The Ten Plagues

1. Poverty
Almost 58 percent of Palestinians live in poverty, and about half of this group lives in extreme poverty. About 50 percent of Palestinians experience or risk experiencing food insecurity. Food insecurity is particularly severe in Gaza, where the majority of the population relies on humanitarian assistance to survive.


2. Restrictions on movement
There are many physical barriers, including 100 permanent checkpoints and the separation wall, to Palestinian movement within the West Bank, greatly complicating governmental and NGO efforts towards improved service delivery.

3. Water shortage
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians suffer from a severe water shortage throughout the summer. This shortage of water affects every function that water plays in human life: drinking, bathing, cleaning, and watering of crops and animals.The water shortage violates the basic human rights of Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories such as the right to health, to adequate housing, to equality, and to benefit from their natural resources.

4. Destruction of Olive Trees
Olive trees have long been a symbol of Palestinian culture and livelihood. The construction of the Wall and invasive settling of Palestinian territory have destroyed hundreds of thousands of Palestinian olive trees since 2000.

5. Home demolitions
Since 1967, over 18,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, leaving tens of thousands of families traumatized and without shelter.
 

6. Family Separation

Over 120,000 permits for family unification pending. Palestinians are prevented from moving between Gaza, West Bank, or Jerusalem for visits, medical care, or to live together as a family.


7. Child prisoners
Systematic attacks on children and their parents, in Gaza and the West Bank, traumatizes an entire generation and violates international law in an attempt to limit Palestinian self determination.


8. Profiteering of Private Companies

Numerous private companies, including Caterpillar, engage in the destruction of Palestinian land and homes for monetary gain.

9. Denial of the Right of Return
The original Palestinian refugees and their descendants are estimated to number more than 6.5 million and constitute the world’s oldest and largest refugee population. However, Palestinians are not granted many of the same rights that are granted to other refugees. The plight of Palestinian refugees needs to be resolved equitably and in a manner that promotes peace and is consistent with international law.

10. Erasing histories
Many schools and communities wrongly teach that in 1948 Palestine was “a land without a people for a people without a land.” Yet this land was never empty or barren, it was home to almost one million Palestinians living in over 700 villages and cities, who share a vibrant history and culture.


haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues