O pinion
Israel Should Help All Palestinians
Get Vaccinated — Obligation or Not
BY MATAN ARAD-NEEMAN
WHILE THE WORLD tries to
quickly and safely vaccinate as
many people as possible against
COVID-19, I’ve watched a
particularly inane legal debate
with horror and frustration.

Some defenders of Israel
seem to be looking for any
technicality in international
law that would relieve Israel
of its obligation to vaccinate
Palestinians. The international
legal consensus is that Israel, as
an occupying power, is obligated
to vaccinate the Palestinians per
the Geneva Convention; Israel
maintains that the Oslo Accords
place the responsibility with the
Palestinian Authority.

When Jewish Israelis and
supporters of the state lose
ourselves in such petty debates,
we reduce ourselves to a nation
of callous people. No provision in
any treaty can obviate the moral
reality that if we can help vacci-
nate others, then we should.

Vaccinating the entire
Palestinian population “is an
important objective, from a
public health point of view, and of
course also from a humanitarian
point of view,” Itamar Grotto, the
former deputy director general
of Israel’s Health Ministry, told
NPR. As an Israeli American
raised with pride in Israel’s
resilience and its medical and
scientific prowess, I believe we
also have the means of doing so.

Israel grabbed headlines
around the world for a highly
effective campaign to rapidly
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM vaccinate Israelis, half of whom
have been fully vaccinated.

In contrast, the vast majority
of Palestinians in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip remain
unvaccinated. Israel has begun
to vaccinate the 133,000
Palestinians who work as day
laborers in Israel and Israeli
settlements in the occupied West
Bank, and has donated 5,000
additional doses to Palestinian
areas following public pressure,
but it has no plan to vaccinate the
millions of other Palestinians.

Some have claimed that
the Palestinian Authority did
not request assistance from
Israel early in the vaccination
campaign. However, since
December, the Palestinian
Authority has been requesting
vaccine doses from Israel. In
January, the Palestinian Foreign
Ministry released a statement
saying that Israel has an obliga-
tion to provide the vaccine to
all Palestinians. Even if the
Palestinian leadership were not
vocal in asking Israel for assis-
tance, Israel could work with the
PA to provide these vaccines as a
goodwill gesture, building trust
in the crucial months just ahead
of rare Palestinian elections.

World Health Organization
data show that Palestinians in
the West Bank have received
20% of its vaccine needs from
the international COVAX
consortium, backed by the
WHO, including 10,000 doses
of a Russian-made vaccine. The
World Bank has urged Israel to
consider donating doses it has
ordered but does not need to the
Palestinians, beyond the 5,000
doses Israel says it has already
delivered to the West Bank.

Even with a patchwork of
vaccines donated by the United
Arab Emirates and other
nations, most Palestinians
will remain unvaccinated for
the foreseeable future without
significant additional donations.

Since February, according to
the BBC, there has been a sharp
increase in both COVID-19 infec-
tions and deaths in the West
Bank and Gaza. On one side of
the Green Line, restaurants and
businesses are filling up with
vaccinated Israelis; on the other
side, Palestinian hospitals are
filling up with COVID-19 patients.

In many global humanitarian
crises, Israel rightfully takes
pride in being the first boots
on the ground to help clean
up the resulting mess. Why is
mobilizing on the COVID-19
crisis any different from
deploying medical volunteers to
far-flung disaster zones?
It is fundamentally true
that Israel is a country with the
resources and ingenuity to vacci-
nate not only its own citizens,
but Palestinians living under its
occupation in the West Bank
and Gaza. The Israeli govern-
ment and nonprofits should
begin prioritizing vaccination of
Palestinians close to home.

Foregoing vaccinations for
Palestinians does not help Israelis.

If anything, ensuring Palestinians
can be vaccinated would make
us safer and help speed up the
country’s economic recovery. As
we’ve learned, COVID-19 pays no
regard to nationality. The virus
will continue to mutate until we
vaccinate a critical mass.

I grew up believing that Israel
is a nation that seeks to do right,
that has a generosity of means
and a generosity of spirit that
is rooted in Jewish values like
tikkun olam. I grew up believing
that to save a life is to save the
entire world. If Israel is that
nation, I can’t think of a better
way of showing it than by vacci-
nating all Palestinians — and
doing so in a spirit not of obliga-
tion, but of shared humanity. l
Matan Arad-Neeman is an Israeli-
American student at Haverford
College. He previously served as
president of J Street U’s National
Board. JEWISH EXPONENT
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
ADL: Pennsylvania ‘Shamefully” Behind on
LGBTQ+ Protection
ADL PHILADELPHIA SUPPORTS Stacy Schusterman’s call to
action for the Jewish community to demand comprehensive and
inclusive protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community
(“LGBTQ People Lack Full Legal Protections in Every State. Jews
Need to Be Part of the Solution,” April 1).

We must support and advocate for the federal and state
versions of the Equality Act, which, as Schusterman writes, will
help ensure the fair and equal treatment of LGBTQ+ people.

Pennsylvania remains a state where the housing and employ-
ment rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community are not
protected. The harm and fear this causes cannot be overstated
— in hearings and in press conferences, individuals have testified
about the discrimination they have suffered due to this critical
gap in the law.

In addition, Pennsylvania shamefully remains a state where
members of the LGBTQ+ community do not enjoy the same
protections from hate crimes as do others. The PA Ethnic
Intimidation statute does not cover crimes in which the victim
is targeted because of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender
expression or disability. Bills to remedy this have been intro-
duced in successive legislative sessions with no action. This sends
messages to the unprotected communities, to law enforcement
and to perpetrators that some communities are not worthy of the
same protection. This is simply unacceptable.

As ADL has always believed, we cannot fight anti-Semitism
unless we fight all forms of hate. It is incumbent on the Jewish
community to be advocating for a fully inclusive hate crimes
statute as well.

Shira Goodman | ADL Philadelphia regional director
Haters Not Strangers
The article about white supremacists in Pennsylvania (“PA Near
Top for White Supremacist Propaganda,” April 1) filled me with
the mixed emotions of anger and sadness and pity. I am angry
because these haters are not strangers.

They are our neighbors. They know us, and they hate us
anyway. That so many people are filled with so much hate fills
me not with more hate but with sadness for their wretched selves.

Psychology can help us understand the “why” and how we can
combat evil — for surely it is evil. l
Sheryl Kalick | Philadelphia
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APRIL 8, 2021
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