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ABSTRACT
This article examines the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine both in Palestine and globally through a decolonial lens. In dominant Euro-American discourse, the invention, production, and distribution of the vaccine is largely judged as an indicator of sophisticated and advanced health care systems and economies. The underlying premise being that the advanced, wealthy, and capable nation-states have endogenously earned the position of power and prosperity. The world’s poor nation-states are posited as the recipients of charity from these rich states only after the latter have sufficiently inoculated themselves. The entire discourse turns the question of vaccines into a series of technical questions about capabilities, facilities, infrastructure, economic purchasing power, and so on. Concealed in this discourse is a settler colonial foundation – an aspiration towards omnipresent and absolute power – which not only creates the contrast between Palestinians and Israelis, rich and poor, colonizer and colonized, but also seals a forcefully imposed settler colonial contract in which colonizing populations ensure their ability to inoculate themselves by debilitating the colonized.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Scholarship on settler colonialism agrees that Israel is a settler colonial state (e.g. Khalidi Citation2020; Salamanca et al. Citation2012; Wolfe Citation2006).
2 Cited from, Israel is starting to vaccinate, but Palestinians may have to wait months. Washington Post, December 19, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-vaccine-palestinians-coronavirus/2020/12/18/f1d8d572-4083-11eb-b58b-1623f6267960_story.html (accessed July 27, 2021).
3 A special thanks to Ardi Imseis for alerting me to the specific articles that Israel is violating.
4 Cited from, Palestinians excluded from Israeli Covid vaccine rollout as jabs go to settlers. The Guardian, January 3, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/03/palestinians-excluded-from-israeli-covid-vaccine-rollout-as-jabs-go-to-settlers (accessed August 4, 2021).
5 In a World First, Israel Launches Third COVID Jab Campaign for People Over 60.Haaretz, July 29, 2021, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/in-a-world-first-israel-launches-third-covid-jab-campaign-for-people-over-60-1.10052977 (accessed August 4, 2021).
6 Jack Khoury, A Third of Israeli Arabs have yet to be vaccinated against COVID. Haaretz, August 10, 2021, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-a-third-of-israeli-arabs-have-yet-to-be-vaccinated-against-covid-1.10102528 (accessed August 11, 2021).
7 Some of the dates are in some cases slightly off due to data availability. For example, there is no data available for Palestine’s full vaccination between April 24 and April 29. Therefore, it is possible that full vaccination rates for Palestinians reached beyond 1% sometime between April 24 and April 30 as opposed to changing on the day of April 30 itself. These slight changes are not significant for my analysis, since I’m interested in overall patterns and not specific dates.
8 Cited from: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#source-information-country-by-country (accessed July 27, 2021).
9 Cited from: Israel Vaccinated 105,000 Palestinian Workers Against COVID With First Dose. Haaretz, March 18, 2021, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-vaccinated-105-000-palestinian-workers-against-covid-with-first-dose-1.9632346 (accessed July 27, 2021).
10 Cited from: Palestinian Authority calls off vaccine exchange with Israel. Aljazeera, June 18, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/18/palestinians-to-get-1-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-israel-swap (accessed July 27, 2021).
11 Cited from: Lazar Berman, Israel may toss millions of vaccines. Why won’t it give them to the PA instead? The Times of Israel, May 5, 2021, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-may-toss-millions-of-vaccines-why-wont-it-give-them-to-the-pa-instead/ (accessed July 27, 2021).
12 COVID-19: Poor left behind as rich nations “hoarding vaccines”. Aljazeera, December 9, 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/9/poor-countries-seen-missing-out-as-rich-nations-hoard-covid-vacci (accessed July 30, 2021).
13 Cited from: Germany to include Israel in EU deal for vaccine, citing “special relationship”. The Times of Israel, October 14, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-to-include-israel-in-eu-deal-for-vaccine-citing-special-relationship/ (accessed July 30, 2021).
14 Cited from: Germany to include Israel in EU deal for vaccine, citing “special relationship”. The Times of Israel, October 14, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-to-include-israel-in-eu-deal-for-vaccine-citing-special-relationship/ (accessed July 30, 2021).
15 Rich states’ Covid deals ‘may deprive poor of vaccine for years.The Guardian, November 3, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/03/rich-states-covid-deals-may-deprive-poor-of-vaccine-for-years (accessed July 29, 2021).
16 As reported here: ‘According to the UNDP, eight out of ten people pushed into poverty directly by the pandemic are projected to live in the world’s poorest countries in 2030. Estimates also suggest that the economic impacts of COVID-19 may last until 2024 in low-income countries, while high-income countries could reach pre-COVID-19 per capita GDP growth rates by the end of this year’. Cited from: COVID vaccines: Widening inequality and millions vulnerable. UN News, September 19, 2021, https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1100192 (accessed September 28, 2021).
