Policy Report – On the Vaccination of Palestinians

Roxy Orloff is currently pursuing an MLitt degree in International Security Studies at the University of St Andrews. She previously studied a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford.

Distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations is highly unequal all over the world, with inoculations going first to those of richer nations. The situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories offers a stark example of the asymmetrical provisions, with Israel seeing the highest rate of vaccinations per person in the world but Palestinians largely being excluded. (Brokaw, 2021; Kennes, 2021; Ritchie et al., 2021) This is not a new phenomenon – disparities in health care provisions have long been a point of contention, particularly with regards to Israeli and Palestinian citizens. (Efrati, 2015; Manor, Skorecki, and Clarfield, 2020) However, given the ongoing pandemic and the toll it is taking on human life, the issue is perhaps more relevant now than at any point in the past. 

There is debate as to whose responsibility it is to vaccinate those in the Palestinian Territories. Israeli officials have tended towards invoking the Oslo accords (BBC News, 2021) by way of alleviating their responsibility: agreed in the 1990s, the accords – or at least Article VI – transferred public health of the Palestinians to the control of the Palestinian Authority. (UNGASC, 1993) Fighting for control over themselves at the time of signing, the Palestinians saw the Oslo accords as indicative of their freedom – offering them independence and the ability to determine ‘the Palestinian decision’. Given the accords, that Israel sees the responsibility of vaccinations as that of the Palestinian leadership is unsurprising. UNSC Resolution 242 – on which the Oslo accords were in part based – has been dubbed ‘land for peace’ and speaks to the relinquishing of Israeli obligation to the Palestinian citizens. 

Nevertheless, since the early 2000s, Palestinian youth in particular have been disposed to rejecting the accords, suggesting that they have been ineffective and disabling. That Israeli authorities control the borders to Palestinian Territories leaves the Palestinians beholden to them, thus the Israeli forces are in large part held accountable for the struggles the Palestinians face. The ongoing blockade of Gaza, and the Separation Wall encroaching on the West Bank have decimated the living conditions in both areas, and the healthcare provisions the Palestinians have access to are less than satisfactory. Scenes reminiscent of those seen immediately after the 1948 War highlight the troubles the Palestinians have faced for the last 70 years, and call attention to the lack of progress that has been made in the Territories. Given this, many around the world have argued that the responsibility to vaccinate the Palestinians does indeed lay with Israel. The UN has argued that Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (ICRC, 1949) supersedes the Oslo accords, (UNHROHC, 2021) and thus that Israel is responsible for maintaining health services in the Territories. International rights groups have shown support for this argument, calling on Israel, as the occupier, to extend their vaccination programme to the Palestinian Territories. Indeed, I would agree with these demands and recommend that Israel does adhere to such suggestions – they are both legally and morally obliged to guarantee the human rights of the occupied. However, as noted above, Israeli officials appear to feel otherwise. 

The Israeli Health Minister, Yuli Edelstein, has insisted that Israel’s responsibility lies first and foremost with its citizens – whilst talking to Andrew Marr he noted that that is what they pay taxes for. (The Andrew Marr Show, 2021) Such nationalist sentiment, whilst perhaps understandable given the historical relations between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist organisation that seek Israeli destruction from their de facto control over Gaza, has nonetheless been criticised by, notably, left wing Jewish groups around the world. That he went on to say that vaccinating the Palestinians would be in the interest of Israel suggests that he sees them merely as vectors of transmission and considers their health only in relation to how it will affect Israelis. Comments such as Edelstein’s show not only an attempt to shift the focus of insecurity away from the Palestinians and towards the Israelis, but also exhibit a distinct lack of both empathy and sympathy. Given that the living conditions within the occupied Territories are particularly conducive to the spread of Covid, you might have hoped that Israeli officials would better understand the fear and concern of the Palestinians, and seek to support them. Thus, I reiterate my earlier recommendation that Israel ceases what we can only term its ‘vaccine nationalism’, (Al Jazeera, 2021a) and expands its inoculation programme to the Territories too. 

Nonetheless, it is not only Israel who could act. Though Israeli forces occupy the Territories and thus the vaccination of the occupied is their responsibility, that the rest of the world are failing to act themselves cannot be forgotten. In instances such as the pandemic we currently find ourselves in, it would be logical and indeed reasonable to put politics aside and solve the issue at hand. Despite noting the need to protect the vulnerable and highlighting the difficulties low income states face in accessing the vaccine, funding of the WHO’s Covax scheme seems to be slow, and limited at that. Calls for vaccination equality are occurring worldwide, but the efforts of richer state remains low, (Al Jazeera, 2021b) making their calls seem somewhat tokenistic. I therefore echo the calls of the Palestinian Prime Minister, (Arab News, 2021) and humanitarian groups that are urging richer countries to step up to the proverbial plate and act, rather than simply speak. Until measures are actively taken to make a difference, world leaders seem to be simply engaging in virtue signalling. As such, rather than continuing to make demands that are evidently falling on deaf ears, I’d implore those that can, to themselves participate in the vaccination programme. This is not to say that Israel’s accountability can be ignored, rather that states must also recognise their own responsibility. It may be more pragmatic for both diplomatic demands and political castigation to be put aside until we have countered the immediate threat to life. I’d encourage individuals and organisations in civil society to similarly demand that both Israel and the world at large honour their commitments to human rights, seeking a realistic solution rather than an idealistic one. 

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