Money and EconomicsIsrael and Palestine
Money makes the world go round and actions speak louder than words. Where is the money going? What is it used for?
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Money/ sanctions foce Malnutrition rates in 2004 were as bad as parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Jerusalem and Washington bring Palestinians to the brink of starvation | By Jean Shaoul | Mar 21, 2007, 07:43
The House of Commons International Development Committee has recently published a report of the findings of its visit to Israel and Palestine.
It paints a devastating picture of the impact of the economic sanctions imposed against the Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority (PA) by the United States and the other major powers, including Britain. In so doing, it demonstrates the collusion of the whole of Europe and of the United Nations with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and its brutal suppression of the Palestinians.
The electoral victory of Hamas—branded by the US as a terrorist organisation for its militant opposition to Israel—led, on the insistence of the US and Israel, to the economic boycott and isolation of the PA.
Israel illegally withheld the tax and customs it collects on behalf of the PA, US$60 million a month or approximately 50 percent of the PA’s monthly revenues, while the Quartet, the US, European Union, Russia and the UN, cut off all direct aid to the PA, depriving it of a further 25 percent of its budget.
Most of the PA’s money is spent on the payment of salaries to its employees, the Palestinian public sector, including doctors, teachers and officials. It is also the “financier of last resort” for Palestinian utilities and public institutions, which can no longer pay their creditors as the international banks have withdrawn credit and other facilities in part because they fear anti-terrorism litigation from the US.
The PA’s own tax revenues have plummeted as a result of the increase in unemployment and poverty. The combined effect has been to bring the Palestinian economy to a halt and its people to the brink of starvation.
The report’s findings, the result of both a visit to Israel/Palestine and data provided by various aid agencies, are shocking.
* Real GDP declined by 9 percent in the first half of 2006 and was predicted to fall by 27 percent by the end of 2006, with personal income falling by 30 percent.
* 160,000 public sector workers have not been paid since March 2006, affecting 25 percent of the population.
* Their coping strategies include: postponing paying bills (83.5 percent), living on past savings (26.3 percent), selling jewellery (29.6 percent) and reducing consumption of fresh meat (88.6 percent). Fully 65 percent are reliant on informal borrowing just to subsist.
* 70 percent of the Gazan workforce is without work or pay.
* 51 percent of the Palestinians now depend on food assistance, a 14 percent increase on last year.
* Malnutrition rates in 2004 were as bad as parts of sub-Saharan Africa. It is the main public health problem, with 37.9 percent of children under five and 31.1. percent of women of child bearing age being anaemic. Twenty-two percent of under-fives are deficient in vitamin A and 20 percent are deficient in iodine.
* Infant mortality is 25.2 per 1,000 live births, while under-five mortality is 29.1 per 1,000 live births. ...
Jerusalem and Washington bring Palestinians to the brink of starvation | By Jean Shaoul | Mar 21, 2007, 07:43
The House of Commons International Development Committee has recently published a report of the findings of its visit to Israel and Palestine.
It paints a devastating picture of the impact of the economic sanctions imposed against the Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority (PA) by the United States and the other major powers, including Britain. In so doing, it demonstrates the collusion of the whole of Europe and of the United Nations with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and its brutal suppression of the Palestinians.
The electoral victory of Hamas—branded by the US as a terrorist organisation for its militant opposition to Israel—led, on the insistence of the US and Israel, to the economic boycott and isolation of the PA.
Israel illegally withheld the tax and customs it collects on behalf of the PA, US$60 million a month or approximately 50 percent of the PA’s monthly revenues, while the Quartet, the US, European Union, Russia and the UN, cut off all direct aid to the PA, depriving it of a further 25 percent of its budget.
Most of the PA’s money is spent on the payment of salaries to its employees, the Palestinian public sector, including doctors, teachers and officials. It is also the “financier of last resort” for Palestinian utilities and public institutions, which can no longer pay their creditors as the international banks have withdrawn credit and other facilities in part because they fear anti-terrorism litigation from the US.
The PA’s own tax revenues have plummeted as a result of the increase in unemployment and poverty. The combined effect has been to bring the Palestinian economy to a halt and its people to the brink of starvation.
The report’s findings, the result of both a visit to Israel/Palestine and data provided by various aid agencies, are shocking.
* Real GDP declined by 9 percent in the first half of 2006 and was predicted to fall by 27 percent by the end of 2006, with personal income falling by 30 percent.
* 160,000 public sector workers have not been paid since March 2006, affecting 25 percent of the population.
* Their coping strategies include: postponing paying bills (83.5 percent), living on past savings (26.3 percent), selling jewellery (29.6 percent) and reducing consumption of fresh meat (88.6 percent). Fully 65 percent are reliant on informal borrowing just to subsist.
* 70 percent of the Gazan workforce is without work or pay.
* 51 percent of the Palestinians now depend on food assistance, a 14 percent increase on last year.
* Malnutrition rates in 2004 were as bad as parts of sub-Saharan Africa. It is the main public health problem, with 37.9 percent of children under five and 31.1. percent of women of child bearing age being anaemic. Twenty-two percent of under-fives are deficient in vitamin A and 20 percent are deficient in iodine.
* Infant mortality is 25.2 per 1,000 live births, while under-five mortality is 29.1 per 1,000 live births. ...
