Living conditions of the Palestinian people – SecGen report

DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION

Living conditions of the Palestinian people

in the occupied Arab territories

Report of the Secretary-General

1. In its resolution 34/113 of 14 December 1979, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the relevant United Nations organs and specialized agencies, particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Economic Commission for Western Asia (ECWA) and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, to prepare and submit to the Assembly at its thirty-fifth session a comprehensive and analytical report on the social and economic impact of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Arab territories.

2. The resolution had basically the same scope as General Assembly resolutions 31/110 of 16 December 1976, 32/171 of 19 December 1977 and 33/110 of 18 December 1978 on the same subject. Pursuant to resolution 31/110, the Secretary-General submitted a report (A/32/228) to the Assembly at its thirty-second session; pursuant to resolution 32/171, he submitted a second report (A/33/354) to the Assembly at its thirty-third session; and pursuant to resolution 33/110, he submitted a further report (A/34/536 and Corr.1) to the Assembly at its thirty-fourth session.

3. In submitting the above reports, the representatives of the Secretary-General explained that, because the Secretary-General had no independent sources of information, the reports had, of necessity, to consist of replies and pertinent excerpts from documentary material submitted by the Governments of Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the relevant United Nations organs and specialized agencies, in response to the Secretary-General's request for information on the subject-matter of the report.

4. At the thirty-fourth session, after considering the Secretary-General's report (A/34/536 and Corr.1), the General Assembly in paragraph 1 of its resolution 34/113 expressed the view that although the report contained many relevant facts, it was not sufficiently analytical. Accordingly in paragraph 2 of the same resolution, the Assembly requested the Secretary-General, inter alia, to prepare and submit to the Assembly at its thirty-fifth session the comprehensive and analytical report on the social and economic impact of living conditions of the Palestinian people referred to in paragraph 1 above. All States were urged to co-operate with the Secretary-General in the preparation of the report.

5. So as to enable the Secretary-General to prepare and submit to the thirty-fifth  session of the General Assembly the required "comprehensive and analytical report", and in an effort to ensure a balanced and objective expert view, the Secretary-General used the services of three experts. Their names and a description of their  backgrounds are given in annex II below.

6. The experts were to prepare the report on the basis of material available from the United Nations and its subsidiary bodies and from the specialized agencies, and other published and unpublished literature pertaining to the subject. They were also to gather information through visits to Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and the occupied territories and through discussions with government officials and others, as well as with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

7. As permission to visit the occupied territories had not been granted by the Government of Israel, the experts, in preparing their report, had to rely on secondary sources of information, particularly the reports of missions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) that had visited the territories, reports published by the Palestine Liberation Organization, a report furnished by the Government of Israel and, as suggested by that Government in its note verbale dated 18 March 1980, "… information published by journalists, scholars, scientists, clergymen and tourists who have visited the territories".  Relevant information was also received from the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic.

8. The question of the living conditions of the Palestinian people has been a matter of concern in many intergovernmental bodies and subsidiary organs of the United Nations, for example the Committee on the Exercise of the inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the Commission on Human Rights, the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories and the Security Council, to mention some. Because of the considerable volume of material available in the United Nations, as well as other published material in books, periodicals, journals and the press, it was agreed that one expert would remain in New York to carry out the extensive research required and the other two experts would go on mission to gather information from United Nations organs and the specialized agencies in Europe and the Middle East and would visit Egypt, Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic and the headquarters and units of the Palestinian Liberation Organization at Damascus and Beirut.

9. The two experts left on mission early in April 1980. They visited the  headquarters of UNESCO in Paris and of the ILO and WHO at Geneva. In Egypt,  Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, they held discussions with senior government officials dealing with matters related to the occupied territories, with Palestinian refugees living in those countries, with persons deported from the occupied territories and with residents of the occupied territories visiting those countries, as well as with recent visitors to the occupied territories. They also held discussions with United Nations officials stationed in those countries. The experts visited various academic and research institutions in the three countries in order to collect from them and from government sources as much data and published material as possible pertaining to conditions in the occupied territories and in the three countries visited.

10.  In Lebanon, the experts visited and had extensive discussions with officials from ECWA, UNRWA and UNESCO, as well as with several departments and leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Institute of Palestine Studies. On the way back, they visited UNRWA headquarters at Vienna, and at Geneva they held extensive discussions with the office of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories.

11. The two experts returned to United Nations Headquarters in mid-May 1980 to draft the report with the expert who had remained in New York. The principal documents consulted are listed in annex III below.

12. The report prepared by the experts is reproduced as annex I below.

ANNEX I

Report of the Group of Experts on the Social and Economic Impact 

of the Israeli Occupation on the Living Conditions of the 

Palestinian People in the Occupied Arab Territories 

CONTENTS

I.  INTRODUCTION

1. The previous report, submitted to the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth session (A/34/536 and Corr.1), contained information on population and housing, health, natural resources – land and water, employment and conditions of school buildings. During the consideration of that report in the Second Committee, observations were made on various points, including the need for more details on the living conditions of the people in the occupied territories and further analysis of those conditions.

2. The experts have interpreted the request to the Secretary-General in resolution 34/113 for a comprehensive and analytical report to mean the consideration of a broader range of conditions in the occupied territories, which determine the quality of life of the Arab population in the towns and villages of the occupied territories. Section II of this report, summarizing the findings of the Group of Experts therefore relates to some of these conditions, particularly the pattern of trade and investment, which often determines the road and communications networks among the settlements and the economic, social and physical infrastructure that binds them together. Land and water are important determinants of the location of human settlements, while the agricultural and industrial activities often provide the stimulus for the growth and development of human settlements and hierarchical interconnections among them. The composition of the population, its social characteristics and employment pattern, provide the dynamics of improved living conditions in terms of consumption of goods and services and satisfaction of human needs in the context of human settlements. Section III of the report examines in more detail the human settlements system in the occupied territories, including conditions of housing and infrastructure, impact of the new Jewish settlements, and health, educational and social welfare services in the framework of human settlements.

3. Following the June 1967 war, Israel occupied the following territories: the West Rank of the River Jordan, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai and the Golan Heights. Most of the literature and economic and social data available refer to the Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai, and the West Bank excluding East Jerusalem.1/ Consequently, this report is largely confined to the above two areas. The data given in the appendices are not complete, because they do not include East Jerusalem.

II.  BRIEF SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

4. In the broad context of the recommendations for national action contained in the report of Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held at Vancouver in 1976,2/ it would appear that:

(a) There is no human settlements policy that has been adopted for the  occupied territories to ensure a rational distribution of the Palestinian people based on social and economic considerations; rather, any policy that does exist for settlements in the territories is confined to the new Jewish settlements that are being established;

(b) The absence of a policy for the development of human settlements in the occupied territories is a consequence of the lack of an over-all economic and social development policy and planning for the occupied territories, which could ensure an equitable allocation of conventional resources to the improvement of human settlements;

(c) The insecurity that pervades the issue of land ownership and tenure, both private and communal, has been a deterrent to the improvement of the environment of human settlements in the occupied territories, in particular, the rural settlements which in the West Bank provide shelter for approximately 70 per cent of the population.

5. As will be seen from the examination of human settlement in the occupied territories in section III below,3/ very little planning, if any at all, has been devoted to the resettlement of the refugees in the West Bank, who constitute 46 per cent of the population. No public housing seems to have been initiated commensurate with the magnitude of the need. In the Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai,3/ the occupying authorities have a policy for resettlement of the refugees, yet only a fraction of those refugees have been provided with housing units. There is little documented information on assistance to people in housing, except in the Gaza Strip, where plots prepared for building are made available to refugees, with cash grants for families to build their own homes. Few, however, have made use of this facility.4/  No such information is available for the West Bank to indicate assistance to individuals or housing co-operatives or other non-governmental agencies; nor is information readily available on funds from outside sources which are channelled into housing or the improvement of community facilities.

6. As regards housing in general, both in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank there is much overcrowding in the dwelling units, to a much higher degree than what is regarded as an acceptable level of accommodation. This condition of overcrowding seems to be worse in the rural areas and refugee camps than in the towns.

7. As mentioned in the previous report, in 1967 the infrastructure (roads, sewerage, electricity etc.) in the occupied territories was better than that of most countries in the region (A/34/536 and Corr.1, para. 31). Over the years, the occupied territories have witnessed a deterioration of this infrastructure, as very little has been done either to improve or maintain it. Instead, new networks have been established to serve and strengthen the military, economic and security links with Israel, often to the detriment of the existing Arab settlements. The development of the physical environment and infrastructure of the occupied territories to meet the needs of the new Jewish settlements has diverted resources – physical, natural and financial – from improving the environment of the settlements populated by the Palestinian people.

8. The appropriation by the occupying power of over a quarter of the land, both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, has meant that less of this resource is available for use by the Palestinian people for their housing and agricultural needs. Similarly, the diversion of water for the needs of the new Jewish settlements has adversely affected the traditional habitat of the Palestinian people. The destruction of houses for military and security reasons and the lack of water resources for consumption and production purposes have forced many people to abandon their original land and homes, move into overcrowded conditions of existing settlements and seek a living as unskilled labour in the occupied territories or in Israel. A consequence of this enforced movement has been that the abandoned land is appropriated by the occupying authority under an existing law relating to absentee proprietorship.

9. As regards services, it would appear that environmental health services have not improved commensurate with population increase. A consequence has been that gastro- intestinal diseases have become a major cause of morbidity and mortality.  The incidence of these diseases has also been increasing in the Arab rural settlements, no doubt owing to inadequate potable water and sewerage systems.

10. According to the report of the WHO mission which visited the territories from 7 to 21 April 1980,5/ while immunization programmes appear to have satisfactory coverage, certain preventive measures in the field of maternal and child health, decided upon following the visit of a WHO specialist, did not seem to be reflected at the level of the various units. Preventive activities and health checks for school children and workers remain weak and in many instances are non-existent.  Health education and public information on health problems do not appear to be well developed.

11. Health activities are based on short-term planning without an adequate data base for determining the utilization of services, the attitudes of physicians or of the population or for analysing felt needs in relation to the needs as determined by the doctors. The level of participation of the community in the public health field is very limited and in some places non-existent.

12. As will be seen from the paragraphs dealing with health in section III below, there is a significant variance in the data available from different sources with regard to health services in the occupied territories. The WHO mission found inadequacies, particularly in X-ray and other diagnostic services; there had been no significant change in the number of hospitals and beds since 1967. As regards medical care, the ratio of population to physicians is considerably higher than in the neighbouring countries.

13. As regards educational services, one significant development has been the establishment of three universities in the West Bank and one in the Gaza Strip, which are private institutions. The experts on mission were told by officials and representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization that they existed and functioned not because of any assistance given by the occupying power but in spite of discouragement and harassment. There had been an increase in the number of other educational institutions both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and enrolment had also increased significantly. However, the political climate and actions of the occupying authorities have not been conducive to providing a learning environment free from a sense of insecurity among both teachers and students.

