Both are Palestinian residents of Kafr ‘Aqab, a territory that, under Israeli law, is part of Greater Jerusalem, but under international law is considered an illegally annexed territory after its capture from Jordan in 1967.
It is also isolated from Jerusalem by Israel’s gigantic concrete security wall. Jewish Israelis rarely come here, except in uniform to conduct military attacks.
Mahmoud Oudeh, like thousands of other residents of the city, has a Palestinian identity document. His friend Anan abu Aishe has an Israeli identity document, which defines him as a permanent resident of East Jerusalem. This gives him the right to join Israel’s world-leading vaccination campaign, which is underway to meet the government’s goal of inoculating the entire country by the end of March.
But at least 4.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza are being left behind. So far, none have received the injections and most are unlikely to receive them anytime soon – because there is no Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the Palestinian territories.
So if Anan gets the vaccine and stays with his friend, slicing and selling goat meat and carcasses hanging from hooks in the store, he says he will feel guilty.
“Half the people here can’t take it, so I’m not going to accept it either, why would I do it if they can’t? I’m not going, ”he told CNN.
“It’s racist,” added Mahmoud.
According to United Nations experts, an immunization policy that differentiates those with an Israeli identity from those without an identity is “unacceptable”.
The UN expert’s report states that Israel is the occupying power in and over Gaza and the West Bank, and has been since 1967 and therefore, ultimately, is responsible for the health of those living under occupation.
According to the experts’ report, published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Israel should extend its vaccination campaign to all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Experts also said: “4.5 million Palestinians will remain unprotected and exposed to Covid-19, while Israeli citizens living close to and among themselves – including the Israeli settler population – will be vaccinated. Morally and legally, this differential access to Necessary health care in the midst of the worst global health crisis in a century is unacceptable. ”
But as Israel’s vaccination campaign exceeds 20% of the Israeli population (including residents of East Jerusalem), this is not a characterization that Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein accepts.
“Our calculation was based on Israeli citizens. If we arrive at the situation where everyone in the country who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, we will be more than ready to share the vaccines with our neighbors,” Edelstein told CNN.
“At this stage, we are talking about Israeli citizens … I have not heard of any obligation on Israel to pay for someone else’s vaccines.”
The Israeli government points to the Oslo agreements, signed in the mid-1990s with the Palestine Liberation Organization, that led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Included in the first of these agreements is a clause that makes the PA responsible for the health of all Palestinians under their civilian administration.
Experts admit that it is not a simple task to try to navigate between the responsibilities assigned by Oslo, which was not a final status agreement, and the duties provided for in the Geneva Conventions.
In his interview with CNN, Edelstein expressed the decision in terms of interests and not obligations.
“At this stage, we are not providing vaccines, but we understand that it is in Israel’s interest to ensure that we do not get into a situation where we are vaccinated and then out of this problem, and on the Palestinian side there is another increase in numbers,” added Edelstein .
PA Health Minister Dr. Mai Al-Kaileh says she expects to receive the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of March, but there is still no specific date for its arrival. The ministry says it has signed a contract with four companies that produce the vaccine. These vaccines will cover 70% of the Palestinian population and the World Health Organization will provide the Ministry with 20%, “said the AP in a January 9 statement.
At Ramallah Central Public Hospital, doctors work around the clock treating patients with coronavirus in an exclusive intensive care unit at Covid. As with many other hospitals around the world, non-specialized teams have been called in to help deal with the pandemic. But after a prolonged block, hospitalizations are dropping and on CNN visit days, the ICU unit is not full.
Dr. Wafa Shihadeh, a resident general surgeon, has been working at Covid-19 wards for months. He says he saw many of his colleagues succumb to the infection and spread it to their families.
“We are starting to feel depressed because we are not getting vaccines here in the Palestinian territories,” he said. “And across the border, Israel … I think about 1,600,000 people were vaccinated three days ago, and here in Palestine the number of people vaccinated is zero.”
Abeer Salman contributed to this report.