Abir Dandis, the mother of the two girls who were murdered in the Negev town of Al-Fura’a last week, couldn't find a police officer to listen to her warnings, neither in Arad nor in Ma’ale Adumim. Both police stations operate in areas where Israel wants to gather the Bedouin into permanent communities, against their will, in order to clear more land for Jewish communities. The dismissive treatment Dandis received shows how the Bedouin are considered simply to be lawbreakers by their very nature. But as a resident of the West Bank asking for help for her daughters, whose father was Israeli, Dandis faced the legal-bureaucratic maze created by the Oslo Accords.

The Palestinian police is not allowed to arrest Israeli civilians. It must hand suspects over to the Israel Police. The Palestinian police complain that in cases of Israelis suspected of committing crimes against Palestinian residents, the Israel Police tend not to investigate or prosecute them.

In addition, the town of Al-Azaria, where Dandis lives, is in Area B, under Palestinian civilian authority and Israeli security authority. According to the testimony of Palestinian residents, neither the IDF nor the Israel Police has any interest in internal Palestinian crime even though they have both the authority and the obligation to act in Area B.

The Palestinian police are limited in what it can do in Area B. Bringing in reinforcements or carrying weapons in emergency situations requires coordination with, and obtaining permission from, the IDF. If Dandis fears that the man who murdered her daughters is going to attack her as well, she has plenty of reason to fear that she will not receive appropriate, immediate police protection from either the Israelis or the Palestinians.

Dandis told Jack Khoury of Haaretz that the Ma’ale Adumim police referred her to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Coordination and Liaison Committee. Theoretically, this committee (which is subordinate to the Civil Affairs Ministry) is the logical place to go for such matters. Its parallel agency in Israel is the Civilian Liaison Committee (which is part of the Coordination and Liaison Administration - a part of the Civil Administration under the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories).

In their meetings, they are supposed to discuss matters such as settlers’ complaints about the high volume of the loudspeakers at mosques or Palestinians’ complaints about attacks by settlers. But the Palestinians see the Liaison Committee as a place to submit requests for permission to travel to Israel, and get the impression that its clerks do not have much power when faced with their Israeli counterparts. In any case, the coordination process is cumbersome and long.

The Palestinian police has a family welfare unit, and activists in Palestinian women’s organizations say that in recent years, its performance has improved. But, as stated, it has no authority over Israeli civilians and residents. Several non-governmental women’s groups also operate in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and women in similar situations approach them for help. The manager of one such organization told Haaretz that Dandis also fell victim to this confusing duplication of procedures and laws. Had Dandis approached her, she said, she would have referred her to Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which has expertise in navigating Israel’s laws and authorities.

John Kerry revealed his long-awaited plan for peace in the Middle East on Sunday, hinging on a $4bn (£2.6bn) investment in the Palestinian private sector.

The US secretary of state, speaking at the World Economic Forum on the Jordanian shores of the Dead Sea, told an audience including Israeli president Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that an independent Palestinian economy is essential to achieving a sustainable peace.

Speaking under the conference banner "Breaking the Impasse", Kerry announced a plan that he promised would be "bigger, bolder and more ambitious" than anything since the Oslo accords, more than 20 years ago.

Tony Blair is to lead a group of private sector leaders in devising a plan to release the Palestinian economy from its dependence on international donors. The initial findings of Blair's taskforce, Kerry boasted, were "stunning", predicting a 50% increase in Palestinian GDP over three years, a cut of two-thirds in unemployment rates and almost double the Palestinian median wage. Currently, 40% of the Palestinian economy is supplied by donor aid.

Kerry assured Abbas that the economic plan was not a substitute for a political solution, which remains the US's "top priority".

Peres, who had taken the stage just minutes before, also issued a personal plea to his Palestinian counterpart to return to the negotiations.

"Let me say to my dear friend President Abbas," Peres said, "Should we really dance around the table? Lets sit together. You'll be surprised how much can be achieved in open, direct and organised meetings."

Thick locks hug the front gates of shuttered shops, now covered in graffiti and dust from lack of use. Only a handful of customers pass along the dimly lit road, sometimes stopping to check the ripeness of fruits and vegetables, or ordering meat in near-empty butcher shops.