14. In the delivery of social welfare services, the occupying authorities have made them more accessible to the recipients by increasing the number of welfare bureaux and social workers. The number of recipients of services, particularly financial assistance, has decreased considerably, partly because of the high level of employment existing in the occupied territories and partly because of the rehabilitative services introduced by the occupying authorities with financial resources made available by international organizations. A number of local welfare organizations are also involved in delivering services, although it is not clear what the relationship is between them and the administering authority, or what professional and financial support, if any, they get from the authorities.

A. Demographic characteristics 

15. At the end of 1977, the population of the West Bank was 681,200 with a natural increase of 20.5 per 1,000, an actual increase of 10.3 per 1,000 and a net migration rate of -10.2 per 1,000.6/ Of this population, 317,614 were registered as refugees with UNRWA, 82,464 of them living in 20 camps, leaving 598,736 inhabitants (some of whom were unregistered refugees) living in the towns and villages of the West Bank.7/  The population of the Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai was 441,300, with a natural increase of 15.3 per

1,000,  an  actual increase of 12.3 per 1,000 and a net migration of -3.0 per 1,000 in 1977.8/  Of these, 363,000 were registered as refugees with UNRWA, 202,941 of them living in eight camps.8/ The breakdown of the population by age groups was as follows:

As will be seen from the above, almost half the population was less than 14 years old, a fact which has a bearing on the health and educational services.

B.  Political and administrative framework 

16. As occupied territories, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are subjected to the political will of the occupying authorities without any mechanisms for the people of the territories to influence basic policy decisions. The territories are governed under a military administration. Over-all policy is determined by the Israeli Prime Minister and the Cabinet. In practice, however, the Ministry of Defence plays the most important role in making and executing policy affecting the occupied territories.

17. These occupied areas are divided into districts, each headed by a military governor who is responsible to the military commander. The military governor is assisted by personnel recruited from the various government ministries, including health, education, agriculture, labour, trade and tourism, social welfare and justice, and he also has advisers from both the police and foreign affairs ministries. The budget for the occupied territories is controlled by the military governors.

18. The municipalities in the territories are responsible for local affairs except police functions. They are subject to the over-all authority of the military on matters which affect Israeli national security and public peace, although instances are not lacking where approval of the military has to be obtained beforehand for land use and investments, even when the funding has been assured by outside sources. The second municipal elections since the occupation – the first being in 1972 – were held in 22 of the 24 West Bank towns; in the other two the number of candidates was equal to the number of seats available. Supporters of the Palestine Liberation Organization won sweeping victories in the elections. The majority of the candidates belonged to the two main groups; the National Front, which supports the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the United Front, which is more traditional. Of those elected, 148 were elected for the first time and only 48 had been re-elected. Completely new councils were elected in Nablus, Hebron, Jericho, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, where the National Front gained control of previously conservative councils. The pro-Palestine Liberation Organization mayors and councillors of Ramalla, Al-Beira and Tulkarm were re-elected with increased majorities.

19. The West Bank elections had been conducted under the terms of a 1955 Jordanian law specifying that municipal elections should be held every four years.  Under the Jordanian law, there was no direct balloting for the post of mayor, and the Interior Minister selected the mayor after the municipal elections. After the 1972 elections in the West Bank, the Israeli Military Governor permitted the councils to nominate their mayors. A similar procedure was followed in the 1976 elections. The former Jordanian law was amended to permit women to vote and to stand for office for the first time.9/

20. The military authorities had informed candidates to the municipal elections that political propaganda could not be resorted to in election campaigns. In El Bireh, the central printing house was reported to have been closed down by the military for having printed campaign leaflets. In Bethlehem, the holding of an election meeting in a public place was banned by the authorities.10/

21. On 30 April 1976, Ha'aretz reported an article by Y. Litani, who enumerated several instances of interference by Israeli authorities, such as pressure for some candidates to run in the elections, attempts to persuade some mayors to accept an agreed list of candidates and the expulsion of some candidates standing for election.

C.  Economic framework 

22. Following their occupation in June 1967, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were drawn progressively into a state of interdependency with the Israeli economy, which has important implications for their long-term growth and development. From a position where there were absolutely no trade or financial connexions prior to June 1967, these territories found themselves by 1977 exporting 61 per cent of their products to Israel and importing 91.1 per cent of their requirements. The change in the composition in foreign trade can be seen from appendix I below. In relative terms, the exports to Jordan fell from 43.2 per cent of the value of all exports in 1968 to 33.5 of the value of exports in 1977, while at the same time the exports to Israel rose from 44 per cent of the value of all exports in 1968 to 61.1 per cent in 1977. A similar change can be discerned in the case of imports. In relative terms, imports from Jordan decreased from 7.3 per cent of the value of total imports in 1968 to an insignificant 0.9 per cent in 1977, while the value of imports from Israel increased during the same period from 76.8 per cent to 91.1 per cent of the value of imports.

23. It should be noted that the exports to Israel included those for re-export. According to information obtained from some Gaza businessmen interviewed by the experts in Cairo and confirmed by representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization, direct exports of products overseas from the occupied territories are not allowed by the occupying authorities and all such exports have to be channelled through Israeli trade organizations.

24. Israel's domination of the import trade is clearly indicated by the data. Most, if not all, of the imports are Israeli manufactured goods, which have found a rising demand in the occupied territories because of growth in incomes – both local as well as through the labour employed in Israel – and remittances from abroad. With the exception of imports from Jordan, all overseas imports to the occupied territories have to come through the Israeli market. Imports from Jordan have registered a relative decline because of the application of Israeli import tariffs to goods from that country. Considering that the occupied territories are the second largest trading partner with Israel, next to the United States of America, the near monopolistic role that Israel industrial products have in the markets of the occupied territories, the lack of any serious competition from locally manufactured products and the steady source of relatively cheap semi-skilled and unskilled labour for economic activities in Israel, there is every reason to believe that the maintenance of these trading links with the occupied territories is extremely important for the Israeli economy.

25. This point was repeatedly stressed to the experts on mission by the officials of the Arab Governments and the representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization. In their opinion, the current trading pattern is an inhibiting factor in the growth and development of the occupied territories. The production of these territories, as well as the physical and economic infrastructure necessary for such production, are geared towards the needs and requirements of the Israeli economy. The inhabitants of the occupied territories are denied the opportunity to establish overseas markets for their products and to meet their import requirements directly from overseas sources. Furthermore, they are unable to compete in world markets under their own identity. The present conditions militate against the development of an indigenous industrial base which will serve the needs of the local economy, as well as export needs, and to provide employment to those who are now compelled to seek employment in Israel and other countries – a large resource of manpower which cannot be used for the development of the occupied countries themselves. The occupied territories are seen as providing a captive market for Israeli goods and services.

26. The experts were informed by officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization that the occupied territories lacked the financial infrastructure to mobilize savings and provide funds for investment in productive enterprises and for capital formation. The branches of Israeli banks that had replaced the Jordanian and foreign banks in the West Bank after the June 1967 war did not command the same measure of confidence of the savers and investors in the occupied territories. Credit obtained from the banks, which is rather limited and high-cost, is usually for operating expenses. Little is used for capital investment, which is usually financed from the current earnings of enterprises or from remittances from abroad. Most of the investment is private, particularly in dwellings, some of which are constructed by individuals and others by housing co-operatives, which sometimes receive funds from Arab sources abroad. Funds from neighbouring Arab countries are also made available through various unofficial channels, the most recent case being the support given the West Bank. These funds are administered by the municipalities. However, various delays and difficulties are encountered in realizing these investments, not the least of which is approval from the administering authorities. Sometimes this approval is withheld and the projects cannot be carried out. One instance in which such approval was withheld was reported to the mission by the Mayor of Halhul, who stated that he was refused permission to build a market after a site had been obtained and all architectural and engineering designs completed and funds obligated from abroad. The current situation and uncertainties about the future exert a strong influence on private and public investment decisions.

27. The municipalities continue to make public investments in the form of municipal establishments, roads, markets and other constructions. As shown in appendix II below, these investments amounted to £I 223,436,000 in 1978-1979. They were financed from loans from the administration and from the financial resources of the local inhabitants.

28. Information on public investments is however not readily available in the absence of the capital budgets for the occupied territories.

1.  Land 

29. The total land area of the occupied territories is given as approximately 5,939,000 dunums, of which 5,572,000 are in the West Bank and 367,000 in the Gaza Strip. Of this, an area of 2,840,000 dunums had been under cultivation in 1967,11/ but this had declined to 2,140,000 dunums by 1974, or 75 per cent of the land cultivated in 1967.12/  The reasons for this decline are not discussed in the Israeli publications available to the mission but in its discussions with officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization and officials of the Governments of neighbouring Arab countries the experts were told that the decline was due to three main factors. First, large areas had been declared "closed" areas and put out of production for security reasons. Secondly, large areas of land had been appropriated by the occupying power for the establishment of new Jewish settlements. Thirdly, many farmers had been compelled to abandon their land because of difficulties and impediments, which all but made it impossible for them to continue to cultivate the land. Accurate figures are hard to come by, as these have not been made public and, furthermore, the interpretation of the legal status of some lands is still in dispute. However, it is estimated that by September 1979 the occupying authorities had taken possession of approximately 1.5 million dunums in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, equivalent to approximately 25 per cent of the total area (A/34/631, para. 105).

30. The impact of Israeli occupation on the question of land in the occupied territories and its role in meeting the economic and social needs of the people have five important implications: (a) a sense of insecurity in the possession of the land; (b) a lack of motivation to make long-term investments in the land, arising out of the sense of insecurity; (c) fragmentation of holdings because of the increase of population and decrease in the quantum of land available for cultivation, as well as for shelter, due to appropriation by the occupying power; (d) unfair competition from Israeli subsidized agricultural products, compelling many Palestinians to abandon farming; and (e) the restrictions placed by the authorities on the exploitation of water resources for irrigation by Palestinian Arabs.

31. The mission found that the sense of insecurity stemmed from the various laws and regulations applied by the occupying authorities for requisitioning land, the most important of which were: the Ottoman Empire laws of 1858, governing State land which had been sanctioned by the Mandatory Power but returned to miri status by the Jordanian authorities; article 125 of the Emergency Ordinances of 1945, enacted by the Mandatory Power, which enabled the authority to consider some areas "closed" for security reasons; the Israeli Absentee Proprietors Law of 1950, and compulsory purchase. Because land can be taken away from the owners under any one of the above laws or the regulations framed under them, there has been no motivation for investment to improve either productivity or shelter, or the infrastructure of settlements.

2.  Water 

32. The question of water both for agricultural and domestic purposes is the most difficult to resolve, inasmuch as Israel and the occupied territories constitute a single natural and geological region for water collection and flows. The question is compounded by the fact that the Palestinians are not involved in the decisions affecting the use of water in the territories.

