By Rebecca Eneyni
On January 20th, when Israel began rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine at astounding rates, media outlets jumped on the opportunity to applaud the nation’s medical successes, vaccinating almost 15% of the country’s population of over 9 million (1). On March 8th, when Israeli leaders celebrated the country’s 5 millionth coronavirus vaccination, the government began vaccinating Palestinian laborers. The 5 millionth Israeli COVID-19 vaccine coincided with the inception of vaccinating the 5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. While the 20% of Palestinian citizens living in Israeli citizenship receive vaccine access, the undefined settler population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where Palestinians live under Israeli rule - subject to Israeli taxation, central bank, borders, currency, and medical access - have been denied critical healthcare services, prompting human rights advocates to label Israel as committing “medical apartheid.”
Once vaccinated, Israeli citizens are awarded a green pass, a digital passport that grants the fully vaccinated access to gyms, cultural events, wedding halls, stadiums, and arenas. To the unvaccinated Palestinian population, however, entry to these facilities remains prohibited. By creating a two-tiered system which determines amenity access through an unequal vaccine distribution, the Israeli government has thereby constructed a medically segregated system that conceals its xenophobia in the guise of public health responsibility.
As of January 6th, 2021, the Palestinian territories have suffered 144,257 cases and 1,663 COVID-19 deaths (2). In fact, according to head of Palestinian Medical Relief Society, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, occupied territories boast a far higher infection rate (nearly 35%) as opposed to Israel (4.5%) (4). Without widespread vaccine access, the close living conditions of settlements and medical disparities (lack of ventilators, sanitation procedures, etc.) prove disastrous for Palestinian contagion and mortality rates. As Palestinian infections skyrocketed, UN special rapporteur Michael Lynk reminded Israel of its legal commitment under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which “requires that Israel, the occupying power, must ensure that all the necessary preventive means available to it are utilized to ‘combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics” (3). Pressure from human rights advocacy groups such as Amnesty International has elicited Israel’s pledge that it will begin vaccinating Palestinian permanent settlers. While Israel has ceded to global outrage, its vaccine programme is another reminder of “the institutionalized discrimination that defines the Israeli government’s policy towards Palestinians,” said Saleh Higazy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
The term medical aparthied has become more prevalent due to the Israel vaccine agenda, but has significant roots in BIPOC populations in the United States. Medical Apartheid, Harriet Washington’s 2007 acclaimed book, traces the medical abuse of Black people by white institutions that cultivated the phenomenon of Black iatrophobia, or fear of medicine (5). The mistreatment of Black Americans, subject to phony medical studies, untested chemical products, and risky vaccines, has created a modern-day anomaly where Black people increasingly avoid medical exams, refuse medication, and deny critical medical research trials. The gruesome history of the Black diaspora sheds light on the etymology and modern applications of medical apartheid.
The Israeli case is by no means an isolated event. It stands as an indication of the larger genocidal practices of apartheid states and the implicit geopolitical privilege of occupying governments compared to their non-citizened settlers. Moreover, with recent announcements that Duke University will be only permitting on-campus housing for vaccinated students, setting an example likely to be followed by other private institutions, the debate of ‘medical apartheid’ is increasingly relevant. While Duke University is offering unanimous vaccine access to students, inherited generational fears of medical procedures by certain minority populations may prevent some from participating, resulting in their denial of campus entry. Thus the importance of creating equitable healthcare access is even more pressing in the Israel case, as we seek to prevent Palestinian iatrophobia in current cases of medical abuse.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of international humanitarian groups to bear witness to crimes of medical apartheid, especially in the modern era of antibiotic resistance, the proliferation of zoonotic diseases such as coronavirus, and looming health repercussions of environmental change. Therefore, Israel should not be heralded as a “model for the rest of the world” but rather an important example of the necessity of universal and equitable healthcare (6).
References
Huizen, Jennifer. “Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout in Israel: Successes, Lessons and Caveats.” Medical News Today. 22 Jan, 2021. (link)
Gold, Ariel. “Israel Is Demonstrating Medical Apartheid, Not Vaccine Leadership.” The Wire. 20 Jan, 2021. (link)
Sabawi, Samah and Nick Reimer. “Israel’s Dan David Prize and Vaccine Apartheid.” Al Jazeera. 2 Mar 2021. (link)
Jnena, Anas Mohammed. “Protests Mount Over Israeli Medical Apartheid during Pandemic.” Global Voices. 24 Jan 2021. (link)
“‘Medical Apartheid.’” Color Lines. 2 Mar 2007. (link)
Magid, Jacob. “Fauci to Tol: Israeli Vaccine Effort a ‘Model for the Rest of the World.’” The Times of Israel. 19 Feb 2021. (link)