The Guardian reports on a new study showing that the Israeli occupation has deprived the Palestinian economy of $6.9 billion, which would amount to 85% of the current Palestinian gross domestic product. This is the result of daily occupation practices, such as lack of freedom of movement, restrictions over water usage and other natural resources as well as import and export limits.
In addition, the report outlines the ways the Israeli economy benefits from the “occupation enterprise.” One case study:
Pal Karm Company for Cosmetics, located in Nablus, sells cosmetics and skin care products in the local market and exports to Israel. Glycerin is an essential raw material for the company. Israel has banned the entry of glycerin into the Palestinian Territory since mid-2007. Ever since then, the company has been unable to sell skin care products in the Israeli market because the Israeli health authorities require glycerin to be part of such products. The company estimates its losses at 30% of its sales in the Israeli market for this product.
From the report’s (PDF) introduction:
The Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territory imposes a huge price tag on the Palestinian economy. Israeli restrictions prevent Palestinians from accessing much of their land and from exploiting most of their natural resources; they isolate the Palestinians from global markets, and fragment their territory into small, badly connected, “cantons”. As recently highlighted also by international economic organisations, including the World Bank, UNCTAD and the IMF, these restrictions are the main impediment to any prospects of a sustainable Palestinian economy.
Acknowledging this, and in spite of data scarcity and challenges in carrying out such an immense task the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy teamed up with the Applied Research InstituteJerusalem (ARIJ), an independent think-tank, to provide the first systematic quantification of the annual costs imposed by the occupation on the Palestinian economy. The main results of such analysis are presented in this bulletin, which aims to be a regular publication monitoring and quantifying the costs of Israeli restrictions on the Palestinian economy.
Many of these restrictions have been in place since the start of the occupation in 1967, reflecting an unchanged colonial attitude of Israel, which aims to exploit Palestinian natural resources (including land, water and mining resources) for its own economic benefits. This “exploitative” policy has been coupled by the desire of Israel to prevent any Palestinian competition with Israeli economic interests. This attitude is summed up by Yitzhak Rabin, while holding the post of Israel’s defense minister in 1986: “there will be no development initiated by the Israeli Government, and no permits will be given for expanding agriculture or industry, which may compete with the State of Israel” (UNCTAD 1986). This has been (and still is) reflected in a series of Israeli obstacles related to customs, transportation and infrastructure which have prevented the development of a competitive Palestinian tradable sector and of Palestinian trade with non-Israeli partners.
Today these restrictions have deepened further and according to our estimations in 2010 they are almost equal to the value of the entire Palestinian economy. The total costs imposed by the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian economy which we have been able to measure was USD 6.897 billion in 2010, a staggering 84.9% of the total estimated Palestinian GDP. In other words, had the Palestinians not been subject to the Israeli occupation, their economy would have been almost double in size than it is today.
I think the numbers are way too low.
what was Palestinian GDP in 2000 ? What would it be now if it had the same growth rate as Egypt over the period ? Or Bulgaria ? Subtract current GDP and the answer will be far higher than 85% of current GDP.
Israel trashed the OT in 2002. What would GDP be like if Gaza’s airport hadn’t been destroyed, if Gaza had a working port?
These are the policies that are destroying the Palestinian economy
http://www.btselem.org/testimonies/20110126_cancer_patient_mahmoud_a_najar_dies_after_delay_in_medical_treatmet_witness
For 16 days, Israel delays arrival of Mahmud a-Najar, 15, at hospital in East Jerusalem for cancer treatment, Jan. 2011.
Mahmoud a-Najar, 15
On 17 October 2010, a Monday, I was at home because it was a festival. Around 11:30 A.M., my mother returned from the market, and I went down to help carry up the things she had bought. When she saw me, she asked, “What happened to you? You’re pale.” I said I didn’t know. I picked up a few bags and carried them to our apartment, which is on the fifth floor. My mother asked my brothers to take me to the doctor, but we didn’t go, because we thought that it was only the flu.
My condition didn’t get any better over the next few days. It got worse. I felt tired and weak most of the time and couldn’t walk a lot. On 4 December, my brothers and my uncle took me to Kamal ‘Adwan Hospital. I underwent tests and my white blood-cell count was high. I took another blood test, and the count came out high again. The doctor referred me to a-Shifaa Hospital for treatment. At a-Shifaa, the doctors took another blood count. I was hospitalized in the internal medicine department because they thought it would be difficult for me psychologically to be with cancer patients whose condition was worse. The doctors thought I had leukemia. I underwent more blood counts at a diagnostic center next to a-Shifaa, along with a spinal test. They found out for certain that I have blood cancer .
Two doctors prepared a form for treatment abroad, and my uncle Muhammad took it to the department that issues the referrals for treatment abroad. The next day, 14 December, we received the referral. My uncle made an appointment for me at Augusta Victoria Hospital, in East Jerusalem, on the 28th of December. That same day, the 14th, we received confirmation from Augusta Victoria, inviting me for treatment.
