay for Damage, France Says, January 23, 2002; Hauser:
Israel to Try to Avoid Damaging EU Projects, 2002. Yet, only weeks later, the EU estimated that Israel had
destroyed many more millions worth of EU-funded projects in the West Bank during its April 2002 attacks on
Palestinian territories. The toll now stood at nearly 20 million euros ($ 17.6 million at that time) Similarly, the
UN relief and workers agency, UNRWA, announced that it also considered asking Israel for compensation to
repair nearly $4 million in damages caused by the Israeli military in UN-run Palestinian refugee camps before
the April 2002 incursions and subsequent reoccupations. UNRWA said the Israeli Defense Force had damaged
22 UN schools, four UN health clinics, two UN ambulances and four camp service centers. Repairs were needed
to 141 refugee homes that were destroyed and 1,800 shelters that suffered minor damage. This was in addition to
the more than 5,000 refugee homes damaged or destroyed by bulldozing and shelling since September 2000.
UNRWA also said its damage assessment did not include funds that would be needed to cover social and welfare
services for households without a breadwinner, physical rehabilitation for the injured and trauma counseling for
children who witnessed battles in the streets and in their homes. UNRWA chief Peter Hansen said Israel was less