Governments around the world are letting goods produced in these settlements into their markets, and are allowing companies in their countries to operate in settlements. The issue is not just about Israel taking Palestinian land and resources illegally. We want governments to stop enabling the economy that keeps these illegal settlements growing and fuels the suffering of Palestinians: and you can help. The communities have also been violently attacked by the Israeli military and settlers.

Their homes and livelihoods have been destroyed, they’ve had restrictions enforced on their movement, access to their own water, land and other natural resources. Israel has also adopted a complex web of military laws to crush dissent against its policies, and senior government officials have branded Israelis advocating for Palestinian rights as “traitors”.įor the last 50 years, Israel has been forcing thousands of Palestinians off their land, occupying and illegally using it to create settlements that exclusively house Jewish Israeli settlers.Įntire Palestinian communities have been displaced by these settlements. People’s entire lives are effectively held hostage by Israel. It means daily humiliation, fear and oppression. It continues to affect whether, when and how Palestinians can travel to work or school, go abroad, visit their relatives, earn a living, attend a protest, access their farmland, or even access electricity or a clean water supply. Israel’s military rule disrupts every aspect of daily life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Since the occupation first began in June 1967, Israel’s ruthless policies of land confiscation, illegal settlement and dispossession, coupled with rampant discrimination, have inflicted immense suffering on Palestinians, depriving them of their basic rights. For half a century, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip has resulted in systematic human rights violations against Palestinians living there.

What is the meaning of occupied