Economic deterioration in the Gaza strip

Middle East Report

Volumn , Issue 200, 1996, Pages 36-39

  Roy, Sara ^a  

^a HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 5744237359     PISSN: 08992851     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3013267     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. On March 30, 1993, Israel imposed a general closure over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since that time, permits to enter Israel (including East Jerusalem) have been required by all Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On several occasions, this general closure has been heightened by completely shutting off all access into Israel, cancelling all previous permits and issuing far fewer. See the recent Human Rights Watch report, Israel's Closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Volume 8, Number 3 (New York: Human Rights Watch, July 1996). A new element, internal closure, was introduced in the West Bank with the Taba agreement of September 1995 and refers to the separation of one Palestinian locality from another. See Graham Usher, "Closures, Cantons and the Palestinian Covenant" Middle East Report 199 (Spring 1995), pp. 33-37.
2. On March 30, 1993, Israel imposed a general closure over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since that time, permits to enter Israel (including East Jerusalem) have been required by all Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On several occasions, this general closure has been heightened by completely shutting off all access into Israel, cancelling all previous permits and issuing far fewer. See the recent Human Rights Watch report, Israel's Closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Volume 8, Number 3 (New York: Human Rights Watch, July 1996). A new element, internal closure, was introduced in the West Bank with the Taba agreement of September 1995 and refers to the separation of one Palestinian locality from another. See Graham Usher, "Closures, Cantons and the Palestinian Covenant" Middle East Report 199 (Spring 1995), pp. 33-37.
3. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Closure Update No. 4 Gaza, March 26, 1996, p. 4; and Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator (UNSCO), Internal Document April 1996.
4. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Closure Update No. 4 Gaza, March 26, 1996, p. 4; and Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator (UNSCO), Internal Document April 1996.
5. PCHR, p. 4. In addition, there were about 20,000 "illegal" workers in Israel.
6. Reuters, April 2, 1996.
7. PCHR, p. 4.
8. Palestinian Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Statistics on the Impact of the Closure 2/25-4/4/1996, Ramallah, West Bank, p. 8.
9. UNSCO, p. 9.
10. Ibid.,p. 7.
11. Interview with US government official, May 1996.
12. US Department of State, Gaza Trade Statistics Show Impact of Closure, Unclassified Document, May 1996.
13. UNSCO, p. 5.
14. PCHR, p. 2.
15. Ibid., p. 3.
16. Ibid.
17. UNSCO, p. 2.
18. Ibid., p. 3.
19. Ibid., p. 8.
20. Ibid.
21. PBS, p. 9.
22. International Monetary Fund, Internal Document, May 1996.
23. United Nations, Challenges During 1996 For the Development Effort in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, 2nd Draft, Gaza Strip, 1 May 1996, p. 4. Other officials put the projected deficit at $300 million. Interviews with the director of the United Nations Development Programme, Gaza City, May 1996, and US government officials, Tel Aviv, May 1996.
24. Cited by officials of the World Bank at a conference entitled, "The Palestinian Economy: Towards a Vision," Bir Zeit University, West Bank, June 1996.
25. See Radwan A. Shaban and Samia M. Al-Botmeh, Poverty in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Jerusalem: Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute, November 1995); and interviews with officials in the US Department of State, Tel Aviv and Washington D.C., December 1995 and January 1996. The poverty level is defined as a per capita income at or below $500-$650 per year.
26. US Department of State, Palestinian Price Statistics Show Impact of Closure, Unclassified Document, November 1995.
27. Sara Roy, "Report from Gaza: Alienation or Accommodation?" Journal of Palestinian Studies 24/4 (Summer 1995):73-82.
28. United Nations, Emergencey Employment Programme: An Overview of Ongoing Activities (Phase I). 2nd Draft, Gaza Strip, 1 May, 1996, p. 4.
29. Sources within PA security wings have indicated that Mohammed Rashid and Khaled Salem are the same person.
30. Interviews with officials of the US Department of State and United States Agency for International Development Tel Aviv and Washington, December, January and May 1996.
31. United Nations Development Programme, Internal Document, Gaza City, May 1996.
32. Ibid.
33. Interviews with US government officials, Tel Aviv and Washington, D.C., December, January, and May 1996. Unofficially, the IMF puts these profits at $100-$200 million and the CIA at $400 million.
34. Rex Brynen, "International Aid to the West Bank and Gaza: A Primer," Journal of Palestine Studies 25/2 (Winter 1996): 53, n. 5.
35. Interview with Salah Abdel Shafi, Economist, USAID, Gaza, May 1996.
36. Interviews with local businessmen, Gaza City, May 1996.
37. Interview with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Union of Medical Relief Committees, Ramallah, West Bank, May 1996.
38. Interview with Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi, Gaza City, May 1996.
39. Sara Roy, "Separation or Integration: Closure and the Economic Future of the Gaza Strip Revisited," Middle East Journal 48/1 (Winter 1994): 14-18.