My uncle took all the medical documents, the referral, and the invitation from Augusta Victoria Hospital and went, the same day, to the Ministry for Civil Affairs, in Gaza City, to apply for a permit to enter Israel. He got there at 3:00 P.M., and the office was closed. He returned the next day and submitted the request for me and my mother, so she could go with me. Then he came to visit me at the hospital, and I asked him if he submitted the request. I was very frightened because of my condition, and also because my father is ill and suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and liver and heart problems. My father had a permit to enter Israel. He went to Beilinson Hospital, in Israel, last week. At first, the Israelis refused to issue the permit, but he finally got it. Now, I’m waiting for the permit so I can get treatment for my illness.
I didn’t get the permit by the 28th, the day of the appointment. Somebody from the Palestinian Civil Affairs Ministry called and said that the Israeli army wanted somebody other than my mother to go with me. My uncle gave them the names of a few aunts, on both sides of the family, but all were rejected. At the end, we got a permit for an aunt on my mother’s side. On 2 January, my uncle went to the ministry to check if an answer had arrived. The clerk said the Israeli side was still studying my file.
The Israelis still are not allowing me to get treatment. The doctors told me that my kidneys are barely functioning, and that I have a swollen spleen. Two days ago (10 January), they prepared a medical report for the ministry to send to the Israelis, so we’d get the permit faster.
Now I also have pneumonia, and I am unable to walk without help. I get a blood transfusion every day. My blood tests are getting worse and my hemoglobin is down to eight.
My condition is very bad. I want to receive treatment as soon as possible. I am still young and want to live like my friends, who are in good health. I want to go back to school and my friends and to play basketball at school again.
Mahmoud Khaled a-Najar, 15, was a resident of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. His testimony was given to Muhammad Sabah on 12 January 2011 at a-Shifaa Hospital, Gaza City.
The importance of the mitzvot
http://www.btselem.org/testimonies/exploitation-palestinian-laborers-working-settlements-jordan-valley-november-2010
Testimony: Exploitation of Palestinian laborers working in settlements in the Jordan Valley, November 2010.
I live in al-Jiftlik. I finished high school last year and began to study at al-Quds Open University in Nablus. To finance my studies, I have been working as a seasonal agricultural laborer. There is no work available in my village, so I work at nearby settlements. I’ve worked at Ro’i, Massu’a, Argaman, Beka’ot, and Niran. Since the work is mostly agricultural, it is not regular and is seasonal. The employee’s rights are not protected, and nobody supervises the work conditions.
Over the years, I’ve worked at growing peppers, tomatoes, and dates. I’ve also worked in chicken coops. For a short time, I worked with a metal worker. I’ve worked in the date groves more than with the other crops. I got the work with the dates through a contractor from my village who works with the Argaman settlement. He transports 40-50 laborers to the kibbutz in his truck. Ten or so of the laborers sit in the front and the others sit in the rear cabin. He covers the rear cabin with rough cloth and closes the back door so that nobody will fall out.
By law, he is allowed to transport in the truck up to four passengers. He stays in contact with other drivers on the road, and in that way manages to avoid getting caught by the police. In the entire period I worked for him, he never got a ticket.
The last work I did was for a member of the Argaman settlement, where I worked in the palm groves. We cut the thorns with long knives, thinned out the dates, tied the clusters, covered them, and picked them when they were ripe. At the end of the season, we gathered the palm leaves. There was a crane to get us to the top of the trees. For the small palm trees, we used steel ladders. Some of the knives they gave us were old and in poor shape.
The day begins at 5:00 A.M. The contractor collects us and drives us to the worksite. We start work at six o’clock. We work six hours a day, not including a half-hour break for breakfast, meaning we work six and a half hours. We receive 60 shekels* a day. Some laborers, who work for other employers, earn 53 shekels, and the permanent laborers earn 65-70 shekels, depending on seniority and type of work. A skilled laborer receives 70 shekels. We are not paid for days we don’t work, and if we work half a day, for whatever reason, we get paid half a day’s wages.
We aren’t paid on a regular basis, but ultimately I always get my pay. We are not insured for work accidents, and we don’t get severance pay or other compensation when the work ends.
Despite these conditions, I have to work and will continue to work with the same employer or for someone else. I have no option. After all, 60 shekels is better than nothing.
* The minimum wage at the time this testimony was given was NIS 20.70 per hour
Walid Khalil Abu Shahin, 20, is a laborer and a resident of al-Jiftlik in Jericho District, the West Bank. His testimony was given to ‘Atef Abu a-Rub on 7 November ’10 in al-Jiftlik
However, we should include the economy of semi-resident Tony Blair in the Palestinian one. Then the bottom line will show no commercial loss.