By Nigel Thorpe
Senior English Editor
Albawaba.com - Amman
Financial reports issued by both the UN and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics this week add a disturbing financial dimension to the tragic Intifada toll of over 400 lives as Israeli restrictions continue to block the flow of both cash and humanitarian shipments into the Palestinian territories.
Middle East Newsline reported on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority has issued an emergency appeal for the $50 million in cash they need immediately to stave off bankruptcy. The infusion of cash is needed within the next few weeks to pay the salaries of more than 100,000 public sector employees and maintain PA services. The PA explained that it had “exhausted” local banks and that foreign banks have refused to offer any loans.
“We are on the verge of bankruptcy,” PA Finance Ministry director-general Sami Ramlawi reported. “Last month, we couldn’t pay (normal) salaries and had to pay only a portion of them.” Officials said that checks issued by the PA, including aid payments to families of those killed in clashes with Israel, are bouncing. Many of the health services, Middle East Newsline reports, are now provided by the Islamic opposition.
The United Nations has joined the growing chorus of demands for emergency aid. “The Palestinian Authority will within just a few weeks not be able to pay its salaries which, as an effect, may lead to a collapse of key Palestinian institutions, which again might lead to chaos and anarchy in the Palestinian areas,” commented UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen.
A report released from the office of the UN Special Coordinator places a total figure of $1.15 billion on the losses to the Palestinian economy caused by the Israeli restrictions and border closures. “The lack of freedom of movement of people and goods caused by the present crisis has resulted in socio-economic hardships in the Palestinian Territory,” the UN report concludes. ‘During the 123-day period from October 1, 2000 to January 31, 2001, the Israeli-Palestinian border used for labor and trade flows was closed for 93 days or 75.6 percent of the time. Internal movement restrictions and internal closures-partial or sever, have been in place for 100 percent of the time in the West Bank and for 89 percent of the time in Gaza. The international border crossings to Jordan (from the West Bank) and to Egypt (from Gaza) have been closed for 29% - 50% of the time, respectively,” the report said.
According to a report in the Jordan Times on Sunday, the Israeli authorities have also effectively blocked the delivery of humanitarian shipments to the occupied territories from Jordan. The paper quoted a Palestinian official as refuting Israeli claims that part of an Iraqi flour shipment was refused entry into the Palestinian territories last week because the flour was unfit for (human) consumption. “Israel,” the official said, ‘is simply continuing its delaying tactics to prevent humanitarian contributions such as rice, sugar and flour from reaching the Palestinians as quickly as possible.” Palestinian Chargé d’Affairs, Atallah Khairi, told the paper that “nearly 10,000 tonnes of donated Iraqi flour have been stranded in Jordan for several weeks” since the Israeli authorities are insisting that the shippers follow the slow, lengthy procedure of submitting a renewed delivery application to the Israeli authorities.
Two ambulances recently donated to the Palestinian people by Iran are also stranded in Amman. Khairi said Israel had denied entry to the two Mecedes ambulances because the vehicle’s components were Korean-made.
An Associated Press (AP) release quoted in the Ha’aretz newspaper graphically highlighted the financial plight of the more than one million Palestinians living in poverty. These sources quote a Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics report published Saturday as saying that out of an approximate total of 3 million living in Gaza and the West Bank, some 260,000 lost their jobs when the fighting began on September 28, 2000. The closure Israel has imposed on the Palestinian areas prevents around 135,000 laborers, more than 16 percent of the total Palestinian work force, from reaching their jobs in Israel. The report also quotes the total unemployment figure as being 40 percent. Hassan Abu Libdah, head of the bureau commented at a press conference that “the high unemployment rate has left many families without a breadwinner.”
The bureau’s survey revealed that around 1.25 million Palestinians are living in poverty with a monthly income of around only NIS 1,622 ($396). In addition to the Israeli blockage preventing Palestinian workers from entering Israel and from crossing from one Palestinian area to another, the restrictions have also forced the closure of many Palestinian companies since they cannot transport goods into, or out of Gaza and the West Bank.
The UN report supports the bureau’s data and adds that “since the beginning of the crisis, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of people living below the poverty line. The number of poor has increased from about 650,000 persons to one million persons, and the poverty rate has increased from 21 to 32 percent.”
As detailed in earlier Albawaba.com and Middle East Newsline reports, the PA’s grave financial situation has been further exasperated by Israel’s refusal to forward tax rebates to the authority. Newsline also reported the important fact that, although the Arab League has pledged $1 billion, the PA has so far received very little of this money.
In an interview on Sunday with Aaron Lerner, the director of the Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA), PA Minister of Labor, Rafiq Al Natsheh said that he believed that President Yassar Arafat will be able to stay in power despite the PA’s financial crisis. “We may not receive money from Israel or support from the Arabs but I am certain that Arafat will never leave, and he will stay with his people leading them in both the worst situation and a good situation.”
When asked if he thought that the Palestinians are angry that the Arab states have failed to deliver the money they promised, Natsheh replied that “during the coming months, I am sure that all our people will be very, very angry with Arab governments because they have stopped supporting them. They (have) already received the support of Arab people in the countries, but we are still waiting for the Arab governments ………. They don’t transfer the money and so in this case, I think that the people are waiting for support.”
When asked about the motive behind the Arab states failure to donate the money they have promised, the minister said “I think that there is a political situation (element) here. I am not sure that they are serious in saying that there is much corruption in the Palestinian Authority because while we know that there is corruption, it is like the others, not something extraordinary from the others. Of course we have to treat the corruption, but I do not think that this is the idea behind it.” The official also strenuously denied the suggestion that Arafat was “holding the (PA) money so that if something happens with Israel he would have the money for all the great expenses of setting up again overseas.”
A declared priority of the nascent Sharon-Barak coalition is to curb violence as a precondition for further peace negotiations. “Israel does not negotiate under fire,” is a comment that frequently explodes from Sharon’s pursed lips. With all its safety valves welded shut, and Israel turning up both the military and economic heat under the Palestinian “pressure cooker”, Sharon’s incantation, unfortunately, is not the only thing which is likely to explode across Israel and the occupied territories very soon.
