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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic reached all parts of historic Palestine around the same time, but by the end of December 2021, only 29.02 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were fully vaccinated compared to 63.82 percent of Israelis (including Palestinians with Israeli citizenship). The mortality rate from COVID-19 in the West Bank and Gaza was also higher, with 941.84 deaths per million, compared to 887.20 in Israel. This essay argues that these differences are a direct result of Israel’s COVID-19 response policies toward the Palestinians throughout the pandemic, as well as its ongoing siege of Gaza and its military occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The analysis is framed through the lens of necropolitics, defined as the use of political power to decide who lives and who dies. Using the four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic across historic Palestine as a case in point, the essay focuses on the different political states in which Israel abused necropolitical power: the states of emergency, exception, siege, and acceptance.
Notes
1 David Mills et al., “Structural Violence in the Era of a New Pandemic: The Case of the Gaza Strip,” The Lancet, March 26 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30730-3.
2 Zion Hagay, “Israeli Aid to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” The Lancet 396, no. 10255 (September 26, 2020): 882, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31968-1.
3 Bram Wispelwey, Rania Muhareb, and Mads Gilbert, “Permission to Narrate a Pandemic in Palestine,” Middle East Policy 27, no. 2 (Summer 2020): 162–68, https://doi.org/10.1111/mepo.12502.
4 “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations,” Our World in Data, accessed August 2, 2023, https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations.
5 Yara Asi, “Occupation in the Time of COVID-19: Holding Israel Accountable for Palestinian Health,” Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, November 15, 2020, https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/occupation-in-the-time-of-covid-19-holding-israel-accountable-for-palestinian-health/; Fadi Quran and Tahani Mustafa, “Palestine and COVID-19: Lessons for Leadership during Times of Crisis,” Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, September 10, 2020, https://al-shabaka.org/commentaries/palestine-and-covid-19-lessons-for-leadership-during-times-of-crisis/.
6 Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978), 136.
7 Achille Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” Public Culture 15, no. 1 (2003): 11–12, https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-15-1-11.
8 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 12.
9 Tony Sandset, “The Necropolitics of COVID-19: Race, Class and Slow Death in an Ongoing Pandemic,” Global Public Health 16, no. 8–9 (2021): 1411–23, https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1906927.
10 “Israel Confirms First Coronavirus Case as Cruise Ship Returnee Diagnosed,” Times of Israel, February 21, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-confirms-first-coronavirus-case-as-cruise-ship-returnee-diagnosed/.
11 “Palestine Confirms 7 Coronavirus Cases in Bethlehem,” Anadolu Agency, March 5, 2020, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/palestine-confirms-7-coronavirus-cases-in-bethlehem-/1756291.
12 Nidal al-Mughrabi, “First Coronavirus Cases Confirmed in the Palestinian Gaza Strip,” Reuters, March 22, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-corona-palestinians-gaza-idUSKBN219004.
13 “PA Shutters West Bank, Israel Quarantines Bethlehem after Coronavirus Found,” Times of Israel, March 6, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-shutters-west-bank-israel-quarantines-bethlehem-after-coronavirus-found/.
14 Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman and Anna Ahronheim, “Coronavirus: Infected Israelis Hit 707 as Emergency Orders Roll Out,” Jerusalem Post, March 21, 2020, https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/529-Israelis-have-been-diagnosed-with-coronavirus-Health-Ministry-621536.
15 Noam Botosh, Implications of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Aviation Industry [in Hebrew] (Tel Aviv: Knesset Research and Information Center, 2020), https://fs.knesset.gov.il/globaldocs/MMM/17e16c7e-f0a3-ea11-8115-00155d0af32a/2_17e16c7e-f0a3-ea11-8115-00155d0af32a_11_15012.pdf.