33. The region has only two, rather scarce, permanent sources of water: (a) the Jordan river and its tributary system, which can provide for about 1,500,000 dunums of irrigated land; and (b) the subterranean aquifer, which at present is providing 100 million cubic metres annually to the West Bank and 500 million cubic metres annually to Israel. In the coastal plains the over-exploited aquifer provides the Gaza Strip agriculture with 100 million cubic metres.13/

34. Tahal, Water Planning for Israel Ltd. gives the following as the quantity of water which can become available for Israel:

35. The latest data on water consumption in Israel are given in appendix III below. Two important considerations arise from that data. First, since 1969, Israel has been using more than 83 per cent of its proved renewable water reserves. The average of use from that year to 1977 is 89 per cent, with a variability of less than 5 per cent, which indicates a fairly stable level. This, together with the high variability of rains in the region, which can reach 23 per cent or more, shows that the balance of water in the region is very precarious and may have reached a critical point.

36. Secondly, since 1969, Israel's total consumption of water in domestic and industrial uses exceeded the 300 million cubic metres allotted in the master plan, a situation that can only become worse with time, in so far as use increases with the increase in population. This is borne out by a statement in the Encyclopaedia Judaica, as follows: "Between 1949 and 1968 the utilization of proven water resources rose from 17 per cent, mainly from local ground water, to almost 90 per cent (including the utilization of the Yarkon and Jordan rivers)."

37. The following table gives some indication of the enormous difference between water consumption levels in Israel and the West Bank:

Appraisal of Water Consumption in the West Bank and Israel 

(Millions of cubic metres)

Sources: For Israel, KIDMA: Israel Journal of Development, No. 10 (1977); for the West Bank, Palestine National Fund, "Water resources and policies in the West Bank" (n.d.), p. 4.

It will be noted from the above table that the Israeli consumption of water for agricultural purposes alone is more than 13 times the total consumption in the West Bank and for domestic purposes and industry it is almost 40 times that of the West Bank. The mission was told that the Israeli authorities had taken a number of steps to ensure that the consumption of water by the Palestinians was kept at those low levels, while the consumption by Israeli settlements and agriculture was allowed to rise. The following are examples of actions taken to restrict water use by the Palestinians in the occupied territories:

The installation of meters at well-heads to limit the amount of water that can be drawn and the imposition of fines for exceeding the limits imposed;

     The non-issuance of permits to Palestinians for digging new wells for agricultural purposes in the occupied territories while several new wells have been dug to provide new Jewish settlements and farms with water;

The digging of deep wells by the Israelis near functioning Arab wells and the use of powerful pumping equipment, resulting in a severe reduction of the water discharge from the old Arab wells or, in some cases, a complete drying up of these wells.

D.  Agriculture and industry in the context of human 

  settlements growth and development 

38. Agriculture was and continues to be the main productive sector in the economy of the occupied territories. Although employment in this sector has been falling since 1970, it still employed, in 1977, 43,157 out of a total of 141,500 employed in the territories, or 30.5 per cent. 14 According to an Israeli Government report, agriculture in the occupied territories was in a backward state prior to the 1967 war.15/  Immediately after the occupation, the authorities introduced a range of technological innovations to raise output and increase productivity, and incomes in this sector. Considerations behind these actions included the expansion of markets for Israeli agro-industrial production inputs and the development of products which were complementary to, rather than competitive with, agricultural products produced in Israel. The product mix was also changed to encourage the production of crops for import substitution, as well as for producing inputs for Israeli processing plants, which then exported the finished product. The Israeli Government report acknowledges that the effect of these changes has been to link agriculture in the occupied territories more closely to the Israeli economy.16/  Officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization and residents of the occupied territories interviewed in Egypt and Jordan point out that, in seeking to forge a close link between agriculture in the occupied territories and the Israeli economy, the Israelis have taken actions to discourage the production of certain traditional crops when these would compete with similar products from Israel.  Examples of such actions include restrictions placed on the use of water for irrigation purposes by farmers producing competing agricultural products and the dumping of lower priced products on the markets of the occupied territories, thus compelling the inhabitants of the latter to sell their produce below cost. As a result of these and similar actions, many farmers have had to abandon their traditional means of livelihood and put themselves out as hired labour in Israel.  Thus, the transformation of agriculture that has taken place essentially serves the interests of the Israeli economy and has not contributed to the over-all development of the occupied territories. It is also the view of those interviewed that the prospects for real agricultural development to serve the interests of the inhabitants of the occupied territories are hampered by the absence of any long-term development plan and particularly one for the agricultural sector.

39. Industry in the occupied territories can be described as relatively undeveloped. Its composition and contribution to the national product have not changed much since before the June 1967 war. In 1968 it employed 19,700 persons, or 15.4 per cent of those employed, while in January-September 1979, it employed 22,800, or 16.1 per cent of those employed.17/  Its contribution to the national product has remained at around 7 per cent. Its activities are largely confined to craft work in low-productivity, labour-intensive operations, except for beverages and tobacco manufacture. Manufacturing plants are small and employ 10 persons on the average, and most of the work is performed manually. There are only seven enterprises employing 100 or more persons, all in the West Bank and none in the Gaza Strip. All these "large" firms had been established before 1967.

40. In the West Bank, the main industrial branch in terms of revenue earned in 1977 was food, beverages and tobacco, followed by textiles and clothes, rubber, plastics and chemical products. There has been an expansion of production in textiles, plastics and rubber, furniture and building materials, mainly owing to a system of subcontracting by Israeli firms.

41. In the Gaza Strip, the establishment of an industrial zone at the Erez Checkpoint near Gaza has been a significant development. Most of the plants are owned by Israelis, and they produce mainly metal goods, textiles, and wood and rubber products. The zone provides employment for a sizeable number of Gaza Strip residents.

42. Apart from the local demand, industry in these territories is geared to Israeli demand, and this has been selective. The major items produced or processed for the Israeli market are: clothing (subcontracts), wood products, wicker and other types of furniture, woven textiles (carpets), plastic goods and building materials.

43. The lack of appropriate natural resources or a traditional branch or skills in manufacturing in these territories points to the need for an agricultural oriented industry, both as an input provider and raw material processor. However, the potential for even such industrial development in the occupied territories is clearly limited because of the more efficient and technologically advanced industrial production system of Israel, which has a near monopolistic advantage in the markets of the occupied territories.18/

44. Construction activity is generally an index of capital formation. Unfortunately, not much information is available on this sector in the published material concerning the occupied territories. The data available pertain only to building, both in the annual statistical abstracts and the report furnished by the Government of Israel. The data are given in appendix V below. It would appear that most of the building construction has occurred in the private sector both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, much of it in residential building. There has been a negligible amount of public residential building in the West Bank, while the data for the Gaza Strip would reflect the housing that was being constructed for the refugees.

45. Another indicator of capital formation is the investment made by the municipalities in improving the infrastructure and community facilities. The data available are given in appendix II below. The figures for 1978/79 show a considerable increase over those for 1976/77. This is an outcome of a policy of the Arab League to promote "twinning" of cities in the Gulf and other Arab States and those in the occupied territories. Beginning in late 1976, the mayors, sometimes along with delegations, from Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem, Gaza and Qalqiliya, among others, visited the neighbouring Arab States to secure resources to improve community facilities in their towns. Negotiations for such grants and loans are subject to prior approval of the occupying authorities in respect of the specific projects for which funds are sought and close supervision in the utilization of such funds.

E.  Macro-economic indicators 

46. According to the Israeli Government report,19/ the gross national product in the occupied territories increased at an average annual rate of about 13 per cent in real terms since the occupation, while gross national product per capita increased at an average annual rate of 11 per cent in real terms during the same period. While over-all private consumption increased at an average annual rate of 9 per cent in real terms, private consumption per capita increased at an average annual rate of 7 per cent.

47. The mission was unable to obtain evidence of the existence of any over-all development plans to provide direction for systematic economic development and social progress in the occupied territories. The Economic Development Plan for Israel, 1971-1975, specifically states that the framework for the plan refers to the State of Israel within its pre-June 1967 frontiers, with the addition of East Jerusalem. Thus, the rest of the occupied territories was excluded from the plan for this period. Development planning for subsequent periods was also conducted on the same basis. The absence of any development plan for the rest of the occupied territories is an impediment to an orderly and rational development of the areas to serve the interests first and foremost of the people of those areas.

F.  The social framework 

48. The present Palestinian society in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is composed of those living in refugee camps (285,405), those registered as refugees but living in the towns and villages in the territories (395, 209) and the original inhabitants (441,886), some of whom have  been  displaced  for various reasons from their original lands, homes and communities.20/

49.  Over the years, including the period after June 1967, many Palestinians of working age, mostly technically and professionally qualified persons, have emigrated at an average of 20,000 persons per year,21/ in search of gainful employment in the neighbouring Arab states and beyond, because of the lack of jobs in the local areas, as well as in Israel, commensurate with their education and training.  Some have also been deported and others have fled for political and other reasons.  They have not been able to return because of various restrictions imposed by the occupying power.  Young people in search of higher education have also left, more so among the male youth.  A situation has therefore arisen in the occupied territories in which there is a considerable number of Palestinian households without a male head, a situation with grave consequences for family life and social stability.

50. A further disrupting element in the social milieu of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has been the establishment of Jewish settlements in strategic locations in the territories. The imposition of military rule and the presence of an alien culture and religion, compounded by resentment at occupation, has created an atmosphere of tension which affects not only the social relations between the Palestinians and the Jewish settlers but sometimes also among Palestinians themselves – the traditional lite and the new emerging leadership, the old and the youth, those working in the territories and those who have accepted employment in Israel.

51.  Most of the refugees had come from a rural background and were unaccustomed to the crowded and pseudo-urban living conditions of the camps. They had been uprooted from their socio-cultural habitat, dispossessed of the only resource they knew to exploit – land – and their skills in farming were useless in the camp setting. They had become the bottom layer of the social structure, doing unskilled work whenever available, often seasonally. The refugees in the towns and villages were likewise farm labourers or unskilled workers in commerce and industry, often competing with the long-time residents for the few available jobs and sometimes being resented. The original residents in the towns and villages were the most stable group in the society, yet living with a sense of insecurity as to their legal and social rights.

G.  Employment, income and consumption 

52. According to the data available,22/ in 1968, unemployment was 10.8 per cent in the West Bank and 16.9 per cent in the Gaza Strip, giving an overall unemployment rate of 13.8 per cent for the occupied territories. By 1977, the rate was down to 1.2 per cent in the West Bank and 0.1 per cent in the Gaza Strip, giving an overall rate of 0.6 per cent. The mission was informed by representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization that the principal reason for this lowering of the rate of unemployment was withdrawal from the labour force of many who would otherwise be economically active and emigration from the territories of able-bodied young men who, if they had remained in the territories, would have swelled the ranks of the unemployed.

