Flu vaccine
Flu vaccineFlash90

In an article published in The Guardian today (Sunday, Jan 1st) the publication claims that while Israel is "celebrating an impressive, record-setting drive" of COVID vaccinations, "Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza" are left out to dry.

The article points to "a stark...divide" between people in "richer nations" and those in "the Palestinian territories," pointing out that Prime Minister Netanyahu has already received the treatment, and quoting a "health ministry official" as saying "Israel is charging $62 a dose," while Americans pay $19.50.

The article goes on to claim that Israel's health system is taking care of "Jewish settlers" "deep in the West Bank" while forcing PA Arabs to "wait for weeks or months" to receive the vaccine.

A resident of Shchem (Nablus) is then quoted as asking why PA residents aren't a "priority" [like Israelis].

"Who cares about us? I don’t think anybody is stuck on that question," the man is cited as saying.

More than halfway through the report, the author remembers that Israel is the one who has offered to provide (free of charge) surplus vaccines to PA Arabs, but blames the Jewish state of mistreating the local Arabs. "Three decades [after Oslo], Israeli, Palestinian and international rights groups have accused Israel of dodging moral, humanitarian, and legal obligations as an occupying power," it states.

The author acknowledges that the World Health Organization (WHO) has "pledged to [provide free vaccinations for] 20% of Palestinians," at the same time maintaining that the PA has avoided "officially asking Israel for help" while ignoring the fact that it was the PA who cut off security coordination with Israel and the US after pressure from the Trump administration and normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain, viewed by PA leadership as "betrayal of the Palestinian cause."

The author goes on to gloat at the idea that Israel may well be on its way to "herd immunization" but since "thousands of [Judea and Samaria Arabs] work in Israel...this could keep infection rates up."

The article refers to Gaza as an "impoverished enclave under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade," mentioning, nonetheless, that its "Islamist rulers, Hamas...are enemies with Israel and political rivals with the PA." It then quotes an official at a "Hamas-run Gaza press office" providing an "estimate [that] vaccines would arrive 'within two months'. In this case, the official mentions "coordination [between Hamas], WHO and the PA."