MIDDLE EAST: WORLD BANK REPORT WARNS THAT CONFLICT WITH ISRAEL IS LEAVING PALESTINIANS ON THE POVERTY LINE

Record ID: 649434

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: WORLD BANK REPORT WARNS THAT CONFLICT WITH ISRAEL IS LEAVING PALESTINIANS ON THE POVERTY LINE
  • Date: 24th November 2004
  • Summary: (U4) SHAATI REFUGEE CAMP, GAZA STRIP (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HOUSES AND IMPOVERISHED AREAS (2 SHOTS) CU: WATER FLOWING THROUGH STREETS CLOSE OF SANDALS WORN IN MIDDLE OF WINTER WIDE OF CHILDREN WARMING UP OVER BURNING WOOD IN STREET FLOODED STREETS; PAN TO CHILDREN CLEARING WATER FROM STREETS CLOSE OF CHILD; PEOPLE CLEARING WATER (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF MEN PLAYING BACKGAMMON (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MUHAMMED JADER, RESIDENT OF SHAATI CAMP, SAYING: "There is no work, no income, the situation is difficult and is known to everyone."
  • Embargoed: 9th December 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SHAATI REFUGEE CAMP, GAZA STRIP/QALANDIA CHECKPOINT, WEST BANK/JERUSALEM/ BEIT HANINA, NORTHERN JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Conflict,Economy,Politics,Social Services / Welfare
  • Reuters ID: LVA9WLESTIKV3ARQEP9M0XN166EL
  • Story Text: Report warns conflict is leaving Palestinians on the poverty line.
    Nearly half of Palestinians live in poverty on less than two US dollars day and their economy is in tatters because of the conflict with Israel despite a decrease in fighting, the World Bank said in a new report released on Tuesday (November 23).
    The report reviews the Palestinian economic crisis amongst Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and concludes that the primary reason for the crisis is Israeli closures and incursions into Palestinian territories.
    "Only if the closure system is significantly relaxed and movement is once again allowed within the West Bank, within Gaza, between the West Bank and Gaza, and from the Palestinian territories to the world, will this situation be reversed," senior economist John Wetter told Reuters on Wednesday (November 24).
    Poverty and unemployment have risen drastically since the current wave of bloodshed began in 2000 and the crisis can be resolved only by freeing Palestinians to trade in foreign markets, the international development bank said.
    It said Israeli military clampdowns in the West Bank and Gaza had throttled the Palestinian economy. Israel blames the Palestinians' economic freefall on their uprising and rules out lifting security closures without an end to militant attacks.
    The World Bank's first appraisal of Palestinian economic life since May 2003 was issued a month before the next meeting of international donors who prop up the Palestinian economy.
    It said nearly half (47 percent) of the 3.6 million Palestinians in the territories were now living below the poverty line, compared with 20 percent in 1999.
    Up to 600,000 Palestinians could not afford basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter, the report said.
    Unemployment had risen to 28.6 percent by the second quarter of 2004, compared with 10 percent before the uprising. Among young people, who comprise the great majority of suicide bombers and other militants, the jobless rate was close to 40 percent.
    The Palestinians' per capita gross domestic product had plunged 37 percent since 1999, the bank said.
    The economy mounted a brief recovery in 2003 at a time when violence subsided during a short-lived ceasefire and a reduction in Israeli-imposed curfews. But it has stagnated further since then, even with the overall level of violence down, the report said.
    One resident of Shaati refugee camp, Muhammed Jader, said he has no income and that the situation is becoming increasingly difficult.
    "There is no work, no income, the situation is difficult and is known to everyone," Jader said.
    International donations that averaged $950 million dollars annually from 2001-03 have warded off economic disaster in the territories but "donor fatigue" looms as the conflict drags on even at the current lower level of violence, the bank warned.
    "The easing of internal closures alone will not be enough to create jobs and fight poverty here. Ending the Palestinian economic crisis will also depend on opening external borders so the private sector can trade in international markets," it said.
    "At the same time, (we) call on the Palestinian Authority to revive its reform programme and maintain fiscal discipline in order to create an investment-friendly climate."
    Analysts say Palestinians cannot hope for serious foreign investment before they tackle rampant corruption and a disorder of armed factions that wield de facto power in many areas.
    International mediators hope a slated January 9 election to choose a successor to late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will instal a moderate president and spawn fresh peace talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories.
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