53. There were, as of September 1979, 643,600 persons of working age, comprising 309,600 men and 334,000 women. Of these, 218,100 were in the labour force, comprising 188,400 men and 29,700 women. The participation rate in the labour force was 60.9 per cent for men and 8.9 per cent for women. This represents some 34.0 per cent of the working age population, and the overall participation rate is, therefore, very low, with a considerable disequilibrium between the sexes. Female participation rates are generally low in the region, but the rate for the occupied territories is lower than the rates in the other countries. These low rates of participation in economic activity are mainly attributable to the large proportion of young people in the population, the relative imbalance between men and women of working age as a result of emigration and traditional social factors influencing female participation in the labour force. As a general rule, a fairly low participation rate indicates that a large number of adults of working age are absent from the labour market and, consequently, that the per capita income is correspondingly lower. In the case of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem), only a third of the population was providing the goods and services needed by the rest.

54. Of the employed labour force, those employed in the Gaza Strip and West Bank numbered 141,600, while those working in Israel numbered 75,100 or 34.7 per cent. Between 1978 and 1979, those employed in these two territories fell from 144,200 to 141,600 – a reduction of 2,600, and those employed in Israel rose from 69,700 to 75,100, an increase of 5,400 or 7.7 per cent.

55. The labour force in the two territories during this period increased by 2,300 persons, while the number of those employed fell by 2,600. It would appear, therefore, that 4,900 persons were seeking or were in need of employment during the period. Considering that the number of persons from these territories employed in Israel during the same period increased by 5,400, it can be assumed that those persons entering the labour market and seeking employment, as well as another 500 already employed, found employment in Israel because of the attraction of higher wages or the lack of growth in the territories.23/

56.  The trend in the distribution of employment by place of work is as follows:24/

It would appear that employment in the two territories dropped to a low in 1973, rose by 6 per cent in 1977 and remained practically the same in 1979. At the same time, employment of Palestinians in Israel had risen by 197.5 per cent by 1973, registering a further rise of 2.6 per cent by 1977 and another rise of 19.4 per cent by 1979. This would seem to indicate a lack of growth in employment in the occupied territories that appears to stem from the economic policies pursued by the occupying power.

57. In so far as the various economic branches are concerned, the trend has been as follows:25/

a/ Including commerce, restaurants, hotels, transport, storage, and public and community services.

Employment in agriculture has been falling both in the two territories and in Israel. In industry, it has been rising in Israel while in the two territories it had risen in 1973 but fallen slightly in 1977 to rise again in 1979. In construction, employment has been falling in Israel, with a slight rise in 1979, while in the two territories it had fallen in 1973 but risen in 1977 and 1979. It will be noted that the economic branch which showed greatest expansion between 1970 and 1973 was services included in the "other" category. By 1979, this branch employed almost half of the workers in the two territories, while about one in every six Palestinians working in Israel was employed in this branch. Representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization and officials of Arab Governments consulted by the mission point out that the disproportionate size of employment in this category is due to the fact that the Palestinians are employed in menial and low-paying jobs formerly being performed by Israelis, while the Israelis move on to higher-paying jobs.

58. In view of the fact that the annual Statistical Abstract of Israel gives data on employment in Israel of non-Jews from within the country as well as of persons from the occupied territories, some interesting observations can be made on the trend of such employment. For instance, in the agricultural sector, while the total of employees dropped in absolute terms by 1,700 persons between 1970 and 1977, the number of non-Jewish employees rose by 3,400 persons. In relative terms, the proportion of non-Jews increased from 42.5 per cent of the total employees in 1970 to 56.4 per cent in 1977. Of these proportions, non-Jews from Israel fell from 62.4 per cent in 1970 to 38.9 per cent in 1977, while those from the occupied territories increased from 37.6 per cent to 61.1 per cent.

59. In industry, while the total of employees increased in absolute terms by 47,000 persons between 1970 and 1977, the number of non-Jewish employees increased by 16,400. In relative terms, the proportion of non-Jews increased from 7.8 per cent in 1970 to 12.5 per cent in 1977. Of these proportions, the number of non-Jews from Israel decreased from 86.2 per cent in 1970 to 60.4 per cent in 1977, while those from the occupied territories increased from 13.0 per cent to 39.6 per cent during the same period.

60. In construction, while the total employed increased in absolute terms by 23,300 during the period 1970-1977, the number of non-Jews employed increased by 25,900. In relative terms, the proportion of non-Jews increased from 31.8 per cent in 1970 to 47.9 per cent in 1977. Of these proportions, the number of non-Jews from Israel decreased from 61.9 per cent in 1970 to 48.0 per cent in 1977, while those from the occupied territories increased from 38.1 per cent to 52.0 per cent.26/

61. The trend would appear to indicate that in the movement of labour in Israel, as Jewish and non-Jewish employees in Israel move upwards and outwards in the employment structure, the workers from the occupied territories move in to fill the places at the bottom of the structure as semi-skilled and unskilled labour. The educational and vocational training patterns in the occupied territories reinforce this view, and would seem to confirm that Palestinians from the occupied territories are employed mainly on the lower rungs of the occupational ladder.

62. The occupational categories of the employed persons among the Palestinian population are given in appendix VII below. In 1978, agricultural workers and skilled and unskilled workers in industry, mining, building and transport formed the bulk of the employed (72.0 per cent). This proportion has not changed much since 1972 (71.3 per cent). Scientific, professional and administrative workers formed 10.6 per cent, a decrease from 11.7 per cent in 1972. The relative paucity of jobs requiring this kind of expertise, as indicated by the trend, is no doubt one of the principal causes of emigration of professionally qualified persons. The experts were told by officials of the neighbouring countries and representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization that the principal reasons for the lack of employment opportunities for scientific, professional and administrative personnel in the occupied territories were:

(a) The lack of expansion of the public services and the virtual freeze in the employment of certain categories of professional workers in the public sector, such as teachers and nurses;

(b) The relatively low salaries paid to professional workers such as medical personnel compared with their counterparts in the Israeli public service;

(c) The difficulties faced by some professionals in acquiring the equipment necessary for their work;

(d) The heavy burden of Israeli taxation on individual professionals

working on their own account.

63. As for incomes, the report furnished by the Government of Israel mentions that the incomes of self-employed farmers grew at an average annual rate of some 20.0 per cent in the West Bank and 15.0 per cent in the Gaza Strip, with similar income growth rates for agricultural employees. This increase in income was, according to the report, mainly due to structural changes introduced, increased utilization of higher quality production inputs and the closer ties established between the economies of the occupied territories and Israel.27/

64. The trend in wage rates of those working in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and those in Israel, both in current and real terms, can be seen from appendix VI below.

65. The level of wages paid to the workers from the two territories working

within the territories and in Israel has risen significantly in current terms over the past 10 years. The average, daily wage per worker rose from 7.9 Israel pounds in 1970 to 68.0 Israel pounds in 1977 in the West Bank, while in the Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai the average daily wage per worker rose from 6.5 Israel pounds in 1970 to 65.6 Israel pounds in 1977. 28 When the incomes are deflated by the index of consumer prices, the rise in the level of incomes does not appear as great as it does at first sight. A revision of the data to take account of inflation would indicate that for the West Bank the average real daily wage of employees working there rose from 7.31 Israel pounds in 1970 to 11.84 Israel pounds in 1977, giving an average annual increase of under 7 per cent at 1968 prices. The increase in real wages for employees from the West Bank working in Israel was very insignificant. The average daily wage for this category increased in real terms (at 1968 prices) from 10.9 Israel pounds in 1970 to only 12.5 Israel pounds in 1977, an average annual increase in real wages of 2 per cent. Thus, the real wages of employees from the West Bank workers in Israel remained virtually the same over the eight-year period.

66. During the early years of the occupation, there was a great difference in the level of wages paid to workers in the occupied territories and that paid to those working in Israel. This gap has now narrowed considerably. While in 1970 wages paid in the two territories were slightly more than half the wages paid in Israel, by 1978 the former constituted about 60-90 per cent of the latter according to sector.29/ There also seems to be some convergence between average Israeli wages and average wages paid to workers from the occupied territories. In 1970 the average wages paid to workers from the occupied territories working in Israel constituted 59.0 per cent of the average wages paid to Israelis. By 1977, the proportion had increased to 73.0 per cent.30/ This achievement is counterbalanced by the high rate of inflation in Israel, which is transmitted to the occupied territories because of the close relationship between the two economies. The movement of the consumer price index from 1970 to 1979 is given in appendix IX below.

67. Increased incomes from employment have partly contributed to higher levels of consumption. In the West Bank, between 1968 and 1978, the value of agricultural goods consumed rose, at current prices, from £I 123 million to £3,038 million, that of industrial goods from £I 133 million to £3,187 million and that of services from £I 99 million to £I 2,021 million. In the Gaza Strip, during the same period, the value of agricultural products increased from £I 47 million to £I 985 million, that of industrial goods from £I 57 million to £I 1,652 million  and  that  of services from £I 41 million to £I 881 million.31/ The number of households possessing durable goods had also risen considerably particularly in the case of electrical and gas stoves for heating and ranges for cooking, refrigerators, sewing machines, television sets, telephones and motor vehicles.32/ Much of the increase in consumption can also be attributed to the substantial remittances from abroad, which in the Gaza Strip had increased from £I 2 million in 1968 to £I 864 million in 1977 and in the West Bank from £I 17 million in 1968 to £I 1,572 million in 1977. 33 Again, officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization question the base data on the possession of durable goods. They believe that the proportions owning durable goods before the occupation were much higher than those given in the Israeli statistics.

III.  THE HUMAN SETTLEMENT SYSTEM IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

A.  The pattern of human settlements 

68. The West Bank comprises a total area of 4,820 kilometres (A/34/536 and Corr.1, annex I, paras. 3 and 4) and had a population of 681,200 at the end of 1977,34/ giving a population density of approximately 141 persons per square kilometre. Around 30 per cent of the population live in urban areas; the rest of the population, namely 70 per cent, live in villages with populations of from 50 to 5,000 persons each.

69. The Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai comprise an area of 345 square kilometres (A/34/536 and Corr.1, annex I, paras. 3 and 4) with a population of 441,300 at the end of 1977,34/ giving a population density of 1,279 persons per square kilometre, one of the highest in the world. About 80 per cent of the population live in urban areas and refugee camps and the other 20 per cent in small rural settlements. The principal towns in this territory are Gaza and Rafah.

70. A significant feature of human settlements in these two territories is the fact that a large proportion of the population live in refugee camps, a situation brought about by the war of 1948 and aggravated by the 1967 hostilities and other factors arising from the occupation. In the West Bank, the number of refugees registered with UNRWA was 317,614 as of June 1979.35/ Of these, 82,464 were actually living in 20 camps. The number of registered refugees constituted approximately 46 per cent of the population of the West Bank at the end of 1978, and since many refugees are not registered with UNRWA, the proportion of refugees in the total population of the West Bank is likely to be much higher. Those living in camps constituted about 12 per cent of the population.

