Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World. Annual Report. 2004
Published July 2005

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West Bank & Gaza
 

1. West Bank

Capital : East Jerusalem (not recognized by international community)

Date of Independence : Under occupation since 1967

Area : W: 5,860 sq Km; G: 360 sq Km

Population (in millions) : W: 2.4 (est. 2004); G: 1.4 (est. 2005)

Rate of Population Increase : W: 3.13% (est. 2004); G: 3.77% (est. 2005)

Ethnic Groups : W: Arab 83%, Jewish 17% (Israeli settlers 187,854)

G: Arab 99.4%, Jewish 0.6% (Israeli settlers 7,781)

Religious Groups : W: Muslims 75%, Jews 17%, Christians 8%

G: Muslims 98.7%, Jews 0.6%, Christians 0.7%

Illiteracy : N/A

No. of Provinces : 30

Polity : Republic

Head of PA : Yasser Arafat (until his death on 11/11/2004)

No. of Political Parties : 16

GDP (in millions)ppp : W: $1,800; G: $768 (2003)

GDP per capitappp : W: $800; G: $600 (2003)

Overview
 

Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza strip in the 1967 war. During the following 25 years the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, waged a guerrilla war against Israel using at different times different neighboring Arab countries as a central base from which to conduct its struggle. In 1995, the so-called Oslo Agreement was concluded between Israel and the PLO. Under its terms the PLO assumed the civil government of Gaza and a small part of the West Bank, with the understanding that most of the West Bank will eventually be transferred to the Palestinians, in segments, over the next five years. This land transfer proceeded in the first few years, but at a rate far behind schedule, and by summer of 2000 it came to a complete halt when a last attempt at negotiating a settlement at Camp David under the sponsorship of President Clinton ended in failure. In September 2000, a Palestinian Intifada (uprising) began, and since then violence escalated on both sides and the security situation deteriorated in both Israel and the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. By the end of 2004, the violence had taken a terrible toll—the Palestinian loss in life was in excess of 3000 and the Israeli over 1000, besides the much larger number of wounded on both sides. These developments effectively buried the Oslo Agreement as Israeli forces reoccupied all the areas it has previously evacuated, and proceeded to target for assassination leaders of the Palestinian Intifada, while the “freedom fighters,” as called by the Palestinians, and “terrorists” as called by Israel, conducted suicide bombings within Israel, killing mostly civilians in restaurants, buses and market places.

The economy of the West Bank and the Gaza strip is very small and underdeveloped, and highly dependent on Israel (where thousands of Palestinian laborers work), and on international assistance. Israeli attacks, curfews and its siege and closure of entire districts has severely impacted the economy and raised the level of the unemployed to about 50%.

While the Intifada has undoubtedly hurt Israel both economically and in terms of lives lost, it has virtually devastated the Palestinian territories. Besides killing thousands of Palestinians, many of whom were civilians, Israeli forces with overwhelming military power, using tanks and fighter planes, demolished Palestinian homes and public buildings, destroyed thousands of acres of olive groves, and practically destroyed the entire infrastructure of the West Bank and Gaza. The peace process which began with high hopes in the 1990s was virtually dead by the end of 2004.

In November 2004, Arafat died, after being held a virtual prisoner in his compound in Ramallah which was surrounded for three years by Israeli forces.

I. Political Rights and Civil Liberties:

1. The Executive, Political Parties and Elections. In 1996, Palestinians chose Yasser Arafat as Chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as well as an 88-member Legislative Council in an election generally considered fair and free. Arafat held supreme executive authority and maintained direct control of the Palestinian security forces, until his death on November 11^th, 2004. Presidential elections are scheduled for early January 2005 to select Arafat's successor, whom most expect to be Mahmoud Abbas (Abou Mazen)—who is campaigning on a platform that calls for democracy, a strong government in control of all military power, an end to the Intifada and a negotiated settlement. The first round of Palestinian municipal elections took place in late December 2004 in 26 districts in the West Bank. These were the first local Palestinian elections since 1976. The electoral process was highly successful and was considered by international observers to be free and fair. Voter-turnout was 81% of which 49 % were women. Fatah was victorious in 12 districts, while Hamas—the popular Islamic militant resistance partyswept 9 districts and 5 districts went to independent candidates. Hamas' strong showing in the West Bank—considering the fact that its traditional stronghold remains the Gaza Strip—demonstrates its rising political power. Women gained 25 contested seats, in addition to the 21 seats reserved for them by the quota—bringing their total to 46 in the 306-seat councils. The second round of municipal elections are scheduled for January, May and August 2005, while general parliamentary elections are scheduled for July 2005. The Parliamentary elections are expected to consolidate the Palestinian transition to democracy, especially since thus far 64 out of 88 seats in the Palestinian parliament are under the control of the ruling party Fatah.

