A Palestinian’s Perspective on the Current Crisis
The coronavirus is an escalating pandemic that has changed our lifestyles. It is a serious global pandemic that does not distinguish between colour, race or religion, to the extent that it seemed fair to many Palestinians. This crisis forced us to change the way we do a lot of things and imposed new habits on us. Today, in different parts of the world we all follow different regulations and guidelines to try and fight this virus and prevent it from spreading hoping that this nightmare will be over soon.
Since the world health organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, governments have taken strict procedures that they saw appropriate to protect their citizens and reduce the spread of the disease. The Palestinian Health system has been facing particular difficulties in providing services to people, and it is often fragmented or unable to cope when faced with an overwhelming situation. Interestingly, however, the Palestinians seem to be satisfied with the way the government is dealing with the pandemic. Additionally, the strict and swift measures taken by the government and security forces have so far been received with deep satisfaction among the Palestinian public. In the beginning, Palestinians had contradicting views regarding the nature of this virus and not many people took it seriously. People wanted to carry on normally with their lives, however, this was not possible due to the very early precautions that the Palestinians governments such as closing all educational institutes for a month. At the time, this seemed as unreasonable and as an exaggeration to many Palestinians. However, people later started comprehending the magnitude of the crisis mainly when they realized that they themselves are at risk of getting sick.
As Palestinians, in light of fear and panic, we are not only struggling to respond to the pandemic, however, we are still facing different forms of violations by Israelis. For many Palestinians, this crisis is exposing Israel’s priorities who while the world is struggling with the pandemic is still sending mask-wearing Israeli soldiers to invade Palestinians camps, confiscating lands, infringing state borders and even plundering Palestinian goods in a time of exacting need. Besides, Israeli employers are constantly throwing off Palestinian workers at checkpoints if they suspect them having COVID-19, bearing in mind that Palestinians workers are allowed to be present at work insofar as they do not represent a threat first to the security apparatus and not to the ‘pure’ and healthy Israeli body. It is important to point out that most of the cases recorded in the Palestinians territories are those of workers who came back to their towns and villages after working with Israeli employers and spread the virus.
People tend to look at news more than they are used to in a time like this. As a Palestinians from East Jerusalem, I have been looking at Israeli news sources as well as Palestinian sources to catch up on what is happening. As I live in Jerusalem, I have to adhere to the Israeli Ministry of Health guidelines and restrictions, which varies greatly to those of the Palestinian government. As a result, when I talk to family members or friends that I have in the West Bank or Gaza, I use ‘us’ and ‘them’ to differentiate between the different regulations we have to adhere to. Even with the labour and education sectors, we each follow different regulations and guidelines which creates a communication gap between us as Palestinians.
It is not certain yet when the coronavirus will end and if that will be anytime in the near future. Even though Israel is adding yet another layer to the stress and anxiety the Palestinian people are feeling, most Palestinians are in favour of a health care coordination between both governments. In the meantime, our livelihoods have been impeded on so many different levels. This abnormal reality we are forced to live in gave us the time to reflect on our actions and ways of living. We can only hope that we learn our lesson.