71. In the Gaza Strip, there were 363,006 refugees registered with UNRWA as of June 1979. Of these, 202,941 were actually living in eight camps.35/ Thus, 80 per cent of the population of the Gaza Strip were refugees and 45 per cent of the population were actually living in refugee camps. The size of the refugee situation in Gaza is such that it comprises almost the whole of the population, if the figure given for registered refugees is augmented by the undetermined number of unregistered refugees.

72. In addition to the indigenous population of these two territories and the Golan Heights, new Jewish settlements are being established in the territories by the occupying Power or with its support and by July 1979 79 of these new settlements had been established in the West Bank, 18 in the Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai and 29 in the Golan Heights (S/13450/Add.1, annex III).

B.  Housing and infrastructure 

73. The large number of refugees in the occupied territories poses a serious problem in the field of housing. Apart from the fact that the influx of refugees into these areas has put considerable pressure on existing accommodation, the demolition of many refugee camp units by the occupying authority has exacerbated the situation. In 1971, about 3,000 refugee shelters had been demolished in the Gaza Strip. The occupying authority undertook to resettle the displaced families and others numbering 30,500. As of 31 December 1978, 2,892 units had been completed and 1,260 were under construction; 26,418 families were yet to be resettled.36/ In the absence of a visit to the territory, no comments can be made on the quality of housing provided by the authorities in the Gaza Strip. However, the figures given in the Statistical Abstracts of Israel indicate that the average size of the dwelling units built by the authorities is much smaller than the average size of units in Israel or of those built by the private sector in the Gaza Strip. Approximately 19,000 houses had been destroyed by the occupying authority since the beginning of the occupation (A/34/536 and Corr.1, annex I, para. 24) and this has aggravated the housing problem in the occupied territories.

74. In the West Bank, despite a considerable movement of people to the towns, no programme of public housing seems to have been formulated and implemented. Housing construction appears to be solely in the hands of the private sector. No programme of public assistance to facilitate the production of houses appears to be in operation. The private sector has produced a creditable amount of housing, especially since 1975, but this is far below the requirements of the population.

75. Some indication of the pressure of population on housing can be derived from tables 1-6 in appendix X below. In the Gaza Strip and Sinai, the proportion of families living in housing units of two rooms or less fell from 68.6 per cent in 1972 to 53.4 per cent in 1974. It fell further to 51.6 per cent in 1977. While this may be regarded as some improvement in the situation in the Gaza Strip and Sinai as a whole, in the refugee camps of that territory the proportion rose from 52.9 per cent in 1972 to 53.8 per cent in 1977.

76. In the West Bank, the proportion of families living in housing units of two rooms or less fell from 73.9 per cent in 1972 to 64.4 per cent in 1974 and to 61.4 per cent in 1977. In the rural areas of the West Bank, the proportion of families living in such dwelling units fell from 69 per cent in 1974 to 66.5 per cent in 1977, while in the towns it fell slightly from 46.9 per cent to 45.8 per cent during the same period.

77. Although the figures show some improvement between 1972 and 1977, the degree of congestion suggested by the 1977 figures can only be described as severe. The two rooms per housing unit which has been taken as a cut-off point represents a very low standard of accommodation. The median Arab family in the two territories consists of seven persons. That number of persons living in two rooms gives a person/room ratio of 3.5, which is much higher than the ratio for what may be regarded as an acceptable level of accommodation. In the West Bank, about two thirds of all families were living at this level or lower, while in the Gaza Strip and Sinai, more than half the families were living in such conditions in 1977. The situation contrasts with that prevailing among Jewish families in Israel. Less than 30 per cent of Jewish families, with a typical family size of just over half that of Arab families, lived in dwelling units of two rooms or less. The picture of overcrowding which can be inferred from the large proportion of Palestinian Arab families living in dwelling units of two rooms or less, is reinforced by an examination of the data in table 7 in appendix X below, which gives the proportions of families living at various room densities.

78. While some improvements have taken place between 1972 and 1977, the level of overcrowding revealed by the figures is still very high. In 1977, the lowest median room density was 2.7, obtained from the towns of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  In the Gaza Strip, the median room density for the territory as a whole was 2.9, while it was 2.7 in the towns and 2.9 in the refugee camps. The situation was similar in the West Bank, where in 1977 the median room density was 2.7 for the towns and 3.2 for the rural areas.

79. If a person/room ratio of 2.5 is regarded as acceptable, with any ratio higher than that constituting overcrowding, and if it is assumed that half the families in the range 2.0 to 2.9 are living above this standard and the other half below it, then about 60 per cent of the families in the Gaza Strip and 63 per cent of families in the West Bank were living in conditions of overcrowding with many living in conditions of very serious overcrowding during 1977.

80. The figures on house size and room densities reveal that the situation is worse in rural areas or refugee camps than in the towns. In the Gaza Strip and Sinai, the overcrowding is worse in the refugee camps than in the towns, while in the West Bank the towns are better off than the rural areas. It would appear that the rural areas and the refugee camps act as the major areas for the absorption of populations displaced by war or by psychological or physical pressure resulting from the occupation. The statistics that are available do not permit an evaluation of the situation in individual settlements that would make it possible to assess the direct impact of such actions as demolition of houses and forced relocation of large population groups, such as the Bedouins. It is, however, safe to conclude that there is a connexion between the higher levels of congestion in the refugee camps and the rural areas and the various actions taken by the administering authorities leading to a displacement of families and communities.

81. As mentioned earlier, the private sector in the occupied territories has been the most active in house construction. However, the fact that most building materials, with the exception of quarry stone, are in short supply and have to be imported either from Israel or from abroad at a high cost makes it difficult for the private sector to produce as much housing as it would like. The shortage of building materials is particularly acute in the case of cement, steel rods and metal frames.37/ Furthermore, the establishment of an increasing number of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories has reduced the supply and increased the prices of building materials for house construction in the occupied territories.

C.  Impact of Jewish settlements 

82. The question of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories has engaged the attention of many United Nations organs and agencies. In the course of the discussions with officials of Arab Governments and the Palestine Liberation Organization, it was impressed on the mission that the problems posed by the existence and expansion of those settlements were central to any consideration of the present situation in the occupied territories. The problem has many dimensions, but the following analysis of the impact of Jewish settlements is limited to some of the effects these settlements are having on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories and is based on discussions with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Governments of neighbouring Arab countries, as well as on written and unpublished sources.

83. Since 1967, some 133 new Jewish settlements have been constructed or are in the process of being constructed in the occupied territories. These settlements are located between and among existing Arab settlements, sometimes, as in East Jerusalem, surrounding them and cutting them off from direct contact with other Arab settlements. This tends to weaken and disrupt traditional ties and relationships between the Arab settlements so affected.

84. In pursuance of the policy of settlement creation, the inhabitants of the occupied territories, especially those living in the West Bank and Jerusalem, are subjected to continuous pressure to emigrate to make room for new Jewish settlers. With respect to the Golan Heights, the Syrian authorities stated that 134,000 inhabitants had been expelled, leaving only 8,000 or about 6 per cent of the original population living in the area. This, added to the imposition of Israeli law and the Israeli educational system on the territory, would indicate an attempt at annexation of the area, 29 Jewish settlements having been established there to date.

85. The policy of settlement creation is causing drastic and irreversible changes in the demographic and spatial configuration of the territories, in violation of the rights, feelings and sensibilities of the original inhabitants.

86. A very noticeable effect of the Jewish settlement movement on the living

conditions of the Palestinian people living in the occupied territories is the contribution it makes to the generation of an over-all feeling of insecurity among them. This feeling of insecurity arises largely from certain actions of the occupying Power, which are basic to the process of settlement creation. Some of these actions are:

(a) The continuing expropriation and confiscation not only of privately owned land but also of miri land, to which individuals and families, and sometimes communities, have definite rights handed down from generation to generation: it is estimated that about 27 per cent of the West Bank and the whole of the Golan Heights have been seized by the Israeli authorities for settlement creation or for other purposes;38/

(b) The demolition of Arab homes for various reasons, followed by the

creation or expansion of Jewish settlements, as in East Jerusalem and in Kiryat Arba;

(c) The destruction of Arab farms, either through defoliation or through the destruction of tree crops by bulldozing, compelling the Arab owners to leave the land and thereby rendering it liable to confiscation and alienation to Jewish settlers under the Absentee Property Law of 1950 or orders made under the Defence (Emergency) Regulations of 1948. Some of the land thus alienated has been used to establish or expand Jewish settlements; on other lands, Jewish groups have been permitted to settle on their own. This alienation of property owned by the Arab population and the settlement of Jewish groups on it are deeply resented by the people, who feel insecure and helpless because they have no control over the processes leading to the transfer of their land.39/

87. The proliferation of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories has also led to encroachment on the water resources of existing Arab settlements, depriving them of a considerable proportion of their traditional water supplies, not only for agricultural use but also for domestic uses. A case in point is the town of Ramallah, which is experiencing serious water shortages as the new Jewish settlements and military camps around it draw water from its traditional sources. Ramallah's water supplies had been cut off by the occupying authority at one point in order to force the town to connect its water supplies to the Israeli water system.40/ When the water shortage becomes very severe, the Arab population is sometimes compelled to leave the settlement, thus starting a process which usually ends in the loss of the land.

88. The proximity of some of the Jewish settlements to Arab settlements has been a source of friction, often resulting in violent confrontation between the Arab inhabitants and the Jewish settlers, for example, between those in Hebron and Kiryat Arba. The steps taken by the authorities to maintain law and order, such as frequent day and night curfew and security checks, seriously affect the living conditions, because production suffers, religious obligations cannot be discharged and social and cultural contacts are disrupted.

89. One result of the existence of the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories is the fact that the settlements are almost always provided with basic infrastructure, such as piped water, electricity and road and communication networks, and Arab villages close to these settlements or through which certain facilities pass can be provided with these amenities or facilities. However, such moves by the occupying authority to connect Arab villages to the Israeli electricity grid and water system are generally viewed by the leadership of the occupied territories as steps towards annexation.41/

D.  Health services 

90. Within the context of human settlements in the occupied territories, the impact of the occupation on the health conditions of the Palestinian people can be examined in terms of the quality of environmental health services available to the people and the availability and delivery of preventive and curative health services to the communities.

91. Reference has already been made to the fact that sewerage facilities in the territories are generally inadequate to cope with increasing demand and that the availability of potable water is far from satisfactory because of the restrictive water practices of the occupying authority. The result, according to UNRWA reports, is that gastro-intestinal diseases are on the increase and constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly during the summer months. Information on other aspects of environmental health care, such as the control of disease vectors, and on the extent and quality of preventive services are not readily available. Data are, however, available that make some assessment of curative services possible.

