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Understanding Theology in the Israel/Palestine Debate. An Introduction What about Justice? Rob Dalrymple PhD. What is happening ? Land. Land Since 1948, 531 Arab villages have been destroyed by bulldozers or occupied by Israeli residents. What is happening? Land Refugees .
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Understanding Theology in the Israel/Palestine Debate An Introduction What about Justice? Rob Dalrymple PhD
What is happening ? • Land
Land • Since 1948, 531 Arab villages have been destroyed by bulldozers or occupied by Israeli residents
What is happening? • Land • Refugees
Refugees • World’s largest refugee crisis: many have been refugees for 63 years • During the 1948 war 800,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes and crossed into neighboring Arab states • Today between 3.7-4.5 million refugees • Yet, any Jewish person in the world today can immigrate (aliyah) to Israel and is granted automatic citizenship; while Palestinians who were born in the country do not have the option of returning to their homeland
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier
Separation Barrier • 8 meters high in many places (2x height of the Berlin wall); more than 450 miles long • Annex’s more than 45% of the West Bank to Israel • Cuts off 12,000 Palestinians from schools and farmland • Built almost entirely beyond the green line; i.e. on Palestinian property against the wishes of the Palestinians
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier • Israeli occupation in the West Bank
Israeli occupation in the West Bank • Road closures and curfews: 120 permanent checkpoints control movement; along with hundreds of permanent road blocks • Palestinians cannot travel from town to town within the West Bank without a permit
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier • Israeli occupation in the West Bank • Settlements
Settlements • More the 300,000 settlers live in the West Bank (these are Israeli citizens who live in Palestinian lands that have been confiscated by Israel) • Geneva convention of 1948 forbid occupying power to transfer parts of its own civilian population into territory it occupies • Hundreds of thousands of settlers now live in the Occupied Territories
What is happening? • Land • Refugees • Separation barrier • Israeli occupation in the West Bank • Settlements • Daily living conditions
Resources: Water rights • Avg Israeli consumes 348 litres of water; avg Palestinian 70 litres • If Palestinians need more water they pay 4x the rate • ‘It is really frustrating when your children are going thirsty and you see settlers next door watering their gardens and swimming in their pools’
Employment • 67% unemployment in Gaza and 48% in the West Bank
Poverty • 75% of Palestinians live on less than $2 a day