16 “Netanyahu Announces Fresh Nationwide Lockdown for End of Passover,” Times of Israel, April 13, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-announces-fresh-nationwide-lockdown-for-end-of-passover/; Ido Efrati, “Comparing Israel’s Three Lockdowns: Have the Ends Justified the Means?,” Haaretz, January 23, 2021, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-01-23/ty-article/.premium/israels-three-lockdowns-variations-on-a-very-skeptical-theme/0000017f-f1f2-d487-abff-f3fe33180000.
17 “Bethlehem under Lockdown after Coronavirus Cases Confirmed,” Al Jazeera, March 7, 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/3/7/bethlehem-under-lockdown-after-coronavirus-cases-confirmed.
18 “Palestinian PM Bans Movement between and inside of Cities,” Group 194, March 23, 2020, https://group194.net/english/article/65862; “Premier Declares End to Corona Lockdown, Decides Return to Normal Life, with Caution,” WAFA News Agency, May 25, 2020, https://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=4q3Bz0a117198864420a4q3Bz0.
19 For more on the issues listed, visit the website of B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, https://www.btselem.org/.
20 Frank S. Rosenthal, “A Comparison of Health Indicators and Social Determinants of Health between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Global Public Health 16, no. 3 (2021): 431–47, https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1808037.
21 Fikr Shalltoot, “If Coronavirus Can Crush Even Well-Equipped Healthcare Systems, Imagine What Could Happen in Gaza,” Independent, April 5, 2020, https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/coronavirus-gaza-weddings-cafes-who-hospitals-a9447936.html.
22 Rosenthal, “A Comparison of Health Indicators.”
23 Farah Najjar, “‘54 Palestinians Die’ as Israel Refuses Medical Permits,” Al Jazeera, February 13, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/2/13/54-palestinians-die-as-israel-refuses-medical-permits.
24 UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, December 16, 1966, Resolution 2200A (XXI), https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights.
25 Carl Schmitt, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty, trans. George Schwab (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2005).
26 Mbembe, “Necropolitics.”
27 Bel Trew, “Israeli Demolitions and Police Raids on Palestinian Towns ‘Threaten Public Health’ as Coronavirus Cases Soar,” Independent, March 28, 2020, https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/long-reads/coronavirus-israel-palestine-police-raid-middle-east-cases-pandemic-a9430216.html.
28 B’Tselem, “During the Coronavirus Crisis, Israel Confiscates Tents Designated for Clinic in the Northern West Bank,” news release, March 26, 2020, https://www.btselem.org/press_release/20200326_israel_confiscates_clinic_tents_during_coronavirus_crisis.
29 “COGAT Delivers 3,000 Coronavirus Test Kits, 50,000 Masks to PA,” Jerusalem Post, March 25, 2020, https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/cogat-delivers-3000-coronavirus-test-kits-50000-masks-to-pa-622371.
30 Sobhi Samour, “COVID-19 and the Necroeconomy of Palestinian Labor in Israel,” JPS 49, no. 4 (2020): 53–64, https://doi.org/10.1525/jps.2020.49.4.53.
31 Suha Arraf, “The Moment a Worker Is Sick, They Throw Him to the Checkpoint Like a Dog,” +972 Magazine, March 24, 2020, https://www.972mag.com/checkpoint-palestinian-laborers-coronavirus/ (emphasis added).
32 Judah Ari Gross, “Government Okays Mass Surveillance of Israelis’ Phones to Curb Coronavirus,” Times Of Israel, March 15, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-okays-mass-surveillance-of-israelis-phones-to-curb-coronavirus/.
33 Elena Chachko and Adam Shinar, “Israel Pushes Its Emergency Powers to Their Limits,” Regulatory Review, April 28, 2020, https://www.theregreview.org/2020/04/28/chachko-shinar-israel-pushes-emergency-powers-limits/; Moshe Maor, Raanan Sulitzeanu-Kenan, and David Chinitz, “When COVID-19, Constitutional Crisis, and Political Deadlock Meet: The Israeli Case from a Disproportionate Policy Perspective,” Policy and Society 39, no. 3 (September 2020): 442–57, https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2020.1783792.