“All the shops are closed. I’m the only one open. This used to be the best place,” said 64-year-old Mustafa Sunocret, selling vegetables out of a small storefront in the marketplace near his family’s home in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Amidst the brightly coloured scarves, clothes and carpets, ceramic pottery and religious souvenirs filling the shops of Jerusalem’s historic Old City, Palestinian merchants are struggling to keep their businesses alive.

Faced with worsening health problems, Sunocret told IPS that he cannot work outside of the Old City, even as the cost of maintaining his shop, with high electricity, water and municipal tax bills to pay, weighs on him.

“I only have this shop,” he said. “There is no other work. I’m tired.”

Abed Ajloni, the owner of an antiques shop in the Old City, owes the Jerusalem municipality 250,000 Israeli shekels (68,300 U.S. dollars) in taxes. He told IPS that almost every day, the city’s tax collectors come into the Old City, accompanied by Israeli police and soldiers, to pressure people there to pay.

“It feels like they’re coming again to occupy the city, with the soldiers and police,” Ajloni, who has owned the same shop for 35 years, told IPS. “But where can I go? What can I do? All my life I was in this place.”

He added, “Does Jerusalem belong to us, or to someone else? Who’s responsible for Jerusalem? Who?”

Illegal annexation

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in 1967. In July 1980, it passed a law stating that “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel”. But Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and subsequent application of Israeli laws over the entire city remain unrecognised by the international community.

Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory – along with the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights – and Palestinian residents of the city are protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Jerusalem has historically been the economic, political and cultural centre of life for the entire Palestinian population. But after decades languishing under destructive Israeli policies meant to isolate the city from the rest of the Occupied Territories and a lack of municipal services and investment, East Jerusalem has slipped into a state of poverty and neglect.

“After some 45 years of occupation, Arab Jerusalemites suffer from political and cultural schizophrenia, simultaneously connected with and isolated from their two hinterlands: Ramallah and the West Bank to their east, West Jerusalem and Israel to the west,” the International Crisis Group recently wrote.

Israeli restrictions on planning and building, home demolitions, lack of investment in education and jobs, construction of an eight-foot-high separation barrier between and around Palestinian neighbourhoods and the creation of a permit system to enter Jerusalem have all contributed to the city’s isolation.

Formal Palestinian political groups have also been banned from the city, and between 2001-2009, Israel closed an estimated 26 organisations, including the former Palestinian Liberation Organisation headquarters in Jerusalem, the Orient House and the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce.

Extreme poverty

Israel’s policies have also led to higher prices for basic goods and services and forced many Palestinian business owners to close shop and move to Ramallah or other Palestinian neighbourhoods on the other side of the wall. Many Palestinian Jerusalemites also prefer to do their shopping in the West Bank, or in West Jerusalem, where prices are lower.

While Palestinians constitute 39 percent of the city’s population today, almost 80 percent of East Jerusalem residents, including 85 percent of children, live below the poverty line.

“How could you develop [an] economy if you don’t control your resources? How could you develop [an] economy if you don’t have any control of your borders?” said Zakaria Odeh, director of the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, of “this kind of fragmentation, checkpoints, closure”.

“Without freedom of movement of goods and human beings, how could you develop an economy?” he asked.

“You can’t talk about independent economy in Jerusalem or the West Bank or in all of Palestine without a political solution. We don’t have a Palestinian economy; we have economic activities. That’s all we have,” Odeh told IPS.

Israel’s separation barrier alone, according to a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD), has caused a direct loss of over one billion dollars to Palestinians in Jerusalem, and continues to incur 200 million dollars per year in lost opportunities.

Israel’s severing and control over the Jerusalem-Jericho road – the historical trade route that connected Jerusalem to the rest of the West Bank and Middle East – has also contributed to the city’s economic downturn.

Separation of Jerusalem from West Bank

Before the First Intifada (Arabic for “uprising”) began in the late 1980s, East Jerusalem contributed approximately 14 to 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the Occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). By 2000, that number had dropped to less than eight percent; in 2010, the East Jerusalem economy, compared to the rest of the OPT, was estimated at only seven percent.

“Economic separation resulted in the contraction in the relative size of the East Jerusalem economy, its detachment from the remaining OPT and the gradual redirection of East Jerusalem employment towards the Israeli labour market,” the U.N. report found.

Decades ago, Israel adopted a policy to maintain a so-called “demographic balance” in Jerusalem and attempt to limit Palestinian residents of the city to 26.5 percent or less of the total population.