92. There has been no significant change in the number of hospitals in the occupied territories since 1974. 42 According to the West Bank Medical Association, there has been no change between 1967 and 1974. The information in the Israeli Government report that new hospitals and medical centres have been established in the territories would seem to be a reference to the operational sections and departments that have been added to existing institutions.43/

93.  With regard to hospital beds, the Israeli Government report states that the number increased from 1,351 to 1,374 between 1968 and 1978 in the West Bank and from 947 to 1,070 in the Gaza Strip.44/ This means that the number of beds per 1,000 population was 2.6 in the Gaza Strip and 2.3 in the West Bank in 1968, while in 1978 the corresponding figures, according to the population data in the Israeli Government report, were 2.0 for the West Bank and 2.4 for the Gaza Strip.45/ These figures represent a decline but compare somewhat favourably with conditions in neighbouring countries, with the exception of Lebanon, where the ratio was 3.7 in 1977. However, there seem to be glaring discrepancies in the figures available. For instance, a report presented to the World Health Assembly at its thirty-second session by the Israeli Ministry of Health 46/ puts the bed-population ratio for Gaza in 1978 at 3.5 beds per 1,000 population, a ratio that is far higher than that calculated on the basis of figures on the number of hospital beds and the population of the territory for 1978. The report does not give any figures for the West Bank. However, the figures presented to the WHO mission that visited the occupied territories in April 1980 give the number of beds in Gaza Strip as 707 at that date. This gives a bed-population ratio, using the population figure of 450,200, of only 1.6 per 1,000 population.

94. The population per physician in the West Bank is estimated at 4,319 in 1976.47/ The ratio for the same year was 2,358 in the Syrian Arab Republic, 980 in Lebanon and 2,332 in Jordan. As a measure of the availability of health care, the West Bank appears to be well below the standards operating in the neighbouring countries. However, it fares better than these countries with respect to other health personnel. For example, the ratio of qualified nurses to 1,000 population was 0.33 in 1976 in the West Bank, while in the neighbouring countries the ratio was less than 0.3 in 1978, except in Lebanon, where it was 0.68.

95. Infant mortality is reported by the Israeli Ministry of Health to be 27.4 per 1,000 in the West Bank in 1977.46/ This figure contrasts with that given in a report by the West Bank Medical Association and made available to the mission by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which indicated an over-all rise in infant mortality from 30.7 per cent in 1974 to 38.1 in 1975. The mission also obtained directly from UNRWA headquarters at Vienna the figures on infant mortality in the West Bank, derived from studies made by the agency in a number of camps over the past 20 years. According to these studies, infant mortality, defined as deaths of infants below one year of age per 1,000 live births, declined from 157 in 1960 to 46 in 1979.48/

96. One indication that the inhabitants of the occupied territories may be living under stressful conditions is the fact that the psychiatric hospital in the territories, located at Bethlehem, with the largest number of beds in the West Bank, is the only hospital with an occupancy rate of more than 100 per cent.49/ In 1979, 5,186 cases were recorded there, including 614 new cases but excluding cases of depression, which, if added, would increase the number of new cases to 1,100.49/ According to the director of the hospital, for every 1,000 patients seen at the hospital, one would expect about 800 neurotics, 100 epileptics and 100 schizophrenics, manic depressives etc.50/

97. The WHO mission which visited the territories in April 1980 found that, in general, the health facilities in the occupied territories were not always adequate. The inadequacy was especially acute in the field of X-ray and other diagnostic equipment. In Ramallah hospital, regarded as the best equipped in the territories, the mission found that such basic facilities as equipment for certain kinds of blood tests and biochemical analysis were lacking. Patients from this hospital were referred for such tests to Israeli hospitals, thus placing a burden on the hospital's limited budget. In some cases, for example, in Nablus and Hebron hospitals, the maintenance of physical plant and equipment was poor.

98. The WHO mission also noted great differences in the provision of health services in the occupied territories compared with Israel. Israeli hospitals had more up-to-date equipment, and the quality of health care provided was much higher.

99. The differences in health care provision in the occupied territories and in Israel can perhaps best be appreciated through a comparison between resources available to a middle-of-the-line Israeli hospital and the resources available to all the West Bank government hospitals in 1975. The Israeli hospital selected for the comparison is the Shaare'Sadek hospital.

100. The above information, which was supplied by the West Bank Medical Association, reveals a great variation in the level of resources available to all the West Bank government hospitals and one Israeli hospital. According to the Israeli Ministry of Health report referred to earlier, the budget for health services in the West Bank for 1978 was £I 132 million, which represented a 50 per cent increase over 1977.51/ This would mean that the budget for 1977 was (4,11)I 88 million. Although this figure is much higher than the one given by the West Bank Medical Association, it is still below the budget which the Association says was allocated to the Shaare'Sadek hospital.

101. The inadequacy of diagnostic facilities and specialists in the occupied territories often necessitates the referral of patients to Israeli hospitals for diagnosis and treatment. This procedure, according to the Palestine Liberation Organization officials, constitutes a major constraint to the improvement of health services in the territories, because most of the fees levied by the Israeli hospitals for such diagnosis and treatment of West Bank patients are charged to the West Bank medical budget, and to that extent fewer resources are available for the improvement of health facilities and medical services in the West Bank.

102. The question of paying hospital fees is one which places a financial burden on some of the inhabitants. Free medical service was according to the PLO officials provided in the West Bank prior to 1967; now, the people have to pay for these services. The authorities have introduced a health insurance scheme, which has been in operation since February 1978. According to the Israeli Government report, about 500,000 inhabitants of the two territories have joined the scheme as at January 1980.52/ This is somewhat less than half the total population in those territories. For the many who have not joined, either because they have an imperfect understanding of the scheme or because they lack a regular source of income, the cost of hospital treatment and care is high in relation to individual incomes and the mission was told that many of the uninsured found it difficult to obtain the free medical care they had been accustomed to before the occupation.

103. While health care facilities seem to be evenly distributed in a regional sense, the unavailability of adequate diagnostic facilities and specialist services in many of the institutions militates against the provision of adequate health care within a reasonable distance from the homes of the patients.

E.  Educational services 

104. The level and types of education available to a community are relevant to the living conditions of the people because of the crucial role education plays in the life of the individual in terms of his capacity to earn and thereby improve his standard of living, to keep himself informed and to enjoy the accumulated knowledge and experience of mankind.

105. The system of education is much the same throughout the occupied territories. It starts with kindergarten for children below the age of six, followed by the elementary or primary school for children who are normally between the ages of six and twelve, who then proceed to the preparatory school for three years. The primary and preparatory schools form the compulsory cycle of education and are followed by secondary, vocational and teacher training institutions and institutions of higher learning.

106. The educational institutions are managed by the occupying authority, by private bodies or by UNRWA. In general, the schools follow the Jordanian curriculum of education in the West Bank and the Egyptian curriculum in the Gaza Strip. However, many books used by the systems have been banned and sections excised from others by order of the occupying authority. There are also restrictions on the import from other Arab countries of books which are the primary sources for literature in Arabic. Duties are charged on the imports of such books and equipment.

107. In the West Bank, the number of educational institutions increased from 821 in 1967/68 to 1,000 in 1976/77, an increase of 21.8 per cent. Similarly, the number of institutions in the Gaza Strip increased from 166 in 1967/68 to 270 in 1976/77, an increase of 38.5 per cent.53/ During the same period, the number of educational institutions grew by 33 per cent in the Syrian Arab Republic, by 32.5 per cent in Egypt and by 78.6 per cent in Jordan.54/ The West Bank is thus behind the others in the growth of educational institutions.

108. Enrolment rates have increased significantly since 1967. A comparison of these rates with those of neighbouring countries shows, however, that the growth in enrolment in the two territories has not kept pace with the rate of growth of enrolment in neighbouring countries during the decade ending in 1977. This is shown in appendix X, table 1, below. In terms of over-all growth, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were marginally ahead of Egypt only among the neighbouring countries.

109. While growth in enrolment rates is one measure of access to education, another measure is the enrolment ratio, which relates the enrolment by various age groups to the population in those age groups. The statistics that are available do not permit direct application of this measure. The situation can, however, be examined indirectly. In a study of education in the West Bank, it was found that enrolment figures in the first grade, that is, the first year of primary school to the total population had decreased from 3.2 per cent in 1968/69 to 2.7 per cent in 1974/75.55/ In a population with a high rate of natural increase due largely to high fertility, the fall in the proportion of children in the first year of school in relation to the total population suggests that proportionately fewer children are entering the school system despite the growth in numbers, thus indicating a potential lowering of the literacy level of the population.

110. One measure of the time and attention which a pupil receives from his or her teacher is the pupil/teacher ratio. Comparative figures for this measure for the West Bank 56/ and Jordan 57/ are given below:

It appears from the above figures that, for most of the period 1968/69 to 1977/78, the West Bank fared better than Jordan and that, theoretically, school children in the West Bank should be better off than their counterparts in Jordan. However, it should be noted that the situation in the West Bank has shown little improvement since 1968, while that of Jordan has improved remarkably.

111. Although UNRWA and the occupying authorities have set up a number of vocational training programmes, there are few corresponding job opportunities for those trained in the various skills. According to the ILO mission report of 1979, approximately 35,000 trainees received diplomas in various subjects between 1968 and 1977 from the various vocational training institutions.58/ However, according to the mission, in one centre only 20 per cent of those receiving diplomas were able to obtain jobs in the occupied territories after graduation.  It was pointed out in the report, however, that the Israeli authorities had indicated to the mission that about 40 per cent of all graduates from the vocational training centres found jobs in the occupied territories, while 50 per cent found jobs in Israel. The report also gives the impression that the level of training in these vocational training institutions is not very high, the trainees generally being prepared for semi-skilled occupations in the Israeli economy.

112. With regard to higher education, there are three universities in the West Bank and one in the Gaza Strip, where there had been none before the occupation. These universities have been created and are run through the initiative of the local Palestinians themselves, with some financial assistance from Palestinians living abroad. These universities receive no financial assistance from the occupying authorities and they exist and function in spite of discouragement and harassment by the authorities. One of the restrictions placed on the work of the universities is the requirement that the selection of students and the recruitment of staff are subject to approval by the military governor. The universities also experience great difficulty in obtaining Arabic books and journals. The financial problems are exacerbated by the taxes levied on books and equipment. The experts were told by a group of educators from the West Bank that, while Israeli educational institutions were subject to the same taxes, the amounts paid by them were refunded to them by the Government in the form of grants; no grants were made to the universities of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

113. In discussions with educators from the West Bank, it was repeatedly pointed out to the experts that the climate of occupation was not conducive to the creation of suitable conditions for the educational process. In the first place, because the economy was under the control of an occupying power and political power was exercised by the army, the normal educational and manpower planning process to meet national goals could not be undertaken. There were no national plans, for which manpower requirements could be identified, leading to the formulation of appropriate educational and training strategies to meet the anticipated requirements of the economy and society.

114. Secondly, although the occupying authorities had not interfered directly with the general system of education prevailing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip before the occupation, the experts were told that the banning of certain books and exclusion of passages from some others, which were considered important by the teachers, created a certain feeling of frustration and uneasiness, because the teachers found it difficult to help their students to appreciate certain aspects of their culture and history.