2. The Judiciary, Trials, and Detention. Although the Palestinian Basic Law provides for an independent judiciary and defines the powers of the President and the three branches of government, it is meaningless to assess the performance of these, or any other institutions, when a bitter war is in progress and the very issue of a Palestinian State is still in the realm of conjecture. Indeed, the main political factions within Palestinian society (such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad) continue to challenge the official PA on major policy issues (not to mention that Arafat himself was besieged in his quarters by Israeli forces since early 2001). The judiciary continues to suffer from the interference of the executive, which in practice retains de-facto holds final authority on judicial rulings. Thus, for example, in March 2004 the executive over-ruled the decision of the Supreme Palestinian Judicial Court to end the freeze previously imposed on the accounts of charitable organizations. In addition, the executive ignored the decision of a Palestinian Court to free Ahmed Sa'adat, Secretary General of the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine. In addition, the persistence of "special" and "security" courts—under the jurisdiction of the executive—severely breeches the rights of the accused who are frequently held communicado in administrative detention, then given trials that are patently unfair. Human rights organizations also report dire prisons conditions and the systemic use of torture to extract confessions.

Israeli security forces engage in serious systemic violations of human rights in the occupied territories, resorting to mass arbitrary arrests and detentions especially in the wake of suicide attacks. Administrative detentions have been used throughout the year to hold many hundreds of Palestinians without bringing against them any formal charges. Despite legal stipulations, detainees are denied access to lawyers or their families. Human rights organizations also report abuse and the use of torture in Israeli prisons to extract confessions. In addition, the Israeli government refuses to investigate reports of war crimes by the Israeli military or incidents of settler attacks against Palestinian civilians. Even in cases when settlers were prosecuted for their acts of violence against Palestinian civilians, they rarely served prison sentences.

3. Civil Society and the Freedom of Association. Freedom of association and assembly are severely restricted by the Israeli occupation forces, which bans public gatherings of more than 10 persons without a permit. Extensive curfews and closures of entire areas have made assembly of any kind virtually impossible. Israeli forces also closed numerous Palestinian centers and institutions. The Israeli government particularly restricts freedom of association in East Jerusalem, which it considers as part of Israel proper despite the international community's classification of the municipality as "Occupied Territory." Since the outbreak of the Intifada, the Israeli government forcefully shut down numerous civil society organizations in East Jerusalem. On the other hand, Israel permits Palestinian workers in East Jerusalem to establish their own unions, and also to join other West Bank unions.

The PA imposes certain formal limits on the freedom of association. Civil society organizations are governed by "The Law of Charitable Organizations and Civil Society" passed in 1998. In 1999, jurisdiction over CSOs was passed from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Interior. In practice the PA allows a wide margin of freedom to CSOs to carry out charitable, community and self help work—which help fill the vacuum left by the lack of PA's social services.

Permits to hold public demonstrations and meetings are rarely denied. The law also permits Palestinian workers to establish and join workers and trade unions without prior governmental permission, but provides no protection for the right of workers to strike.