To maintain this composition, Israel built numerous Jewish-Israeli settlements inside and in a ring around Jerusalem and changed the municipal boundaries to encompass Jewish neighbourhoods while excluding Palestinian ones.

It is now estimated that 90,000 Palestinians holding Jerusalem residency rights live on the other side of the separation barrier and must cross through Israeli checkpoints in order to reach Jerusalem for school, medical treatment, work, and other services.

“Israel is using all kinds of tools to push the Palestinians to leave; sometimes they are visible, and sometimes invisible tools,” explained Ziad al-Hammouri, director of the Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic Rights (JCSER).

Al-Hammouri told IPS that at least 25 percent of the 1,000 Palestinian shops in the Old City were closed in recent years as a result of high municipal taxes and a lack of customers. “Taxation is an invisible tool…as dangerous as revoking ID cards and demolishing houses,” he said. “Israel will use this as pressure and as a tool in the future to confiscate these shops and properties.”

Palestinian gunmen with ties to the ruling Fatah faction took over an election building in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, election officials and witnesses said.

About 40 gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades entered the building in the town of Rafah while firing in the air, the officials and witnesses said. Election workers fled as the militants took up positions.

The gunmen are loyal to Alaa al-Hams, a militant arrested late Tuesday by Palestinian police who suspect he was involved in the kidnapping last week of three British citizens.

Gaza gunmen have been taking over government buildings and kidnapping foreigners almost daily, demanding jobs and sometimes the release of prisoners. The gunmen who took over the Rafah election office did not immediately demand the release of al-Hams, witnesses said.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas — facing a serious electoral challenge by the Islamic Hamas group in a Jan. 25 parliamentary election — has failed to rein in lawlessness and has been reluctant to confront militants. Palestinians are increasingly angered by the chaos that has engulfed Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

British aid worker Kate Burton and her parents were held for two days by Gaza gunmen last week. Other foreigners and foreign journalists have also been kidnapped in Gaza recently, and many countries have warned their citizens against visiting the coastal area.

The number of Palestinians living in poverty has climbed to nearly two-thirds this year, despite a sharp slowdown in fighting with Israel and the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip, according to a United Nations report issued Thursday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued the figures as it appealed for $215 million in emergency assistance for the Palestinians in 2006.

The UN office, which coordinates between the 12 UN aid agencies and several other non-governmental groups operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said the poverty rate in the Palestinian areas has climbed to 64 percent from 55 percent last year.

The poverty line is defined as those living off less than $2.20 a day. But half of those living in poverty, or some 1.2 million Palestinians, live on less than $1.60 or less a day, said OCHA chief David Shearer.

The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 28 percent from 34 percent. Still, joblessness is three times higher than what it was before fighting broke out in late 2000, OCHA said.

The Palestinian economy has been hit hard by the fighting. But the election of moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a joint cease-fire agreement reached in February and the Gaza pullout in September has raised hopes that the economy would begin to recover.

"While progress on the political front is understood as the only means to ultimately alleviate poverty and suffering, as yet there has been no sign of humanitarian improvement," the UN report said.

It cited continued Israeli closures and other travel restrictions as drags on the economy. During spikes in violence, Israel restricts Palestinian movement to stop militants from launching attacks. The Israeli separation barrier being built in the West Bank has also further restricted Palestinian movement.

Francine Pickup, the humanitarian affairs officer at OCHA, said while Palestinians have had better access to jobs in Israel compared to the same time last year, the level of poverty has worsened because "their coping mechanisms are running out after five years of conflict."

"People can no longer rely on savings, are increasingly in debt, and are no longer able to continue the deferring of debt repayments," she said.

Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the government will do what it can to bolster the Palestinian economy. "Israel hopes we will see both political and economic development in Gaza. The development will allow the creation of a more successful Palestinian society. Their success is our success," he said.

Thursday's report marked the fourth consecutive year OCHA has sought emergency assistance from the international community. The aid would be for emergency measures such as job creation, agriculture and food. Last year, the UN agencies requested $302 million for emergency aid, of which they received only 59 percent.

Under the leadership of international envoy James Wolfensohn, a former World Bank president, international donors also have pledged $3 billion annually for reconstruction projects for the next three years, mostly in the Gaza Strip.

RAFAH TERMINAL, Gaza Strip - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas opened the Gaza-Egypt border in a festive ceremony Friday -- a milestone for the Palestinians who for the first time took control of a frontier crossing without Israeli veto powers and gained some freedom of movement.

