PWG Statement: Against Annexation
Statement of Solidarity: Against Continued Israeli Annexation of the West Bank
By: The Palestine Working Group
On July 1, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is set to begin - or rather, continue - the formal annexation of at least 30% of the West Bank under the Middle East Peace Plan. This plan was developed with input from the Trump Administration but without any input from the Palestinian Authority or the Palestinian people. Annexation is prohibited by international law. It will only perpetuate political and economic instability and facilitate systematic human rights violations, as well as further violations of the Geneva Conventions.
When formal annexation takes place this week, Palestinian communities living within annexed territories will legally become enclaves, subject to Israeli military rule but without any rights to citizenship. Lands that were purchased and homes that were built by Palestinians have already begun being taken away to make room for Israeli settlers, who are anticipated to occupy 85 percent of historical Palestine. Today, families will be uprooted. Livelihoods could be taken away entirely. We already know what this looks like; Israel has been gradually annexing Palestinian and Arab lands since - and even before - the Nakba 72 years ago. Palestinians currently living under illegal military occupation have been subject to separate and unequal political, legal, social, and economic rights based on their race and nationality. The continued existence of Israeli citizens alongside noncitizen Palestinians - both living under Israeli sovereignty - indisputably comprises an apartheid state that directly parallels South African apartheid.
The move will turn the remainder of the West Bank into a “Palestinian Bantustan,” completely surrounded by Israel and with no connection to the outside world, trapped in a surveilled system of checkpoints. In addition to being further denied access to basic services such as health care and education, Palestinians would have no control over water, air, security, and borders, and lack the political right to create alliances. They already have little to no access to most of the Jordan Valley, with more than 98 percent of building permits denied by Israeli officials. Moreover, according to Human Rights Watch, in 2019 alone, 705 checkpoints were set up across the West Bank by Israel, at least 3,221 Palestinians in the West Bank and 11,453 in Gaza were wounded by Israeli military forces, and 185 Palestinian children were arrested for minor infractions. Today, over 12,000 Palestinians remain internally displaced. The UN has also reported numerous other injustices against Palestinians including economic deprivation, food insecurity, forced evictions and displacement, labor exploitation (including child labor), and forced population transfer, which are all prohibited under the UN Apartheid Convention. Annexation would only increase the severity of these injustices.
Particularly during the current movement against racial injustice in the United States, we recognize that the human rights abuses of the Israeli government and military are far-reaching. Hundreds of law enforcement officials from Baltimore, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, and Washington have all received training in Israel. Thousands of others have been trained by Israeli officials here in the United States. Not surprisingly, many of the abuses documented in the United States are analogous to violations by Israeli forces.
In November 2019, the Columbia College Student Council approved a referendum to gauge student support over whether Columbia should divest from Israeli companies that profit from Israel’s violations of international law and of Palestinian human rights. In the past 5 years, Columbia’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ACSRI) has approved divestment from private prisons and thermal coal. We urge the SIPA student body to engage with the divestment campaign and learn more about divestment as a tactic for policy change. Undergraduates will be voting on the referendum in the fall.
As policy students, we have the responsibility to think critically and holistically about the role of our own countries’ governments in blatantly supporting annexation, remaining complicit, or refusing to publicly hold the Israeli government accountable, as well as to stand in solidarity with Palestinians. The United States has given billions of dollars to the Israeli military as “foreign aid,” taxpayer money that could go instead toward housing, education, or health care in the U.S. We must consider the ramifications of aid - where it goes and who it benefits - as discussions over conditioning aid to Israel arise nationally.
We also condemn the complicity of our own University, which maintains clear ties with Israel, through Columbia’s dual degree program with Tel Aviv University. Tel Aviv University currently refuses to release the body of Ahmed Erakat, the 27-year-old Palestinian shot and left to bleed out by the Israeli military at a checkpoint the day of his sister’s wedding; the corpses of many other Palestinians also remain at the Greenberg Institute of Tel Aviv University. Universities such as Brown University and the University of Johannesburg have recognized the ethical implications of these ties and chose to sever these relationships.
As more Palestinians will seek to pursue public policy to fight the injustices affecting their community, SIPA should embrace more Palestinian voices, including students and professors. We urge Columbia to extend opportunities to Palestinian refugees inside of the West Bank and Gaza and around the world, through programs such as the scholarship established for displaced students.
Please join the Palestine Working Group in standing as allies with the Palestinian community, as we condemn the injustice of annexation of Palestine, condemn the injustice of police and military abuses and occupation, and condemn the complicity of any individual or government against continued human rights violations. We condemn human rights violations, state-sanctioned violence, and breaches of international law around the world. Why is Palestine the exception?
In solidarity,
Action Items:
Day of Rage events against annexation: Attend one
Oppose annexation: Sign the petition to government officials worldwide and send a letter to Jewish-American progressive politicians
Thank U.S. opposition to annexation: Send a note to Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar, Grijalva, Jayapal, Pressley, Sanders, Carson, Davis, Garcia, Rush, and Velázquez.
Stop funding the Israeli military: Sign the petition to Congress
Justice for Ahmed Erakat: Sign the petition
Ask HP to stop providing services to Israel’s police: Sign the petition
The right to boycott: Sign the petition to Congress
Keep learning from and listening to Palestininian voices, and have those difficult conversations with your friends, peers, and families
Resources for humanitarian, medical, and legal support:
Please donate, promote, and share the work that is being done to help address these issues. There are many organizations at the forefront, but here are a few to begin:
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP): medical aid for Palestinian children.
Al-Haq: Palestinian NGO engaged in advocacy on human rights and the law (Twitter: @alhaq_org)
Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel: legal center for fighting for Palestinian rights in Israel
Adalah Justice Project: Palestinian advocacy organization highlighting the experiences of Palestinians and offering human rights-based solutions (Instagram: @adalahjusticeproject)
Ma’an development Center: humanitarian and development work in Area C of the West Bank and Gaza
Addameer: Palestinian NGO fighting for the rights of Palestinian political prisoners (Twitter: @Addameer)
UNRWA: UN agency providing humanitarian assistance and advocacy for Palestine refugees (Instagram: @unrwa and @unrwausa)
Palestine Legal: supporting the civil rights of people who speak out on Palestine in the U.S.