34 Aron Heller, “Protesters Accuse Netanyahu of Exploiting Pandemic for Power Grab,” HuffPost, March 19, 2020, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/protesters-accuse-netanyahu-of-exploiting-pandemic-for-power-grab_n_5e73ae1dc5b6eab779442d65.
35 Lior Lehrs, “Conflict and Cooperation in the Age of COVID-19: The Israeli–Palestinian Case,” International Affairs 97, no. 6 (November 2021): 1843–62, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiab143.
36 “President Abbas Declares End to Agreements with Israel, US; Turns over Responsibility on Occupied Lands to Israel,” WAFA News Agency, May 19, 2020, http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=FX1K7Ta117154132029aFX1K7T.
37 Agence France-Presse, “Palestinians Again Refuse Planeload of Virus Aid from UAE,” Times of Israel, June 11, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-again-refuse-planeload-of-virus-aid-from-uae/.
38 “Premier Reinstates Restrictions as Coronavirus Cases Rise Sharply,” WAFA News Agency, June 20, 2020, http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=nknQbDa117505328886anknQbD.
39 “Premier Orders Stricter COVID-19 Restrictions,” WAFA News Agency, June 27, 2020, http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=gdp0Woa117606214704agdp0Wo.
40 Giorgio Agamben, State of Exception, trans. Kevin Attell (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2005).
41 Based on data obtained from “Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19),” Our World in Data, last accessed August 4, 2023, https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus.
42 Mbembe, “Necropolitics.”
43 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 27.
44 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 25.
45 Associated Press, “Netanyahu Vows to Annex ‘All the Settlements’ in West Bank,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-09-16/israel-leader-vows-annex-all-settlements.
46 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, COVID-19 Emergency, Situation Report 19 (22 September–5 October 2020), October 6, 2020, https://www.ochaopt.org/content/covid-19-emergency-situation-report-19.
47 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 14.
48 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 38.
49 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 14.
50 Stuart Winer, “Israel Will Reportedly Pay Much More than US, EU for Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine,” Times of Israel, November 16, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-will-reportedly-pay-more-than-us-eu-for-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine/; Gali Weinreb, “Israel Changed Plans to Buy AstraZeneca Vaccine,” Globes, November 25, 2020, https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israel-changed-plans-in-buying-astrazeneca-vaccine-1001350876; Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, “Israel, Moderna Sign Expanded Deal for 6 Million COVID Vaccine Doses,” Jerusalem Post, December 6, 2020, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/coronavirus-israel-signs-to-increase-moderna-vaccine-doses-to-6-million-651169.
51 “Israel Transferred Dozens of Vaccine Doses to Palestinian Authority–Report,” Times of Israel, January 7, 2021, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-transferred-dozens-of-vaccine-doses-to-palestinian-authority-report/.
52 “Israel Begins Transferring Coronavirus Vaccines to Palestinian Authority,” Jerusalem Post, February 1, 2021, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/israel-to-begin-transferring-covid-vaccines-to-pa-today-657390.
53 The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, September 28, 1995, Annex III, Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs, Article 17-Health, https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/the-israeli-palestinian-interim-agreement-annex-iii.
54 Eyal Benvenisti, “Israel Is Legally Obligated to Ensure the Population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Are Vaccinated,” Just Security, January 7, 2021, https://www.justsecurity.org/74091/israel-is-legally-obligated-to-ensure-the-population-in-the-west-bank-and-gaza-strip-are-vaccinated/.
55 Amnesty International, “Denying COVID-19 Vaccines to Palestinians Exposes Israel’s Institutionalized Discrimination,” news release, January 6, 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/01/denying-covid19-vaccines-to-palestinians-exposes-israels-institutionalized-discrimination/#:∼:text=While%20Israel%20celebrates%20a%20record,above%20Palestinian%20ones%2C%E2%80%9D%20said%20Saleh; Human Rights Watch, “Israel: Provide Vaccines to Occupied Palestinians,” January 17, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/17/israel-provide-vaccines-occupied-palestinians.
