After four weeks in Palestine, the Israeli checkpoints or gates which are dotted, strategically around Palestine, still makes me nervous. Built ostensibly for defensive purposes, these structures are meant for Palestinians, not, of course, for international tourists. Nevertheless, the groups armed with guns who man the iron gates and in some cases watchtowers, are as unnerving as when I arrived.
As we pull up at the main entrance to Palestine’s Southernmost refugee camp, Al-Fawwar, I can’t help but mentally flip memories of the various soldiers at checkpoints who have demanded my nationality, the reason for my visit, and my religion, before letting me pass. The Aryan looking, Swedish girl sitting on my left doubtless has something to do with how quickly we’re waved through. The restriction of movement to and from the camp is perhaps the biggest problem affecting Al-Fawwar, causing major interruption to work and education, as well as trade and services.
As well as longer term closures following isolated moments of conflict, the gate is subject to temporary closure by the ISF, often for hours at a time, occurring at random and without warning. As we pass a tall observation tower and make our way into the village, I recall that just a few months ago, not even a UN IDs would have permitted us entry. After two attacks in which Palestinians killed two Israeli civilians and wounded others, the military imposed long-term, sweeping travel restrictions throughout most of July, affecting the 900,000 Palestinian residents of the Hebron district.
During this period, waste removal from the camp was interrupted as garbage trucks are unable to reach the camp. Water was also an issue since, although the camp is connected to the Hebron Municipality water network, residents still procure water brought by tank trucks, which are largely prohibited access by Israeli security.
As we make our way into Al-Fawwar, I’m struck by how the camp looks just as established as any other Palestinian village I’ve visited. In fact, Al-Fawwar is no exception to the nineteen camps originally built in the West Bank to home refugees fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Areas originally intended only as temporary tented cities have since developed into permanent urban areas, today home to more than 200,000 residents.
Although many of the original 14,000 refugees from the Beersheba and Bayt Jibrin area who originally moved to Al-Fawwar subsequently emigrated to Jordan in the 1950s, since the second mass internal displacement of 1967 War, the camp’s population has tripled to reach 9,500.
Like the many of thee West Bank refugee camps, al-Fawwar is characterised by high unemployment, overcrowding, and poor living conditions. Despite efforts by Al Fawwar Camp Popular Committee and the UNRWA to improve living conditions, the area continues to suffer from extreme poverty and a severe shortage of services.
In Al-Fawwar, only 70% of homes are connected to the telecommunications network, and, although the camp is connected to an electricity network, services suffer from a weak current and power cuts are frequent in the winter months. Likewise not all homes are provided access to the Hebron Municipality water network, and are consequently dependent on the area’s two wells. Water shortages are consequently common during the summer months, whilst inadequate drainage frequently causes flooding in the rainy season.
Whilst primary health care is provided for residents, chiefly through the UNRWA, the camp suffers from a paucity of medical equipment, medicine and other, crucial services. There is no health clinic capable of running a twenty four hour service, and camp residents must travel approximately eight kilometers to reach the Yatta and Hebron hospitals for simple services including x-ray. Moreover, since there is no ambulance stationed in the camp, this is also the distance that ambulances – often delayed at the camp entrance – must travel to reach patients inside the camp.
The performance of schools in the camp, meanwhile, remains low, with only 20.5% of the population completing elementary school, and only 15.8%, higher education. Consequently, few Al-Fawwar residents are able to attain a level of employment that would allow them to emigrate from the camp. The majority of the four hundred cases of emigration from the village recorded since the Second Intifada are not the manifestation of developments, but the negative result of Israeli activities in the region and family problems experienced in the camp.
Though low levels of education contribute to unemployment in the area, the recent drop in employment rates reflects a broader issue. As in many other camps in the West Bank, and in particular Jalazone, residents are dependent on work opportunities outside the camp, including work inside Israel and in neighbouring settlements. Consequently, as work permits issued by Israel for Palestinians decreased following the first intifada, these areas have suffered high levels of unemployment. In 2007, after Israeli jobs became largely inaccessible to the Palestinian residents in Al-Fawwar, unemployment climbed as high as 40%.
Following the first intifada, military procedures conducted by the ISF have also increased. As UNRWA reports, “incursions, camp closures and clashes between young camp residents and Israeli security forces (ISF)” have also increased in recent years. More recently still, following a recent crackdown on Palestinian arms manufacture, search and arrest operations have spiked in Al-Fawwar. Often conducted at night, such operations often result in damage to residents’ homes as well as a sense of fear and anxiety, especially among young children, many of whom experience psychological and behavioural difficulties.
Although protection issues are a common concern to all of the camps in the West Bank, Al-Fawwar suffers in particular due to the proximity of the military base, Al Majnouna, as well as the continuously expanding Israeli settlement, Beit Hagai, no more than four kilometres away. The continued efforts of Al-Fawwar Committee and UNRWA, combined with projects conducted by the global community to provide aid, are vital to sustaining the area and limiting the negative effects of military procedures in the area.
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