Resources search

Forgotten villages : struggling to survive under closure in the West Bank

O'BRIEN, Lee
PICKUP, Francine
September 2002

Expand view

This briefing paper describes the humanitarian impact of the Israeli government's policy of closure and restriction in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Closure policies have undermined or even broken links to markets, services and jobs, leaving rural communities facing impoverishment and unemployment, lack of access to services, a weakened agricultural sector, and increased vulnerability to Israeli settler violence. The recommendations in this paper focus particularly on the social and economic impact of closure on those living in Palestinian villages across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The most urgent of these call for an immediate end to the Government of Israel's policy of closure of Palestinian civilian areas

E-bulletin