Fact Sheet

This background paper explores the multifaceted challenges facing the education and healthcare systems in Jerusalem, particularly within the Palestinian communities of East Jerusalem, both before and after the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. It examines the Israeli government’s educational policies, which seek to integrate East Jerusalem schools into the Israeli state framework by promoting the Israeli curriculum.

Salfit comes from Canaanite words meaning “box of grapes” a testament to the grape vines that can still be found throughout the region.3 Eighty percent of the governorate is agricultural land resulting in a heavy reliance on agriculture and Salfit is the top producer of olive oil in Palestine, producing 1500 tons a year.4 Other regional produce includes delicious grapes, figs, citrus fruits, and apples. Outside of agriculture, the region is also a major producer of stones and marble used in construction.

On June 3 2002, the Israeli cabinet headed by Ariel Sharon approved the finalproposalsfor the construction of an Apartheid Wall on Palestinian lands. The approval of the Wall facilitated the implementation of the Occupation’s unilateral “disengagement” plan, which began in February 2005.

The city of Nablus was founded in 72 CE by the Romans. During the subsequent Ottoman rule, the citywas named “Little Damascus” and visitors to the town can still detect some of the strong pan-Arab roots on which this association is based. In the 19th century, the city became a major industrial center for olive oil and cotton processing. The town’s historic old city includes nine historic mosques, 18 Islamic monuments, an Ayyubid mausoleum and a 17th-century church, as well as Ottoman-era palaces and Turkish baths.

HEBRON FRAGMENTATION, SEGREGATION AND FORCED DISPLACEMENT
DESTROYED FROM WITHIN

Bethlehem is one of the main spiritual, cultural and economic centers of Palestinian life. It is a city of historical and religious significance,withpilgrims arriving from around the world to pay their spiritual respects at the many religious sites in the area.

Today Israeli-only roads across the West Bank have become a defining feature of the apartheid policies implemented by Israel in the Palestinian territories. In addition to violating Palestinians’ freedom of movement and access, with serious repercussions for health, education and livelihoods, the apartheid roads have consolidated and strengthened the presence of Israeli colonies across the West Bank, ensuring superior access for settlers at the expense of the indigenous Palestinians.

As a result of Israel’s apartheid wall, the Jerusalem district has suffered immeasurable loss. In a stormy afternoon, Haj Tawfik Nabeli, Bir Nabala’s head of counsel, explained impacts of the wall as we were surveying the damage in the area. Bir Nabala is one of Jerusalem’s many Palestinian neighborhoods isolated from the rest of the city by 181 km of the eight-meter high concrete Wall that is, in Nabeli’s words, “affecting every single aspect of life.”

It would have been very easy for the village of Wadi Fukin to have been erased. Caught in firefightsalongthearmis�celinebetween Israel and Jordan1, the village was twice demolished and in 1954, its residents forced out to Dheisheh refugee camp in nearby Bethlehem.

The chronic electricity deficit affecting Gaza over the past few years has disrupted the delivery of basic services and undermined already vulnerable livelihoods and living conditions. Since February 2012, the situation has further deteriorated following a sharp decline in the amount of fuel unofficially brought into Gaza from Egypt, via the tunnels, and used to operate the GPP.