la Comunità palestinese di Roma e del Lazio, l'Associazione Amici della Mezzaluna Rossa Palestinese e il Comitato per la Pace del X Municipio, sono lieti di invitarti a partecipare alla Giornata di commemorazione del 64° anniversario della Nakba (la Catastrofe) della tragedia del popolo palestinese: all'inaugurazione della Targa dell'Ulivo per la pace e la terra in Palestina e al Convegno "Per una giusta pace in Palestina", che si terrà a Roma mercoledì 16 maggio, alle ore 16.30 presso la Sala Rossa del X Municipio, in piazza di Cinecittà 11.
Il Programma previsto:
Ore 16.30, (nel giardino)
Inaugurazione della targa che ricorda ai cittadini il senso e lo spirito dell'Ulivo piantato nei giardini del X Municipio per ricordare la Giornata della Terra in Palestina (30 marzo 1976)
Moderatore:
Patrizia Cecconi, Presidente dell'Associazione Amici della Mezza Luna Rossa Palestinese
Intervengono:
- Sandro Medici, Presidente del X Municipio;
- Mons. Hilarion Capucci, ex-Arcivescovo di Gerusalemme in esilio;
- i responsabili del Comitato per la Pace del X Municipio e della Mezzaluna Rossa Palestinese
Ore 17.30, Sala Rossa (4° piano)
Convegno in commemorazione del 64° anniversario della Nakba del Popolo Palestinese
"Per una giusta pace in Palestina"
Presiede:
- Wajih Salameh, Presidente della Comunità Palestinese di Roma e del Lazio
Intervengono:
- Sandro Medici, Presidente del X Municipio;
- Mons. Hilarion Capucci, ex-Arcivescovo di Gerusalemme in esilio;
- Giovanni Russo Spena, Prc;
- Marco Miccoli, Pd;
- Luisa Morgantini, ex-Vice Presidente Parlamento Europeo;
- Giampiero Cesario, Pdci;
- Patrizia Cecconi, Presidente Associazione Amici della Mezzaluna Rossa Palestinese;
- Massimo Cervellini, Sel;
- Bassam Saleh, Associazione Amici dei Prigionieri palestinesi;
- Vincenzo Vita, Presidente dell'Associazione Nazionale Italia-Palestina;
- Sabri Ateyeh, Ambasciatore Palestinese a Roma;
- i rappresentanti dei sindacati e dell'Associazionismo e del volontariato
Conclude:
Yousef Salman, Delegato della Mezzaluna Rossa Palestinese in Italia -------------------------------- SGUARDO SUL MEDIO ORIENTE ON NAKBA :
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
Special Statistical Bulletin
On the 64th Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba
The Nakba: Ethnic cleansing and displacement of the population
Nakba in literary terms means a natural catastrophe such as an earthquake, volcano, or hurricane. However, the Nakba in Palestine describes a process of ethnic cleansing in which an unarmed nation has been destroyed and its population displaced to be replaced systematically by another nation. Unlike a natural catastrophe, the Palestinian Nakba was the result of a man-made military plan with the agreement of other states, leading to a major tragedy for the Palestinian people. The subsequent occupation of the remaining land of Palestine in 1967 resulted in additional tragedy.
In 1948, 1.4 million Palestinians lived in 1,300 Palestinian towns and villages. More than 800,000 of the population were driven out of their homeland to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, neighboring Arab countries, and other countries of the world. Thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes but stayed within the Israeli-controlled 1948 territory. According to documentary evidence, the Israelis controlled 774 towns and villages and destroyed 531 Palestinian towns and villages during the Nakba. The atrocities of Israeli forces also included more than 70 massacres in which 15,000 Palestinians were killed.
The Demographic Reality: Palestinian population has increased 8-fold since the Nakba
The Palestinian population was 1.37 million in 1948 but by the end of 2011, the estimated world population of Palestinians totaled 11.2 million. This indicates that the number of Palestinians worldwide has multiplied eight-fold in the 64 years since the Nakba. According to statistics, the total number of Palestinians living in historic Palestine (between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean) by the end of 2011 was 5.6 million and this number is expected to rise to 7.2 million by the end of 2020 based on current growth rates.