115. It would appear that the occupying authorities, through their actions, have created and sustained a feeling of insecurity among teachers and students in all educational institutions. The experts were told of constant harassment of students and staff. These harassments took the form of frequent arrests, beatings, administrative detentions and closure of schools. Sometimes teachers and students were transferred to remote rural areas. Practical training for student teachers in the schools of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was often disallowed. Those actions were justified by the occupying authorities on grounds of security and maintenance of law and order. However, they created conditions which were quite detrimental to the delivery of educational services.

F.  Social welfare services 59/

116. Since the occupation, the occupying authority has made efforts to reorganize the social welfare system in the occupied territories. The authorities had also organized in-service training for the Arab social workers to enable them to orient their thinking and functioning to new approaches to social casework, group work and community organization. These actions have made the services more accessible to the recipients and have helped to improve their quality.

117. Rehabilitative services have been introduced to enable individuals and families to be self-supporting through productive small-scale enterprises, for which loans are made available through funds established by the Swedish Organization for Individual Relief, CARE and the Catholic Relief Services. Summer camps have been organized for children from needy families and from institutions, and special vocational rehabilitation centres, as distinct from normal centres, have also been established.

118. There appear to be a considerable number of local welfare organizations (135 in the West Bank and 7 in the Gaza Strip) providing such services as community centre activities, homes for the aged, kindergartens, institutions for the deaf and the mute, sewing courses and day-care centres for babies. These activities at the local level are financed by Arab women's organizations, the Red Crescent, religious and charitable organizations, village organizations and branches of international charitable organizations.

119. The budget for social welfare services has been increased from £I 5.8 million in 1967 to £I 131.6 million in 1978/79.60/ How this budget is disbursed among the administrative, institutional and direct services is impossible to determine in the absence of relevant data. There is also no information available on what services the occupying authority is providing directly and what proportion of the budget is given as grants to the many voluntary organizations active in this field. There is not data available on the range and kind of services provided, the number of institutions and a profile of the people who are benefiting from the various services provided. The only information available is that the number of persons receiving some form of welfare assistance in 1976 was 32,000 and that in 1978/79 the number of families receiving financial assistance was 8,412 (1,311 in the West Bank, 7,021 in the Gaza Strip and 80 in the Golan Heights).60/

Appendix I 

Balance of trade in the occupied territories 

Table 1.  Occupied territories' balance of trade

              (Millions of Israel pounds, current prices)

Table 2.  Occupied territories' balance of trade, by commodities

(Millions of Israel pounds)

Appendix II 

Extraordinary budgets of towns in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip 

(Thousands of Israel pounds)

Source: Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1972 and 1973, and State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, A Twelve-Year Survey, 1967-1979 (Jerusalem, 1980).

Appendix III

Water consumption in Israel

(Millions of cubic metres)

 Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1973 and 1978.

Appendix IV

Agricultural production in the West Bank

Table 1.  Structure of gross agricultural production in the

West Bank, 1969 and 1976

(Percentage)

Source: Economic Commission for Western Asia, Agriculture and Development, No. 2 (1979), p. 37.

a/ Not included in the total.

Table 2. Crop and livestock production in the West Bank, 1965-1976

(Thousands of tons)

     Source: B. Abu Hawaej, Agricultural Atlas of Jordan (Amman, 1973), p. 240; and Statistical Abstract

of Israel, various issues 1970-1977.

Appendix V

Buildings completed and begun during the period 1973-1977

(Square metres)

     Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978, p. 798.

Appendix VI

Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1973 and 1978.

Notes:  Global and per capita gross national product, and private consumption in real terms (1968 prices). Average wages, local and for workers in Israel, at current prices and in real terms, deflated by the consumer price index.

  Appendix VII 

Workers from the occupied territories employed in the territories

and in Israel, by occupation, 1972 and 1978

    Source: Report of the Director General, International Labour Conference, sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III, table 3.

Appendix VIII

Average daily wage of workers 

Table 1. Average daily wage per employee working in the occupied territories

_______________

     Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978, p. 789.

Table 2.   Average daily wage per employee of the occupied territories

working in Israel

Appendix IX

Consumer price index

(1968/69 = 100)

    Note:  Derived from Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1973 and 1978. The base had been changed to 100 on January 1976. The above figures for 1976 onwards have been obtained by grafting the percentage increase during the period 1976-1979 to the index number in 1975 on base 1968/69 = 100.

Appendix X 

Housing statistics

Table 1.  Families by size of dwelling, 1972

(Percentage of families)

     Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1973, p. 707.

Table 2.  Families by size of dwelling, Gaza and Sinai, 1974

     (Percentage of families)

     Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1975, p. 696.

Table 3.  Families by size of dwelling, Gaza and Sinai, 1977

(Percentage of families)

 Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978, p. 779.

Table 4.  Families by size of dwelling, West Bank, 1974

     Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1975, p. 699.

Table 5.  Families by size of dwelling, West Bank, 1977

Source:  Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978, p. 779.

Table 6.  Families by size of dwelling, Israel, 1977

     Source: Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978, p. 315.

Table 7.  Housing density, Gaza and West Bank, 1972-1977 (Percentage of houses)

      Source: Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1973, p. 707; 1975, p. 696; 1978, p. 729.

ANNEX II

Members of the Team of Experts 

Dr. P. Austin Tetteh (Ghana)

Professor, Department of Planning

University of Science and Technology

Kumasi, Ghana

Dr. Bernardo E. Batiz (Mexico)

Chief of Technical Services

Dirección General De Planificación,

Departamento Del Distrito Federal

Universidad Anahuac

Mexico, D.F., Mexico

Dr. Dudley Madawela (Sri Lanka)

Formerly Co-ordinator of Units

Social Development Branch

Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs

Department of International Economic and Social Affairs

United Nations, New York

ANNEX III

List of documents and publications consulted 

A.  General Assembly 

Thirty-second session, 1977 – documents submitted in respect of the following agenda items:

Item 30 – Question of Palestine:  report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

Item 50 – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Item 57 – Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories

Item 62 – United Nations Environment Programme, particularly document A/32/228

Thirty-third session, 1978 – documents submitted in respect of the following agenda items:

Item 31 – Question of Palestine:  report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

  Item 54 – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Item 55 – Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories

  Item 68 – United Nations Environment Programme, particularly document A/33/354

  Thirty-fourth session, 1979 – documents submitted in respect of the following agenda items:

Item 24 – Question of Palestine:  report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

  Item 50 – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

  Item 51 – Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories

  Item 65 – Human settlements, verbatim records and document A/34/536 and Corr.1

B.  Security Council 

Reports of the Security Council Commission Established under Resolution 446 (1979) (S/13450 and Add.1 and S/13679)

  C.  Reports and publications from United Nations organs and units 

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for 

Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 1 July 1977-30 June 1978: Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-third Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/33/13)

Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 1 July 1978-30 June 1979, Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/34/13)

"United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Definitions and statistics", 30 June 1979

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Department of Education, Statistical Yearbook, 1976-1977 

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Annual Report of the Director of Health, 1977 and 1978

Economic Commission for Western Asia 

"Demographic situation of the Palestinian people" (8 May 1979)

"Survey of economic and social developments in the ECWA region, 1970-1978 (E/ECWA/80) "Survey of economic and social developments in the ECWA region, 1980 (April 1980)

"Special measures of assistance to the Palestinian woman" (E/ECWA/SDHS/CONF.4/5/Rev.2)

"Social and economic conditions of Palestinian woman inside and outside the occupied territories (E/ECWA/SDHS/CONF.4/6/Rev.1)

Statistical Abstract of the Region of ECWA, third issue (Beirut, 1980)

"Social programmes and data for the ECWA region" (February 1980)

"Demographic and related socio-economic data sheets for countries of ECWA", No. 2 (Beirut, January 1978)

Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the 

Palestinian People 

The Right of Return of the Palestinian People (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.78.I.21)

The Right of Self-Determination of the Palestinian People (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.78.I.22 and corrigendum)

The Origins and Evolution of the Palestinian Problem, part 1, 1917-1947

(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.78.I.19)

"Acquisition of land in Palestine" (1979)

Dag Hammarskjöld Library 

Palestine Question: A Select Bibliography (1976)

Commission on Human Rights 

Report on the thirty-fifth session, 12 February-16 March 1979:  Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Supplement No. 3 (E/1979/36)

Report on the thirty-sixth session, 4 February-14 March 1980:  Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Supplement No. 3 (E/1980/13)

United Nations Development Programme 

"Implementation of General Assembly resolution 33/147 on assistance to the Palestinian people" (DP/410)

Report of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Assistance to the Palestinian People to the Interagency Meeting, 20 April 1979

Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting 

the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories 

Summaries of reports appearing in the press in Israel and the occupied Territories (monthly issues from 1975 to 1979)

Selected records of testimony taken by the Special Committee at different times while in the region

United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) 

Report of Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver,31 May-11 June 1976 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.76.IV.7 and corrigendum)

Report of the Regional Preparatory Conference for Asia and the Pacific, Teheran, 14-19 June 1975 (A/CONF.70/RPC/10)

Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, "Global review of human settlements" (A/CONF.70/A/1)

World Housing Survey, 1974 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.75.IV.8)

D.  Reports and publications from the specialized agencies 

   International Labour Organisation

Supplement to the Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, sixty-fifth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1979), annex.

Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 

"Implementation of 18 C/resolution 13.1 and 19 C/resolution 15.1 concerning educational and cultural institutions in the occupied Arab territories: report of the Director-General on the mission he sent to the Arab territories occupied by Israel to collect on-the-spot information on the educational and cultural situation (104 EX/52)

"Implementation of resolutions 18 C/13.1, 19 C/15.1 and 20 C/15.1 concerning educational and cultural institutions in the occupied territories: report of the Director-General" (108 EX/12)

World Health Organization

"Health conditions of the Arab population in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine: report of the Special Committee of Experts Appointed to Study the Health Conditions of the Inhabitants of the Occupied Territories" (A/33/21)

"Health assistance to refugees, displaced persons and the Arab population of the occupied Arab territories in the Middle East" (A32/WP/4)

"Collaboration with the United Nations system: health assistance to refugees, displaced persons and the Arab population of the occupied Arab territories in the Middle East" (A32/26)

"Health conditions of the Arab population in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine" (A/33/WP/1)

E.  Reports and publications of Governments

Egypt 

Official statement of the Government of Egypt, entitled "Negative social and economic effects of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian Arab people in the occupied territories"

Statistical Yearbook of the Arab Republic of Egypt (Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, July 1979)

Israel 

State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, A Twelve-Year Survey, 1967-1979 

(Jerusalem, 1980)

Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 

Central Bureau of Statistics, Administered Territories Statistics Quarterly The Development of the Administered Territories 1967-1979 (November 1979)

 Jordan 

Rouhi Al-Khatib, The Judaization of Jerusalem (Amman, Al-Tawfiq Press, 1979)

  Central Bank of Jordan, Department of Research and Studies, Monthly Statistical Bulletin, vol. 15, No. 12 (December 1979)

Ministry of Development and Reconstruction, Information and Statistical Bulletin, 1979 (in Arabic)

Department of Statistics, Statistical Yearbook, 1978, No. 29

Ministry of Education, Yearbook of Educational Statistics for the Scholastic Year1965/1966                      , Yearbook of Educational Statistics for 1967/1968                      , The Statistical Yearbook for the Year, 1972/1973 

                     , The Statistical Educational Yearbook, 1977/1978 

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, report submitted to the Security Council Commission Established in Accordance with Security Council Resolution 446 (1979), "Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Arab Jerusalem since 1967" (May 1979)

Royal Scientific Society, Amman, Jordan, Economic Department:

The Five-Year Plan: Projects and Investments, 1976-1980 (October 1977)

The Significance of Some West Bank Resources to Israel (February 1979)

Numerical Index for Population and Vital Statistics (March 1979)

Numerical Index for Health Services (March 1979)

Numerical Index for Education (March 1979)

Numerical Index for Agriculture (July 1979)

Composition of Visible Imports: An Industrial Development Potential (April 1979)

Numerical Index for Tourism (January 1979)

Numerical Index for Transport and Communications (July 1979)

Numerical Index for Electricity (August 1979)

Syrian Arab Republic 

Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract, 1979, No. 405, January 1980

Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, Statistics Division:

The Annual Statistical Bulletin, 1977 (December 1978)

Ibid., 1976 (October 1977)

Ibid., 1975 (November 1976)

Ibid., 1974 (October 1975)

F.  Miscellaneous books and publications 

Brian van Arkadie, Benefits and Burdens: A Report on the West Bank and Gaza Strip Economies since 1967 (New York, N.Y., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1977)

Arie Bregman, Economic Growth in the Administered Areas, 1968-1973 (Jerusalem, Bank of Israel, Research Department, 1974)

Bank of Israel, Research Department, The Economy of the Administered Areas, 1972 (Jerusalem, 1974)

West Bank of the Jordan, Gaza Strip and Northern Sinai, Golan Heights: Data from full enumeration, Publication 1 of the Census of Population 1967 (Jerusalem, Central Bureau of Statistics, 1967)

State of Israel, Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning Authority, Economic Plans, 1971-75 and 1974-78 

Mordechai Nisan, Israel and the Territories: A Study in Control, 1967-1977 (Ramat Gan, Turtledove Publishing, 1978)

Edward W. Said, The Question of Palestine (New York, N.Y., Times Books, 1979)

Statistical Abstract of Israel, various years (Jerusalem, Central Bureau of Statistics)

Vivian A. Bull, The West Bank – Is It Viable? (Lexington, Massachusetts, Lexington Books, 1975)

G.  Publications of research institutions

    Cairo Demographic Centre 

Demographic Aspects of Manpower in Arab Countries (Cairo, 1972)

Urbanization and Migration in some Arab and African Countries (Cairo, 1973)

Institute for Palestine Studies, Beirut, Lebanon 

Journal of Palestine Studies, issues from Autumn 1971 to Winter 1980

Birzeit University, Documentation and Research Office 

Fathiya Said Nasru, Education in the West Bank Government Schools (July 1977)

K. Mahshi and R. Rihan, Education in the West Bank 

Palestine Liberation Organization

Central Bureau of Statistics, Palestinian Statistical Abstract, 1979, No. 1

National report of Palestine (undated and unpublished)

The Economic and Social Aftermath of the Israeli Occupation upon the Living Conditions of the Palestinian People (in Arabic)

Israeli Settlements on the West Bank and Confiscation of Land (in Arabic)

Zionist Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (undated)

Zionist Settlement Movement (undated)

"The Zionist policy of settlement in the occupied territories" (undated and unpublished)

"Palestinian children under Israeli occupation" (undated and unpublished)

Various reports issued by the Occupied Homeland Affairs Office, Beirut, Lebanon, on such matters as the Jerusalem Electricity Company, educational activities in the occupied territories, water resources, Israeli settlements, the struggle of the Palestinian working class etc.

The Committee for the Defence of Palestinian Human Rights under Israeli Occupation, Beirut, Lebanon:  various statements issued regarding student unrest, conditions of Arab labourers in the occupied territories, education, condition of teachers, settlements.

Central Bureau of Statistics, Agricultural Statistical Bulletin for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 1979, vol. 1.

Palestine National Fund, "Water resources and policies in the West Bank" (mimeographed)

Arab Report and Record

Bi-monthly issues, 1976, 1977, and 1978 and Arab Report, 1979.

H.  Other publications consulted

Rouhi Al-Khatib, The Judaization of Jerusalem, (Amman, Al-Tawfiq Press, 1979)

Encyclopedia Judaica

H. H. Awartami, West Bank Agriculture:  A New Outlook (Nablus, 1978).

—–

Notes

 1/ Wherever the West Bank is referred to in the report, it excludes

East Jerusalem. Regarding Northern Sinai see footnote 3.

 2/ Report of Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver, 31 May to 11 June 1976, (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.76.IV.7 and Corrigendum), chap. II.

 3/ For want of data for all the occupied territories, the coverage of this report is limited to the Gaza Strip, Northern Sinai and the West Bank excluding East Jerusalem, for which alone documented data are available. For the purposes of this report, Northern Sinai refers to the occupied territories as of 1978 and extends from El-Arish in the west to the Gaza Strip in the east, and from the Mediterranean in the north to Ras Muhammad in the south. It may be noted that since 25 May 1979 the occupied part of Sinai extends from a line east of El-Arish to the Gaza Strip.

 4/ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/34/13), paras. 119-125.

   5/ World Health Organization, "Health conditions of the Arab population in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine: report of the Special Committee of Experts Appointed to Study the Health Conditions of the Inhabitants of the Occupied Territories" (A/33/21).

 6/ Palestine Liberation Organization, Central Bureau of Statistics, Palestinian

Statistical Abstract, 1979 (Damascus, 1979), p. 35.

 7/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fourth Session, Supplement No.13 (A/34/13), annex I, table 4.

 8/ Statistical Abstracts of Israel, 1978 (Jerusalem, Central Bureau of Statistics, 1978), p. 766.

 9/ Arab Report and Record, 1-5 April 1976, p. 239.

10/ Ha'aretz, 6 April 1976.

11/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1969 (Jerusalem, Central Bureau of

Statistics, 1969), p. 640.

12/ Agriculture in the West Bank (Ramallah, Department of Agriculture, 1974), cited in H. M. Awartami, West Bank Agriculture: A New Outlook (Nablus, 1978), p. 9.

13/ Vivian Bull, The West Bank, Is It Viable? (Lexington, Massachusetts, Lexington Books, 1975).

14/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 (Jerusalem, Central Bureau of

Statistics, 1978), p. 788.

15/ State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, A Twelve-Year Survey 1967-1979 (Jerusalem, 1980), p. 6.

16/ Ibid., p. 7.

17/ For the 1979 figures, see Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III, table 6; see also Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1969 (Jerusalem, Central Bureau of Statistics, 1969), p. 638.

18/ For further information on the industrial sector, see Arie Bregman, Economic Growth in the Administered Areas, 1968-1973 (Jerusalem, Bank of Israel, Research Department, 1974), pp. 62-67, and Brian van Arkadie, Benefits and Burdens: A Report on the West Bank and Gaza Strip Economies since 1967 (New York, N.Y., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1977).

19/ State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, op. cit., p. 3.

20/ Totals computed from figures in para. 15 above.

21/ Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference,

sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III,

para. 84.

22/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, p. 783.

23/ The figures in paragraphs 53-55 have been computed from Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III, table 1.

24/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, p. 783 and Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III, table 1.

25/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, p. 783 and Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III, tables 4 and 6.

26/ The figures have been computed from Statistical Abstract of Israel …, 1973 to 1978.

27/ State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, op.cit., p. 6.

28/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, pp. 376 and 789.

29/ Supplement to the Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, sixty-sixth session, (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1979), p. 26.

30/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, pp. 376 and 789.

31/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, p. 771.

32/ State of Israel, Department of Defence, op.cit., p. 31.

33/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, pp. 768 and 769.

34/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, p. 765.

35/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fourth Session, Supplement No.13 (A/34/13), annex I, table 4.

36/ State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, op.cit., appendix 18.

37/ Cited from the report of the Interagency Task Force on Assistance to the Palestinian People, submitted to the Interagency Meeting on the Implementation of General Assembly Resolution 33/147, held at Geneva from 30 April to 1 May 1979.

38/ Special Unit on Palestinian Rights, Bulletin No. 2 (February, 1980), p. 17.

39/ Examples of these actions are given in the report of the Secretary-General on living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories (A/34/536 and Corr.1), annex II, and the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories (A/34/631), paras, 79-105.

40/ Arab Report and Record, 1-31 October 1977, p. 887 (interview given by the Mayor of Ramallah, Mr. Karim Khalaf).

41/ For information on the water situation, see Arab Report and Record, 1-15 September 1977, p. 762; for information on the electricity situation, ibid., 1-15 August 1977, p. 668.

42/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978…, p. 808.

43/ Ibid., p. 11.

44/ Ibid., p. 42.

45/ Ibid., p. 17.

46/ World Health Organization, "Health conditions of the Arab population in the Occupied Arab territories, including Palestine" (A32/INF.Doc.1), annex.

47/ Based on figures from the report on health services in the West Bank, Jordan 1977, presented in Palestine Liberation Organization, Central Bureau of Statistics, Palestinian Statistical Abstract, 1979 (Damascus, 1979), p. 64.

48/ Information received by telex from UNRWA headquarters on 14 May 1980.

49/ World Health Organization, "Health conditions of the Arab population in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine: report of the Special Committee of Experts Appointed to Study the Health Conditions of the Inhabitants of the Occupied Territories" (A33/21), p. 8.

50/ Ibid., p. 10.

51/ Ibid., p. 3.

52/ State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, op. cit., p. 12.

53/ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1978 …, p. 807.

54/ Calculated from figures given in 1968-1977 Statistical Abstract of the region of the Economic Commission for Western Asia, third issue, (Beirut, 1980).

55/ Fathiya Said Nasru, Education in the West Bank Government Schools, 1968/69 to 1976/77 (Bir Zeit University, 1977), p. 70.

56/ K. Mahshi and R. Rihan, Education in the West Bank, (Bir Zeit University, 1979), p. 15.

57/ The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Statistical Educational Yearbook  1977-78 (Amman, Ministry of Education, Directorate of Educational Planning, 1979), p. 63.

58/ Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, Sixty-sixth session (Geneva, International Labour Office, 1980), appendix III, para.78.

59/ For further information, see Joan Hooper, "Social work in Israel administered territories", KIDMA: Israel Journal of Development, No. 4 (January-April 1979).

60/ State of Israel, Ministry of Defence, op. cit., appendix 27.