The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
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the Palestinian people, there are more than five <strong>and</strong> a half million dispossessed<br />
Palestinians outside the terri<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Palestine, all over the<br />
world. And after forty-two years <strong>of</strong> military occupation <strong>of</strong> the Gaza Strip<br />
<strong>and</strong> the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Israel has developed a<br />
system <strong>of</strong> apartheid. It is very clear in every aspect <strong>of</strong> the daily life:<br />
Israel <strong>to</strong>day controls more than 80% <strong>of</strong> the water resources in the<br />
West Bank, <strong>and</strong> allows Palestinian citizens <strong>to</strong> use no more than<br />
(50) cubic meters per capita a year. At the same time, the illegal<br />
Israeli settlers use more than 2400 cubic meters <strong>of</strong> water per year<br />
per capita.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Israeli GDP per capita averages around $26,000 per year, while<br />
the GDP per capita in Palestine is no more than $1000 per year. Yet,<br />
due <strong>to</strong> the imposed market <strong>and</strong> tax union, Palestinians are forced <strong>to</strong><br />
pay the same prices for goods as Israelis. Palestinians are also<br />
forced <strong>to</strong> buy water <strong>and</strong> electricity from Israel – at double the price<br />
that Israeli citizens pay: Palestinians have <strong>to</strong> pay NIS 5 per water unit<br />
while Israelis pay NIS 2.4. Palestinians pay NIS 13 per unit <strong>of</strong> electricity,<br />
while Israelis pay NIS 6.3.<br />
<strong>The</strong> system <strong>of</strong> road segregation that has been initiated by Israel,<br />
where most <strong>of</strong> the main roads in the West Bank are exclusively for<br />
Israeli settlers or the Israeli army, separates Palestinian villages <strong>and</strong><br />
cities from each other, <strong>and</strong> restricts their access <strong>to</strong> different places<br />
<strong>and</strong> resources.<br />
<strong>The</strong> building <strong>of</strong> the Apartheid Wall in the occupied terri<strong>to</strong>ries. It is a<br />
huge wall that will extend for about 850 km when finished. It is<br />
three times as long <strong>and</strong> twice as high as Berlin Wall used <strong>to</strong> be.<br />
And even when it is not a concrete wall, it is a fence system between<br />
60 <strong>and</strong> 104 meters wide, depriving Palestinians <strong>of</strong> vast<br />
areas <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong>. This wall destroys the Palestinian social fabric; it deprives<br />
pupils <strong>and</strong> students <strong>of</strong> the possibility <strong>of</strong> reaching their schools<br />
or universities <strong>and</strong> deprives hundreds <strong>of</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> Palestinians<br />
from reaching medical care or health systems. In East Jerusalem,<br />
the wall separates the Palestinians on the right side <strong>of</strong> the wall<br />
from those on the left side. Jerusalem itself is not accessible <strong>to</strong><br />
Palestinians living in the rest <strong>of</strong> the West Bank Areas.<br />
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