U.N.: Most Palestinians live below poverty line
Date posted: September 30, 2004
By Jonathan Fowler
GENEVA -- Three of every four
Palestinians live in poverty and their economy still depends on donors, despite
4.5 percent economic growth last year, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The rise was fueled largely by
agriculture and small businesses, which engage in ``forced import substitution''
because so few goods can get past Israel's tough blockade, said Raja Khalidi, a
senior official at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.
But the increase in Gross
Domestic Product follows two years of ``freefall'' since the outbreak of
Israeli-Palestinian fighting in late 2000 and is unlikely to be sustained,
Khalidi said.
``The fact that there was
growth in 2003 is really a matter of bottoming out, not a rebound,'' he said, as
he launched UNCTAD's annual report on the economic consequences of the conflict.
``Treading water is perhaps an apt metaphor,'' Khalidi later told the AP.
The Palestinian economy has
been hit by Israeli roadblocks and closures, which have hampered commerce in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel says the restrictions
are needed to stop Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen who have killed around
a thousand Israelis. Around 3,000 Palestinians have died.
The World Bank has cited a 40
percent fall in Palestinian per capita GDP since the outbreak of violence,
saying it far exceeds the impact of the Great Depression in the United States.
``The Palestinian economy is
being transformed into one of subsistence,'' said Khalidi.
Average income among the 3.5
million Palestinians fell from $1,750 a year in 1999 to $1,040 last year.
Overall, 72 percent of Palestinians live below a poverty line of $3.60 a day.
Some 127,000 Palestinians used
to work in Israel, providing vital income for many families. But under security
restrictions the number has slumped to 53,000.
Around 277,000 Palestinians are
unemployed, from a 792,000-strong work force, according to U.N. figures. The
figure would be worse but for the Palestinian economy's ability to absorb many
workers who used to have jobs in Israel, albeit at far lower wages, the report
said.
Palestinian areas also rely on
international aid to keep the economy afloat, Khalidi said. ``It's a crutch, and
without that crutch (growth) is not sustainable,'' he said.