by Joy Portella
Peace between Israel and Palestine has been elusive for decades, and the politics of this ongoing conflict are tremendously complicated. But the humanitarian impact of Israel’s five-decade occupation of Palestinian territories is clear: Palestinians suffer terribly.
A group called the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) recently published a thoughtful and well-researched report that highlights this suffering. AIDA is a membership organization of 70+ organizations that provide humanitarian, development, and other types of assistance in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). Every day, these groups witness firsthand how the 50-year Israeli military occupation of the OPT has impacted people’s lives.
Palestinians grapple with dozens of crippling restrictions and human rights violations daily. Their grim reality makes it extremely difficult to get jobs, medical care, or even basics like nutritious food and clean water. You can read all about the reality of Palestinians’ lives in this report.
AIDA urges an end to the Israeli military occupation, and points to this as the ONLY action that can create a meaningful change in the desperate situation of Palestinians. As a group of humanitarian and development agencies, AIDA cannot recommend a political course of action to end occupation, but they want the world to get serious about it.
Minerva Strategies cares deeply about this issue, and with our design partner Chronicler Studio, we created this summary version of the report with AIDA. Our hope is that this more accessible and colorful version will help more people engage with the report’s findings, and maybe make peace a little less elusive.
