Israel, the occupying Power, has undertaken a variety of broad measures, effectively causing the destruction of the Palestinian economy. These measures include the following: strict financial regulations on all activities related to industry; closure or takeover of banks; imposition of taxes, levies & fines (in many cases tax assessments run higher than the annual revenues of a business); withdrawal of operating licenses and closure of farms and businesses; destruction of crops, industrial equipment and other property; stringent measures against agriculture and fishing, including the bulldozing of farmland, the uprooting of trees, and bans on fishing off the Gaza coast; restrictions on the movement of labor; tight controls on export and trade of Palestinian goods; regular and systematic closures of the Occupied Territory to both Israel and the outside world.
The West Bank and Gaza have been effectively transformed into "captive markets" for Israel, whereby Israeli products enter unencumbered by tariffs and customs and free from local or international competition. Local businesses are compelled to buy everything from Israel. The occupation also transformed Palestinian civilians into a pool of cheap labor for Israel and within a few years, a large segment of the Palestinian population became dependent on Israel for employment, mainly in menial labor and construction.
At the same time, the occupying Power, while placing heavy taxes upon the population, did not improve or maintain the infrastructure of the territories in return. The infrastructure was left to deteriorate and minimal municipal, social and health services were provided.
� Destruction of the Social Structure
The occupation thoroughly destroyed much of the Palestinian social structure and stifled any potential social development. In addition to the direct physical and psychological trauma inflicted on a large segment of the population, other harsh measures were also imposed. Communication with the outside world was severely restricted and the health situation deteriorated as a result of the constraints placed on the medical and public health sectors. The education system was brought under enormous pressure, including the closure of schools and universities for prolonged periods. The return of Palestinian displaced persons (those who fled during the 1967 war) has also been prevented by the occupying Power, as have most cases of family reunification.
All forms of civil liberties were forbidden and violations were severely punished under the occupation. Freedom of expression and assembly were banned and all media and press were censored. Forms of political expression, such as the printing of any document containing any political substance, were forbidden.
� Additional Measures in Jerusalem
Immediately following its occupation of the city, Israel, the occupying Power, took numerous measures to consolidate its control over East Jerusalem and judaize it. The Israeli government expanded the municipal borders of Jerusalem and extended its laws, jurisdiction and administration to East Jerusalem. On 30 July 1980, the Israeli Knesset adopted a law illegally annexing the city. Palestinian Jerusalemites were thus placed in a precarious legal situation, whereby they were issued different Israeli identity cards from other Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Although they did not become citizens, they became subject to Israeli law.
Israel, the occupying Power, has taken various measures to force Palestinians to leave Jerusalem, including land confiscation, restrictions on building, and the refusal to grant family reunifications. Most notable in the past several years has been Israel�s campaign of evicting Palestinian Jerusalemites from the city. The policy, described as "quiet deportation," involves, inter alia, the widespread confiscation of Palestinian identity cards and has escalated to the point that it is contributing to an additional change in the city�s demographic composition. Since 1967, more than 5,000 Palestinians have been stripped of their Jerusalem residency and forced to leave their homes. Of these, approximately 1,400 have been revoked since 1995, over 788 in 1998 alone.
Gradually, through the imposition of a permanent closure and numerous restrictions on entry, Jerusalem has become almost impossible to reach by the rest of the Palestinian population. The city has become off-limits in the last several years, a situation, which has created enormous social, economic, health and educational problems for the entire Palestinian population.
Given Jerusalem�s religious status, the closures have affected the freedom of religion of the civilian population as well. The closure of Jerusalem has prevented Christian and Muslim residents of the West Bank and Gaza from praying at their respective holy places, even during major holidays. Jerusalem�s holy places, moreover, have been constant targets by Israelis for desecration, destruction and transformation. The foundations of many Islamic holy sites have been threatened by Israeli archaeological excavations and the Temple Mount has been the site of numerous violent incidents that resulted in the loss of lives of many Muslim worshippers. The Al-Aqsa Mosque itself has been a target of attacks, such as the 21 August 1969 arson attack that caused extensive damage and destruction. In Al-Khalil, part of Al-Ibrahimi Mosque was transformed into an area for Jewish prayer and Palestinian worshippers have been restricted from praying at the site.
The above-mentioned systematic Israeli policies and measures have been continuously applied by the occupying Power against the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Territory, including Jerusalem, since 1967. The priorities given by Israel, the occupying Power, to those policies and practices and the efforts it took to carry them out have varied according to the different situations on the ground as well as to the overall political environment. For instance, illegal acquisition of land and or the transfer of Israeli population have not taken place with the same intensity throughout the whole period of the occupation.
Violence against civilians, collective punishments and deportation of civilians, while always common, dramatically intensified during the 7-year period of the Intifada, which started in December 1987. This intensification of highly repressive measures, labeled Israel�s "Iron Fist Policy," was aimed at crushing the uprising as quickly as possible and breaking the will of the people. The figures for this period include the following: over 1100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces, of which approximately 276 were children under the age of seventeen; over 80,000 Palestinians were seriously injured in the first two years alone; 23,000-29,000 children were seriously injured; 10,000 children under the age of 18 were imprisoned for prolonged periods of time; over 18,000 administrative detention orders were issued against Palestinian civilians; more than 75,000 civilians were detained; over 14,000 were placed under administrative detention (at one point, there were approximately 13, 000 Palestinians held in custody at one time); more than 2000 homes were demolished.
With the conclusion of the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements, and the partial redeployment of Israeli forces from some areas of the Occupied Territory, some of the above-mentioned direct repressive measures have been reduced, possibly due to the decrease in contact and friction between parts of the civilian population and the occupying army. However, Israel�s policies and measures related to settlement building, destruction of the economic and social structure, and Jerusalem have all increased substantially. The severe restrictions on the movement of persons and goods, often in the form of general closures, has become an issue of increasing concern during the past several years. All of these measure are also direct violations of the existing Palestinian-Israeli agreements concluded within the Middle East peace process.