The opening was seen as a step toward Palestinian independence and a boost to Abbas as he faces a fierce challenge by the Islamic militant group Hamas in Jan. 25 parliamentary elections.

''This is a great day. It is a day of happiness ... because it means an enormous step forward toward the freedom of the Palestinian people,'' Marc Otte, the European Union representative in the Middle East, told 1,200 guests attending the ribbon-cutting.

Abbas said he hoped the Palestinians' new gate to the world would spur investment, but said there can be no economic recovery without an end to lawlessness in the territories. ''The magic key that can give us everything is the key of security,'' he said.

He also announced a majority security clampdown, saying it has already begun in some West Bank towns and would also move to Gaza.

Abbas reiterated that the election would be held on time, dispelling rumors he would seek a delay because of disarray in his Fatah party, which held primaries in some districts Friday.

The Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt had been closed by Israel as its troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip in September. After two months of international mediation and a final push by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel agreed that the Palestinians would run their side of the border, with the help of European monitors.

The crossing will open to Palestinian travelers Saturday, initially for four hours a day until the European monitors get settled. After the test period, opening hours will be expanded.

''From this moment, we feel we are free,'' said Fathia Najar, 55, one of a group of Palestinian travelers waiting near Rafah to cross the next day. ''Before this, we lived in a jail.''

Before the Israeli pullout, travel through Rafah was often difficult. The terminal was repeatedly closed on security grounds, and at times travelers waited for days to get through.

Heavy security ringed the terminal during Friday's ceremony, with police setting up roadblocks on access roads. Police officers also lined the main north-south road from Gaza City to Rafah.

The border deal backs Abbas' message that Palestinians can only gain independence through negotiations with Israel. Hamas says such talks are pointless and that it drove Israel out of Gaza by force.

Despite the Abbas-Hamas rivalry, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar attended the opening ceremony. ''Our presence here does not mean we support this agreement,'' the Hamas leader said.

In preparation for the opening, the terminal was painted, workers replaced ceiling tiles and installed new lighting. Rows of blue and orange chairs filled the arrivals and departure halls, along with batteries of computers, X-ray machines, metal detectors and security cameras.

The key dispute between Israel and the Palestinians had been over whether Israel should get real time surveillance videos from Rafah and be allowed to veto the entry or departure of some passengers. In the end, Israel dropped both demands.

Otte, the EU representative, said the operation of the terminal would be a test for renewed Israeli-Palestinian cooperation, after nearly five years of bloody fighting.

Initially, 20 EU monitors will supervise Rafah operations, said Julio Delaguardia, spokesman for the contingent. He said the first group of monitors comes from Italy, Denmark, Romania and Luxembourg. In coming week, the group will grow to 70, with additional monitors from France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Finland.

He said he hoped all monitors would be in place within a month, to handle large crowds for an upcoming pilgrimage season to Saudi Arabia.

The main points of the Israeli-Palestinian deal on Gaza border crossings:

GAZA-EGYPT BORDER: The target date for reopening the Rafah terminal at the Gaza-Egypt is Nov. 25. The border will be operated by Palestinian and Egyptian border officials, with the presence of European monitors on the Palestinian side. Israel will be able to watch traffic at Rafah via closed-circuit TV cameras, and can raise concerns about travelers it considers a security risk, but has no veto powers, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

KARNI CARGO CROSSING BETWEEN GAZA AND ISRAEL: Israel agrees to the passage of at least 150 export trucks from Gaza a day by year's end, and at least 400 trucks a day by the end of 2006. It also guarantees that in the upcoming harvest season, all agricultural produce from Gaza will be allowed through the passage.

PASSAGE BETWEEN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA: Starting Dec. 15, bus convoys carrying Palestinians will move between the two territories, traveling through Israel. Starting Jan. 15, truck convoys will also be allowed between the West Bank and Gaza.

ROADBLOCKS IN THE WEST BANK: Israel promises to minimize disruptions to Palestinian daily life in the West Bank, and come up with a plan for removing more army checkpoints in the area by Dec. 31.

GAZA SEAPORT: The Palestinians can begin building a seaport in Gaza.

GAZA AIRPORT: The runways of the Gaza International Airport were largely destroyed by Israel during nearly five years of fighting. The two sides agree on the importance of the airport, and discussions on the issue will continue.