56 UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, “Israel/OPT: UN Experts Call on Israel to Ensure Equal Access to COVID-19 Vaccines for Palestinians,” news release, January 14, 2021, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26655.
57 Zainah El-Haroun, “Palestinian Hospitals Fill Up as Israel Loosens COVID-19 Restrictions,” Reuters, March 9, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-palestinian-idUSKBN2B128P.
58 Carl Schmitt, Dictatorship (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2014); Schmitt, Political Theology.
59 Neve Gordon, “From Colonization to Separation: Exploring the Structure of Israel’s Occupation,” Third World Quarterly 29, no. 1 (2008): 25–44, https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590701726442.
60 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 30.
61 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 30.
62 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 29.
63 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 29 (emphasis in the original).
64 Zainah El-Haroun, “Clashes in Jerusalem Ahead of Court Case on Palestinians’ Eviction,” Reuters, May 5, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/clashes-jerusalem-ahead-court-case-palestinians-eviction-2021-05-05/.
65 Stephen Farrell and Rami Ayyub, “Israeli Police, Palestinians Clash at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa, Scores Injured,” Reuters, May 7, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/thousands-pack-al-aqsa-mosque-protest-palestinian-evictions-jerusalem-2021-05-07/.
66 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt): Response to the Escalation in the oPt–Situation Report No. 10 (September 2021), October 14, 2021, https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-opt-response-escalation-opt-7.
67 Hazem Balousha and Peter Beaumont, “‘Massive Destruction’: Israeli Strikes Drain Gaza’s Limited Health Services,” Guardian, May 17, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/17/israeli-strikes-gaza-health-system-doctors-hospitals.
68 Iyad Abuheweila et al., “Gaza War Deepens a Long-Running Humanitarian Crisis,” New York Times, May 18, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/world/middleeast/gaza-israel.html.
69 Jamie Ducharme, “Conflict in Gaza Strip Could Lead to a New COVID-19 Surge,” Time, May 18, 2021, https://time.com/6049426/gaza-strip-covid-19/.
70 Bel Trew, “Israeli Airstrikes Wiped Out the Family of Gaza’s Leading Doctor. Only His Teenage Son Survived,” Independent, May 24, 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-doctor-family-airstrike-israel-b1851894.html.
71 Mbembe, “Necropolitics,” 29 (emphasis added).
72 “Poll: 72% of Israelis Believe Gaza Operation Should Continue, with No Ceasefire Yet,” Times of Israel, May 20, 2021, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/poll-72-of-israelis-believe-gaza-operation-should-continue-with-no-ceasefire-yet/.
73 Ido Ben Porat, “IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi: ‘My Father Wasn’t an Observant Man, but He Feared G-d,’” Israel National News-Arutz Sheva, September 13, 2022, https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/359772.
74 The Palestinian National Institute of Public Health, COVID-19 Cases in the Gaza Strip: Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin from (10/05 to 23/05 2021) and (24/05 to 06/06 2021), July 15, 2021, https://www.emro.who.int/images/stories/palestine/documents/COVID-19_Gaza_epidemiological_bulletin_6Jun2021.pdf?ua=1; The Palestinian National Institute of Public Health, COVID-19 Cases in the Gaza Strip: Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin from (18/04 to 24/04 2021) and (25/04 to 01/05 2021), May 2, 2021, https://www.un.org/unispal/document/covid-19-cases-in-gaza-who-weekly-epidemiological-bulletin-2-may-2021/.
75 See endnote 74.
76 See endnote 74.
77 Sandset, “The Necropolitics of COVID-19,” 1412.
78 Sandset, “The Necropolitics of COVID-19,” 1412.
79 “Israel Widens 3rd COVID Booster Shot to Those Aged 12 and over,” Times of Israel, August 29, 2021, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-offers-covid-booster-shot-to-all-eligible-for-vaccine/.
80 CFR refers to the proportion of people diagnosed with a disease who eventually die from it.