Israeli De-Development of Occupied Palestine

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

A new UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report strongly criticized Israeli "de-development" of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza - the deplorable legacy of 50 years of occupation harshness, persecuting, brutalizing and exploiting beleaguered Palestinians.

Longstanding poverty and unemployment persist at levels worse than America's Great Depression, UNCTAD saying "2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; the longest occupation in recent history." 

"For the Palestinian people, these were five decades of de-development, suppressed human potential and denial of the basic human right to development, with no end in sight."

"Instead of the hoped-for two-State solution…occupation is currently even more entrenched, while its complex socioeconomic toll has worsened over time."

Gaza has been especially hard-hit, its GDP 23% below 1995 levels, a near-generation of extreme de-development.

UNCTAD accused Israel of "suppress(ing) (Palestinian) development and den(ying) (their) right to development…"

Deplorable conditions are worsening, not improving, Netanyahu unrestrained to do what he pleases with US Ziofascists in charge, the world community failing to support Palestinian rights, including the UN.

Critical world body reports and other condemnation of Israeli ruthlessness are meaningless without action to back up remarks with responsible policies.

Settlement construction continues unabated on stolen Palestinian land, accelerated since Trump's inauguration. Gaza remains blockaded under siege, its residents suffocating from Israeli harshness.

Over 650,000 settlers live illegally on Palestinian land, encroaching on more daily. Israel ignored Security Council Resolution 2334 (December 2016), affirming the illegality of settlements.

Washington abstained. SC members did nothing to enforce its own mandate or condemn ongoing Israeli state terror against defenseless Palestinians.

Soldiers rampage daily through multiple West Bank and East Jerusalem Palestinian communities - terrorizing families, kidnapping targeted individuals, treating children like adults, calling self-defense against Israeli ruthlessness terrorism.

Factors mainly responsible for Palestinian de-development include Washington's one-sided support for Israel, its contempt for Palestinian rights, militarized rule, "continuing loss of land and natural resources to settlements…annexation of land in the West Bank," along with isolating Palestinian communities, imposing import restrictions, and other harshness.

Half a century of occupation harshness, supported by PA collaborators, crippled Palestinians politically and economically.

World community failure to support their rights lets Israel violate them viciously with impunity.

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