Is life different for Palestinians in the West Bank than the Palestinians in Gaza ?
Yes and no.
While Israel withdrew its settlers from Gaza in 2005 and has since treated it as a “hostile entity” (even though maintaining effective control of it from the outside and it is indeed still occupied per international law), the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is where Israeli settler colonialism is still steadily marching forward, and where Palestinians are continuing to be displaced in favor of Jewish settlers at the point of the gun.
Israel has ruled the West Bank since 1967 through a harsh and violently repressive military government. This fundamental reality was not significantly changed under the so-called “peace process.” While U.S. media tend to report on “violence” in the region in periodic flare-ups when Jewish lives are threatened, for Palestinians the violence of Israeli military government is a daily, constant experience.
The Oslo Accords of the 1990’s divided the West Bank into three categories:
Areas A: These areas were to be under complete civil and security Palestinian (Palestinian Authority) control. This includes the major Palestinian cities and population centers. There should have been no Israeli presence in this area. This area makes up approximately 18% of the West Bank while containing 55% of the Palestinian population.
Areas B: These areas were to be under Palestinian civil control, but Israeli security control. Many Palestinian villages and smaller population centers fall within this area. Areas B constitute approximately 21% of the West Bank while containing 41% of the Palestinian population.
Areas C: These areas were to be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction in three phases, each to take place after an interval of six months, to be completed 18 months after the inauguration of the Council.. Areas C constitute the majority of the West Bank making up approximately 61% of the land. It is in these areas where the majority of settlement activity takes place, as they are abundant in land and resources while containing a relatively small portion of the Palestinian population. Israel controls all of them fully until this very day.
The labeling and designation of these areas continues to be an issue of importance to this day, as increasing numbers of Israeli officials call for the complete annexation of areas C to Israel. This means that Israel makes life as difficult as possible for Palestinians in areas C to encourage their exodus. Other issues of importance such as the use of water resources are heavily affected by which area you live in. Naturally if you are an illegal Israeli settler, such distinctions do not matter.
Today Israel barely distinguishes between these areas, as it is seen operating freely in Areas A, as well as retroactively recognizing new settlement outposts in Areas B.
Israel also controls borders, airspace, electromagnetic frequencies in all three areas and in practice has raided and arrested Palestinians in Area A at will.
Forced displacement for Jewish settlement occurs in a variety of ways, some formal and authorized under Israeli law, others simply by raw violence at the hands of Jewish Israeli settlers, and still others by a combination of state authority and private Israeli violence working together. The Israeli organization B’Tselem has counted more than 200 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, of which 131 are state-sponsored and another 110 are “illegal” even under Israeli law. In fact, all Israeli settlements are war crimes under international law.
The West Bank is also where Israeli apartheid is most visible. Jewish settlers are subject to Israeli civil law and administration; Palestinians are subject to draconian military regulations barring association and expression, enforced in military courts with nearly 100% conviction rates. Jewish settlers vote in Israeli elections; Palestinians have no political voice in the only government that has real power over their lives.
Jewish settlers live in segregated communities, and speed between them along newly built secure highways with yellow license plates; Palestinians travel along dilapidated winding roads with blue license plates peppered with hundreds of Israeli military barriers that severely restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement.
Jewish settlements are connected to the Israeli national water grid, receiving water sufficient to fill swimming pools, while Palestinians often must truck in water for domestic consumption at great expense.
The Israeli Supreme Court has entertained numerous challenges to Israeli military policies in the West Bank, from land confiscations, home demolitions, detentions without trial, the building of a separation or apartheid wall, targeted killings, torture of Palestinian detainees, and more.
In more than fifty years, the court has rarely found in favor of Palestinian claimants, and instead has provided a legal fig leaf to the military’s most abusive practices.
Elected officials should advocate for an end to Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank.