Human rights and religion in Palestine

Abstract

This paper on Palestine (the Palestinian Territories, which are defined as East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip) is based on generally available information, on data gathered in the Religion and Human Rights 1.0 project research (conducted in the greater Bethlehem area in 2008), and on material from the personal investigations of the author. The research question in this paper is the human rights situation in Palestine, with particular reference to religion and young people. My conclusions are several. The Christian and Muslim young people mostly identify themselves as religious and generally support human rights. But the Occupation (military control) of many aspects of Palestinian life by Israel does affect the exercise of human rights. The Palestinian Authority and Israel are both accused of certain violations of human rights. Short of a durable peace treaty, the Occupation will affect the human rights of all Palestinians as well as any discussion of other human rights issues.