In focus: The Right to Security

Palestinians’ biggest threat to security is the physical violence they face in the form of air, naval and ground assaults, which are exasperated by restrictions on movement in the West Bank, a policy of containment in Gaza and arrests and imprisonments by Israeli forces.

This is all against the backdrop of widespread food insecurity, lack of medical services and severe poverty in general. The insecurity Palestinians face is therefore multifaceted, involving their inability to access food, resources, health services and their inability to gain freedom from fear or want.

Article three of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. International agencies including the United Nations agree that ‘human security’ necessarily involves freedom and dignity.

In Palestine, the blockade on Gaza, severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people, the destruction of homes and infrastructure, the severe lack of basic supplies (such as food, money, fuel and medicines) and restrictions on reconstruction all deprive Palestinians of their basic right to life, liberty and security of person.

Interpal is running an on-going advocacy campaign, each month raising awareness of the rights, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that are denied to Palestinians.

We encourage all our donors to write to their local MP and demand that the latter supports the fundamental right of Palestinians to gain security and freedom from fear or want.