4. Freedom of Speech and Media. The Israeli government restricts freedom of speech and the press in the occupied territories. Israeli Defense Forces routinely harass and occasionally detain Palestinian and international journalists working in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel frequently denies journalists travel permits, confiscates their press cards and delays the issue of press credentials. Throughout the year, IDF killed two journalists covering stories in the occupied territories and injured four more. Palestinian publications cannot be sold in occupied territories without obtaining an Israeli license. Israeli military censors also review Arabic publications in East Jerusalem and suppress material considered anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic. This leads Palestinian-owned newspapers such as Al-Quds to practice self-censorship. The Israeli government also routinely prohibits the display of Palestinian political symbols in occupied East Jerusalem. Throughout the year Israel raided several times the premises of Palestinian radio and TV stations, as well as the press offices of al-Nawras, al-Majd, and Marah. Academic freedom is also curtailed, as the IDF disrupts the operations of West Bank and Gaza Strip schools and universities through the imposition of forced closures, curfews, travel restrictions, and military operations. The PA Ministry of Education also reported that since the outbreak of the Intifada, the IDF routinely raids, and closes schools—some of them permanently. In 2004, two higher education institutions were closed by military order in Hebron, disrupting the education of more than 5,000 Palestinian students.

The Palestinian Authority severely curbs the freedom of speech and the media especially regarding topics pertaining to human rights, security issues, and criticism of Fatah. The 1995 Press Law fails to protect the media—leading to severe unchecked violations. PA's security forces routinely sequesters newspapers, confiscates publications, bans broadcasts, and harasses and detains journalists. These systemic violations of free speech drove the media to impose self-censorship in independently-owned newspapers and TV stations. While the PA has legal authority over all levels of public education in the occupied territories in terms of budgeting, it did not interfere in their day to day operations.

5. Freedom of Religion. While Islam is the officially sanctioned religion, the Palestinian Basic Law provides for religious freedom, and respect of other monotheistic faiths. Six of the 88-seat Palestinian Legislative Council are reserved for Christians, while one goes to a Samaritan. The PA generally allows churches to operate without hindrance and run their own ecclesiastical courts to deal with personal status law cases. However, Muslim institutions and mosques receive preferential PA treatment in terms of the provision of financial support. Moreover, throughout the year there were several reports alleging that the PA failed to investigate cases of seizures of Christian-owned land by gangs, and physical attacks against Christians in Bethlehem. Other reports claim that PA officials might have been directly involved in Christian property expropriation.

In the past year, there have been reports—including the US Department of State Reportof a deterioration in the status of the Israeli Government's respect for religious freedom within the occupied territories. Israel's system of frequent security closures prevent Palestinians from reaching their places of worship, thus impeding their right to practice their faith. Such cases were especially noted in East Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, in which the holiest religious sites for both Christians and Muslims are located. The Israeli government claims that it restricts access to the Dome of the Rock—which Israel calls the Temple Mount for security reasons. In June 2004 it began escorting Jewish and Christian tourists to the site despite protests by the Palestinian Waqf (religious endowment) authorities. In addition, Israeli refusal to grant hundreds of clergy entry clearances to the occupied territories left many churches closed. Moreover, the Israeli government confiscated land belonging to religious institutions in Bethany to build its so-called “security wall.”
 

6. Women and the Marginalized. Palestinian women continue to face widespread institutional and social discrimination. There are very few women in high governmental decision-making positions. But a Ministry of Women was created by presidential decree in 2004 to support women’s rights. Women suffer from systemic domestic violence, marital rape and honor crimes. While no official statistics exist, studies conducted at Birzeit University claim that up to 43% of Palestinian women are victims of domestic violence. Human rights and women's groups claim that the incidence of violence has risen dramatically during 2004. There is no Palestinian law prohibiting and punishing domestic violence and conjugal rape. Personal status issues i.e. those dealing with divorce, inheritance and child custody for Palestinians, is governed by the religious law of each faith. While Muslim women have the right to include stipulations into their marriage contracts in order to guarantee their rights, only 1% of women exercise this right due to cultural impediments. Women's economic and social situations have deteriorated since the outbreak of the Intifada. Women's early marriages have risen by 79%, and the divorce rate rose by 40%. The percentage of women in the formal workforce has diminished to 4.11%. In October 2004, to the dismay of women's groups, the Palestinian parliament abolished the quota system which reserved a number of seats for women in the national parliament. Nonetheless, women were able to score modest victories in the municipal elections in the West Bank, held in December 2004. (as noted in sub-section no.1 above)