Statistical data also show that refugees constitute 44.1% of the total Palestinian population in the Palestinian Territory. UNRWA records at the end of 2011 showed that there were 5.1 million Palestinian refugees registered, constituting 45.6% of the total Palestinian population worldwide. These were distributed as 59.1% living in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, 17.1% in the West Bank, and 23.8% in Gaza Strip. About 29% of Palestinian registered refugees live in 58 refugee camps, of which 10 are in Jordan, nine in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank, and eight in Gaza Strip.
These estimates represent the minimum number of Palestinian refugees, given the presence of non- registered refugees. These estimates also do not include Palestinians who were displaced between 1949 and the 1967 war, according to the UNRWA definition, and do not include the non-refugees who left or were forced to leave as a result of the war in 1967. The number of Palestinians who remained in their homeland in the 1948 territory after the Nakba was estimated at 154 thousand persons, now estimated as 1.37 million on the 64rd anniversary of the Nakba. In the 1948 territories, the sex ratio is 102.2 males per 100 females, while 37.5% of the population are below 15 years of age and 3.9% are aged 65 years and over, based on available statistics relating to Palestinians living in Israel in 2010. This illustrates that the composition of Palestinians in the 1948 territory is young, as it is in Palestinian society as a whole.
The number of the Palestinians in the Palestinian Territory was estimated at 4.2 million at the end of 2011: 2.6 million in the West Bank and 1.6 million in Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinians in the Jerusalem governorate at end of 2011 was around 393 thousand, of whom 62.1% live in the areas of Jerusalem annexed by force by Israel in 1967 (J1). The fertility rate in the Palestinian Territory is high compared to other countries. The total fertility rate in 2010 was 4.1 births (3.8 births in the West Bank and 4.9 births in Gaza Strip).
Population Density: Gaza Strip the most crowded place in the world
The population density in the Palestinian Territory at the end of 2011 was 703 individuals per square kilometer (km2): 462 individuals/km2 in the West Bank and 4,429 individuals/km2 in Gaza Strip. In Israel, the population density of Arabs and Jews in 2011 was 362 individuals per km2.
Settlements: Most settlers in Jerusalem as part of Israeli Judaization campaign
There were 474 Israeli settlements and military bases in the West Bank at the end of 2011 and the number Jewish settlers totaled 518,974 at the end of 2010. Most settlements are located in the Jerusalem governorate. According to data, 262,493 (50.6%) of settlers live in the Jerusalem governorate, of whom 196,178 live in Jerusalem (J1). The ratio of Palestinians to settlers in the West Bank is 20 settlers per 100 Palestinians compared to 68 settlers per 100 Palestinians in the Jerusalem governorate.
The Expansion and Annexation wall swallows about 13% of West Bank area
Large areas of West Bank land were confiscated by the Israeli occupation authorities to construct the Expansion and Annexation wall. The Wall is 757 kilometers in length, of which 92% are inside the West Bank. According to this route, 733 km2 of Palestinian land were isolated between the Wall and the Green Line in 2010, comprising approximately 13.0% of the West Bank: around 348 km2 were agricultural land, 110 km2 were confiscated for Israeli settlements and military bases, 250 km2 were forest and open areas, and 25 km2 were on Palestinian built-up land. The Wall isolated 53 localities and affected over three hundred thousand people, particularly communities in Jerusalem where 27 localities affected are home to a quarter of a million people. Moreover, the Wall besieges 165 localities with a population of more than half a million inhabitants, as witnessed around the city of Qalqilya. The Jordan Valley makes up 29% of the West Bank; Israel controls approximately 90% of the Jordan Valley. Fewer than 65 thousand Palestinians remain there today while there are 9,500 Israeli settlers.
Historical Palestine: Israel controls more than 85% of its land
At the end of 2011, there were 11.7 million people living in the historical land of Palestine with a land area of 27,000 km2. Jews constitute around 52% of the total population and utilize more than 85% of the total area of land. Arabs comprise 48% of the total population and utilize less than 15% of the land. A Palestinian therefore has less than a quarter of the area of land available to an Israeli.
Water: Realities and challenges
The amount of Purchased water from Israeli water company (mekarot) 51 MCM in 2010 for Domestic use, which constitutes 15% from a yearly available amount of water, due to the over control of Israel on available water resources and resale it to the Palestinian with higher prices.
