What have been the effects on the Palestinian economy since the Israeli clamp-down on Palestinian civil society three years ago?
Amnesty International puts it most concisely:
1. Closures and curfews have disrupted the import and transport of raw materials, creating shortages and sharp price rises.
2. Most Palestinian export businesses have lost their export markets as a result of the closures and have extreme difficulties transporting their products between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, or even moving them short distances to local markets. Perishable foodstuffs spoil when repeatedly handled and delayed at checkpoints or border crossings, making them unmarketable or reducing their price.
3. Families in rural areas traditionally turn to farming in times of rising unemployment and declining incomes, but farm incomes have also shrank and some operate at a loss because of restrictions on movement. In many areas, farmers do not have regular access to their land because it is within a closed military area or near an Israeli settlement or settlers’ roads.
4. Some 60 percent of the Palestinian population is living below the poverty level of the U.S. $2.1 per day and unemployment has risen to close to 50 percent [World Bank study, 2003.]
5. The dramatic decline in the standard of living among Palestinians in the Occupied Territories has led to increased malnutrition and other health problems. [Malnutrition and anemia among Palestinian children have reached the same levels as emergency situations in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a USAID 2002 study.]
These effects are also coupled with the seizure and destruction of thousands of dunum of Palestinian crops and land, and have been tremendously exacerbated by the construction of the Apartheid Wall.
Students for a Free Palestine (SFP) has taken the initiative to make a small, concrete step to alleviate the dire economic situation there. Any progress made in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be contingent upon a more pressing and primary issue, the direct improvement of living standards among occupied Palestinians.
SFP has purchased three cases of Palestinian olive oil from PARC, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee. The olive oil is organic, fair trade, and will be sold for $12 per 750 ml bottle, which is less expensive than the comparable organic WeShop brand ($14). SFP is selling the oil at the same price that it was purchased for. We will be selling at the campus center and by Weshop this week (4/19).
Resources:
Surviving under siege: The impact of movement restrictions on the right to work.
Amnesty International, 2003. http://www.amnesty.org
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee: http://www.pal-arc.org
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