17 This does not only concern patents. As legal scholars explain, the intellectual property rights ‘which are included in the original proposed Trips waiver’ are ‘copyright, trade secrets, and designs – not just patents’ (Bosse, Kang, and Thambisetty Citation2021). And while patents are critical, ‘trade secrets, which protect different kinds of exclusive information, including data gathered during the regulatory approval process, and tacit know-how are also essential for manufacturing and producing vaccines’ (Bosse, Kang, and Thambisetty Citation2021).
18 Cited from ‘Letter to the European Commission and EU Member States regarding the TRIPS waiver’: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/updates/letter-european-commission-and-eu-member-states-regarding-trips-waiver (accessed July 30, 2021).
19 Typical of this is the United Kingdom’s statement in response to the waiver, disputing that Intellectual Property (IP) laws are a ‘problem’, opening the door for endless stalling dialogues and discussion, and highlighting the need for ‘innovation’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-statement-to-the-trips-council-item-15 accessed August 1, 2021; for an overview of these talking points from the EU and the UK see Usher Citation2020). South Africa’s opening and closing statements at the TRIPS Council meeting in October 2020 present a very strong counterargument to these talking points (https://www.keionline.org/34235 accessed August 1, 2021). Among other things, the statements make clear that it is not IP laws and rights that have enabled the production of the vaccines but a very large amount of public funds from various states across the world and the incredible multinational and coordinated efforts of scientists and researchers. For a point by point response of EU and UK talking points, see ‘Seven Reasons the EU is Wrong to Oppose the TRIPS Waiver’ from Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/03/seven-reasons-eu-wrong-oppose-trips-waiver (released June 3, 2021) (accessed August 2, 2021).
20 See: Wealthy countries block COVID-19drugs rights waiver at WTO. Reuters, November 20, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-wto/wealthy-countries-block-covid-19-drugs-rights-waiver-at-wto-sources-idUKKBN28020X?edition-redirect=uk (accessed August 1, 2021).
21 Pharmaceutical industry dispatches army of lobbyists to block generic COVID-19vaccines.The Intercept, April 13, 2021, https://theintercept.com/2021/04/23/covid-vaccine-ip-waiver-lobbying/ (accessed August 2, 2021).
22 Cited from: https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2021/may/statement-ambassador-katherine-tai-covid-19-trips-waiver (released May 5, 2021) (accessed August 2, 2021).
23 As reported here, ‘U.S. companies, which strive to influence the [U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai] USTR’s trade negotiations, are already mobilizing to try to ensure the WTO talks lead to a waiver that is as narrowly targeted as possible’. Cited from: WTO vaccine waiver could take months to negotiate, faces opposition – experts. Reuters, May 6, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/china/vaccine-ip-waiver-could-take-months-wto-negotiate-experts-2021-05-06/.
24 Cited from The U.S. Department of State: https://www.state.gov/policy-issues/global-health/ (accessed August 2, 2021).
25 Cited from: https://media.defense.gov/2021/Mar/04/2002593656/-1/-1/0/SECRETARY-LLOYD-J-AUSTIN-III-MESSAGE-TO-THE-FORCE.PDF (accessed August 5, 2021).
26 Cited from: https://media.defense.gov/2021/Mar/04/2002593656/-1/-1/0/SECRETARYLLOYD-J-AUSTIN-III-MESSAGE-TO-THE-FORCE.PDF (accessed August 5, 2021).
27 Cited from: Terri Moon Cronk, Top military medical doctor predicts coronavirus longevity. DOD News, August 4, 2021, https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2719995/top-military-medical-doctor-predicts-coronavirus-longevity/ (accessed August 5, 2021).
28 See: Fact Sheet: President Biden to Announce All Americans to be Eligible for Vaccinations by May 1, Puts the Nation on a Path to Get Closer to Normal by July 4th. The White House Briefing Room, March 11, 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/11/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-announce-all-americans-to-be-eligible-for-vaccinations-by-may-1-puts-the-nation-on-a-path-to-get-closer-to-normal-by-july-4th/ (accessed August 5, 2021).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Mark Muhannad Ayyash
Mark Muhannad Ayyash was born and raised in Silwan, Al-Quds (Jerusalem), before immigrating to Canada, where he is now a Professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University. He is the author of A Hermeneutics of Violence (UTP, 2019). He has published several articles in journals such as Interventions, the European Journal of International Relations, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and the European Journal of Social Theory. He also has a co-edited book on Protests and Generations in the MENA and the Mediterranean, and has written opinion pieces for Al-Jazeera, The Baffler, Middle East Eye, Mondoweiss, Politics Today, and Middle East Monitor. He is currently writing a book on settler colonial sovereignty in Palestine-Israel.