Home demolitions, attacks and harassment by Israeli military continues during the paralyzing healthcare crisis.
By Yumna Patel |Mondoweiss | Apr 1, 2020
…the ’real weakness’ in the Palestinian’s efforts to fight the spread of the coronavirus is the Israeli occupation.
—Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, who has taken the lead role in Palestine’s fight against COVID-19
When the Palestinian Authority (PA) first announced a state of emergency over the coronavirus in early March, an initial panic swept over the occupied territory, as checkpoints and borders with Israel were closed, and entire cities were shut down.
In the early days of the outbreak, which was initially contained to the city of Bethlehem, there was a joke going around between Palestinians that, perhaps, a global pandemic could offer a temporary respite from the terrors of the Israeli occupation.
But even as most aspects of everyday life have been turned upside down in Israel, Palestine, and the rest of the world, the one thing that has remained steady in the lives of Palestinians, is the presence of the occupation.
Despite widespread shutdowns, curfews, and quarantines, Israel has continued to raid Palestinian cities and towns, arrest and imprison Palestinians, demolish homes and tear down structures, and facilitate attacks carried out by settlers.
HolyLandJustice.org 