What is Occupation?
Palestine has been under occuputaion since 1967. That’s why it is called the “occupied territories of Palestine.” Some may refer to it as “disputed,” but in the eyes of international law, there is no dispute. The land is occupied. Even with it’s own “authority,” Palestine and the people who live there are under occupation.
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| A Palestinian flag is attached to barbed wire in front of the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank in 2010. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA/Corbis |
People who live on land that is occupied and in its villages and cities have very little rights. The right of movement is limited, especially when walls are built around you and military highways carve up what’s left. Fresh water is unpredictable, because you don’t control it.
Christian families who live a few miles from Jerusalem, can’t celebrate Easter there because of limited travel rights through the territories and land that is controlled by the occupying power.
People are imprisoned for months without a trial, and with very little contact with a lawyer or family. Getting from point A to point B that should take 10 minutes, often times takes an hour or more due to security wall check points, congestion and humiliation tactics of the occupying power.
In his article, Welcome To Palestine, published in The Guardian in July 2011, U.S. Citizen and Palestine resident Sam Bahour writes: “Palestinians have globally touted an array of rights that Israel systematically denies. There is the right of return, the right of freedom of movement, the right to water, the right to education, the right to enter(not to be confused with refugees’ right to return) and so on.
