Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes

Editor—Any mention of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict generates much heated debate.¹ But facts are often absent.

There is much agreement. A majority in both nations agree that Gaza and much of the West Bank are not part of Israel. A minority in Israel claim that much of these territories are part of Israel, but this minority would not extend rights of Israeli citizenship to their 3.8 million non-Jewish inhabitants.

Some correspondents refer to “equipoise,” but this is misleading. The two countries do not have equal levels of military strength or wealth. Both do not have equal advantages of functioning economies, democratic institutions, elections, free press, or international support from the world's superpower.

Essentially, one side is a quasi-European country with European-style institutions. The other side is a failed third world state with a level of development among the lowest in the world. Gross domestic product per head in Israel is $19 700 (2003), in the West Bank $800 (2002), and in Gaza $600 (2003).² In 2004 Israel received $2160m in US military aid and $580 million from USAID. In 2003 Palestine received $75m in aid from the United States and a total of $1000m in aid from non-US sources (European Union and the Arab world).³

Neither are the victims of conflict equally distributed. According to the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (www.btselem.org/), since September 2000 there have been 3722 deaths, 75% of them Palestinians and 25% Israelis; 604 children have been killed (500 Palestinian and 104 Israeli). Altogether 6709 Israelis and 27 998 Palestinians were injured in the same period.⁴,⁵

Perhaps the only other facts of relevance are demographic. Israel's current Jewish population is 5.2 million and is predicted to grow at less than 1% per year. Israel's non-Jewish population is 1.3 million and is predicted to grow at over 2% per year. The Palestinian population is 3.8 million, predicted to grow at 3.8% per year (www.prb.org/). In the end, demographic and other forces will oblige some kind of reconciliation between the comparatively well ordered Israeli state and the chaotic exploding population within and outside its borders.