Bernie: Making sure all Palestinians receive vaccines is the right thing to do

US Senator Bernie Sanders on Monday applauded Israeli health officials who have urged the Israeli occupation government to vaccinate the Palestinians.

Linking to an NPR article headlined “Israeli Health Officials To Government: Vaccinate All Palestinians,” Sanders tweeted, “I applaud the Israeli health officials for their efforts. Making sure all Palestinians receive vaccines is the right thing to do from both a public health and moral perspective.”

He added, “I hope the Israeli government follows their advice as quickly as possible.”

I applaud the Israeli health officials for their efforts. Making sure all Palestinians receive vaccines is the right thing to do from both a public health and moral perspective. I hope the Israeli government follows their advice as quickly as possible. https://t.co/Gnl2jLUton

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 1, 2021

Last week, Sanders also criticized the Israeli occupation government for sending COVID-19 vaccines to foreign allies before sending vaccines to Palestinians.

Sanders was responding to a New York Times tweet stating that “Israel’s vaccine donations to faraway countries have angered Palestinians who say Israel is responsible for the well-being of Palestinians in the occupied territories, where vaccines are scarce.”

“As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the health of all the people under its control. It is outrageous that Netanyahu would use spare vaccines to reward his foreign allies while so many Palestinians in the occupied territories are still waiting,” Sanders tweeted.

As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the health of all the people under its control. It is outrageous that Netanyahu would use spare vaccines to reward his foreign allies while so many Palestinians in the occupied territories are still waiting. https://t.co/kx4qFPtRQl

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 24, 2021

In the linked story, outgoing Health Ministry deputy director Itamar Grotto told NPR, “This is really important, to vaccinate the entire Palestinian Authority population, and I believe it will go this way.”

“This is the recommendation of all the experts, and I believe that the politicians will follow our recommendations,” he continued.

“It is an important objective, from a public health point of view, and of course also from a humanitarian point of view.”

‘Israel’ has been criticised widely for not giving Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip access to the vaccine while it has been praised for its swift vaccine rollout.

Today, 38.72% of Israel’s population is fully vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University while it excluded the nearly 5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, under Israeli military occupation.

Last January, ‘Israel’ agreed to transfer only 5,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Palestinians to immunize just the front-line medical workers.

Nearly three weeks ago, ‘Israel’ allowed the Palestinians to send the first shipment of 1,000 COVID-19 vaccines donated by Russia to the besieged Gaza Strip, after it banned the entry of the shipment in the same week.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 2,000 doses of the Russian ‘Sputnik V’ vaccine were supposed to enter Gaza Strip, however, ‘Israel’, allowed the entry of only 1000 doses, which has a population of about 2 million.

Under the fourth Geneva Convention, ‘Israel’, as an occupying power, is obligated to provide Palestinians with the vaccines, as the occupying forces are responsible for providing healthcare to the population of the occupied area.

Most states as well as the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, consider ‘Israel’ to be an occupying power.

The UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many other human rights organizations have called on ‘Israel’ to help make vaccines available to the Palestinians, saying ‘Israel’ is obligated to do so under international law.

“The Israeli government must stop ignoring its international obligations as an occupying power and immediately act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are equally and fairly provided to Palestinians living under its occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” said Amnesty International.

To date, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, there have been nearly 2281 deaths related to COVID-19 among Palestinians in the OPT since the beginning of the pandemic, 553 of them in the Gaza strip. 93310 Palestinians have been infected with the virus.