Martyrs: Continuous efforts to build a state
The number of martyrs killed in the al Aqsa Intifada between September 29th, 2000 and December 31st, 2011 was 7,460, up from 7,235 at the end of 2009. Of these, 2,183 were from the West Bank (2,059 males and 124 females) and 5,015 were from Gaza Strip (4,601 males and 414 females). The remaining martyrs were from the 1948 territories and outside the Palestinian Territory. The bloodiest year was 2009 with 1,219 Palestinian martyrs, followed by 2002 with 1,192 martyrs. In addition, 107 martyrs, including nine from a Turkish humanitarian fleet, were killed during 2010.
Detainees
According to data from the Ministry of Detainees, around 800 thousand people have been in Israeli detention since 1967. Of these, around 12 thousand were women, plus many children, some of whom were detained several times. At present, around 4,610 detainees are under arrest in Israeli prisons, including five women and 203 children, who represent 4.4% of all detainees. There are 50 detainees who have spent more than 20 years in Israeli jails and 23 detainees who have spent more than 25 years. During the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Israel detained more than 70 thousand detainees, of whom
8 thousand were children, 850 were women (four of them were pregnant and gave birth in prison), and there were many detainees from among members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and former ministers.
Health
Statistics for 2010 showed that the number of physicians per 1,000 population registered in the Physicians’ Union in the West Bank was 1.3 compared to 2.3 in Gaza Strip. In addition, there were 1.8 nurses per 1,000 population in the West Bank compared to 3.8 nurses per 1000 population in Gaza Strip. There were 76 hospitals in the Palestinian Territory in 2010: 51 hospitals in the West Bank and 25 in Gaza Strip. These were distributed as 25 governmental hospitals, 28 non-governmental, 20 private, two hospitals run by military institutions, and one run by UNRWA. There were 5,108 hospital beds: 1.3 beds per 1,000 population and allocated as 3,063 beds in the West Bank and 2,045 in Gaza Strip. There were 572 primary health care centers in the West Bank in 2010 and 134 centers in Gaza Strip.
Agriculture
The total land area of the Palestinian Territory was 6,020 square kilometers in 2010, of which 957.2 square kilometers were cultivated land. This comprised 15.9% of the Palestinian Territory during the agricultural year 2009/2010, based on the main results of the Agriculture Census 2010.
The main results covered all agricultural holdings enumerated in the Palestinian Territory in the agricultural year 2009/2010. There were 111,310 agricultural holdings in the Palestinian Territory. These were made up of 79,176 plant holdings, comprising 71.1% of all holdings in the Palestinian Territory: and 17,893 mixed holdings comprising 16.1% of holdings, plus 14,241 animal holdings comprising 12.8% of all holdings. There were 33,925 cattle, 567,833 breeding sheep, and 219,364 goats counted in the Palestinian Territory on 01 October 2010.
Housing: Israeli house demolitions continue
The Israeli occupation forces destroyed 145 Palestinian houses in the Palestinian Territory during 2010 according to a study by the PLO Department for National and International Relations. Meanwhile, the Israeli authorities granted building permits for 16,497 housing units for Israelis mostly in and around Jerusalem (J1) and 1,300 housing units are currently under construction.
The average number of persons per room in housing units in refugee camps was 1.7 in 2010, while 13.1% of households in refugee camps in the Palestinian Territory live with a housing density of three or more persons per room: 14.4% in West Bank camps and 12.2% in Gaza Strip. About 60.5% of households in camps in the Palestinian Territory live in housing units measuring less than 120 m2: 67.6% in West Bank camps and 55.2% in Gaza Strip
Labor Market 2010
The labor force participation rate in the Palestinian Territory in 2011 was 43.0%: (40.7% among refugees and 44.3% among non-refugees). The participation rate in the West Bank was 45.5% (44.4% among refugees and 45.9% among non-refugees) compared to 38.4% in Gaza Strip (38.2% among refugees and 38.7% among non-refugees). The unemployment rate in the Palestinian Territory was 20.9% (26.1% among refugees and 18.0% among non-refugees). The unemployment rate in the West Bank was 17.3% (21.6% among refugees and 15.9% among non-refugees) compared to 28.7% in Gaza Strip (29.8% among refugees and 26.8% among non-refugees). The services sector is considered as the largest employer of refugees in the West Bank with 35.8% (compared to 60.3% in Gaza Strip), followed by the trade sector with 21.7% in the West Bank (compared to 15.9% in Gaza Strip).
Education
According to the primary results of the Education Survey for the 2011/2012 scholastic year, there were 2,704 schools in the Palestinian Territory: 2,016 in the West Bank and 688 in Gaza Strip. These were distributed by supervising authority as follows: 2,004 governmental schools, 341 UNRWA schools, and 359 private schools. The total number of students in these schools was 1,136,164, of whom 567,270 were male and 568,894 female. There were 769,694 students enrolled in governmental schools, 270,406 enrolled in UNRWA schools, and 96,064 enrolled in private schools.
The illiteracy rate among Palestinians aged 15 years and above was 4.7% in 2011, distributed as 2.1% of males and 7.4% of females. In the field of higher education, there are 14 universities and 15 university colleges offering programs leading to a bachelor degree: five universities and five university colleges in Gaza Strip and nine universities and 10 university colleges in the West Bank. There are 20 intermediate community colleges: 15 in the West Bank and five in Gaza Strip.
Macroeconomics: Prices during 2011
Average prices in the Palestinian Territory increased by 2.88% in 2011 compared with 2010: by 4.13% in Jerusalem (J1), 3.54% in the West Bank and 0.57% in Gaza Strip. In comparison with the base year of 2004, average prices in the Palestinian Territory had increased by 32.71%: by 31.16% in the West Bank, 32.55% in Gaza Strip and 34.08% in Jerusalem (J1).
Trade: Limited Palestinian exports
Both imports and exports of goods increased in 2010 compared to 2009. In 2010, the value of imported goods totaled US $3,958.5 million, an increase of 9.9% compared to 2009. The total value of exports was US $575.5 million, an increase of 11.0% compared to 2009. As a result, the net trade balance on goods recorded a deficit of US $3,383 million in 2010, an increase of 9.8% compared to 2009.
The results indicate that only 15.2% of total exports were exported abroad, while 84.8% of exports were exported to Israel. The limited number of exports abroad was due to Israeli restrictions on Palestinian exports, especially from the Gaza Strip.
Information Society
The percentage of households with a computer in the Palestinian Territory is 50.9%: 53.2% in the West Bank and 46.5% in Gaza Strip. An Internet connection was available in 30.4% of households in the Palestinian Territory in 2011: 30.6% in the West Bank and 30.0% in Gaza Strip. The percentage of households with a satellite dish in 2011 was 93.9%: 95.9% in the West Bank and 90.1% in Gaza Strip. The results also indicated that 44.0% of households in the Palestinian Territory have a fixed telephone line: 45.3% in the West Bank and 41.6% in Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, 95.0% of households have a mobile phone: 95.1% in the West Bank and 94.7% in Gaza Strip.
Tourism
Tourism in the Palestinian Territory is the sector most affected by the Israeli occupation since Israeli companies and tourist offices exert a blanket monopoly on groups and Christian pilgrims to the Church of the Nativity and other historical and religious sites.
According to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism, the number of Christian pilgrims in 2011 to the Church of the Nativity alone totaled 1.1 million visitors. Data from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism show that there were around 3.4 million visitors to Israel in 2011, worth more than 16 billion Israeli shekels to the Israeli economy, while the economic impact of these tourist groups on the occupied Palestinian Territory is limited.
Environment
The average quantity of water consumed by economic establishments in the Palestinian Territory in 2011 was 4.3 million cubic meters per month in all economic activities. The average quantity of water consumed by economic establishments in the West Bank was 3.2 million cubic meters per month and 1.1 million cubic meters per month in Gaza Strip. In 2011, 62.2% of economic establishments in the Palestinian Territory used the wastewater network to dispose of their wastewater, compared with 15.5% using porous cesspits.
During 2011, economic establishments in the Palestinian Territory produced 17,026.6 tons of solid waste per month, mostly from the industrial activities sector (10,945.3 tons per month): 14,738.8 tons were produced in the West Bank and 2,287.8 tons in Gaza Strip.
Data for 2011 reveal that 47.2% of households in the Palestinian Territory considered the water quality to be good: 70.9% in the West Bank compared to 5.3% in Gaza Strip. In 1999, the percentage was 6.8% in Gaza Strip. |
