Our daily life under Occupation has become unbearable  by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi

Before the Intifada broke out on September 28, 2000, life in the Occupied Territories was not exactly heaven on earth. True, the economy was picking up again after years of negative growth rates until 1998, mainly owing to Israel's policy of closures in the mid-1990s. Unemployment was stabilizing at 11% and the GDP per head was at US$1,650 in line with that of a developing to lower middle-income economy. Yet, numbers can be treacherous and should be treated with extreme caution. Firstly, most jobs created since 1994 were created by the public sector at a very fast pace, creating an armada of low-paid civil servants. Second, the Palestinian GDP per head was quite modest compared to that of Israel, which stands at $18,000 per year. This discrepancy is greater since Palestinians do not have their own currency but are subject to Israel's monetary policy and price structure, which is that of a developed country. This imposed market and tax union meant that Palestine having the lowest purchasing parity power scale (PPP) in the Arab world except for Yemen. Before the Intifada, 23.2% of the Palestinian population lived under the poverty line, US$2.1 per person and per day.

Since October 2000, the economic situation has deteriorated sharply. The GDP, forecast to grow by some 5% in 2000 has instead decreased by half its value and will register a negative growth rate. The same trend will apply for 2001. The World Bank estimates that if the policy of internal and external closure of the Territories, which hampers the free movement of people and goods, is not lifted, 50% of the population will live under the poverty line by the end of the year. To date, around 40% of the population lives in poverty. The unemployment rate has dramatically surged to an average of 30% throughout the Territories but it can reach up to 80% in areas where the labor force was formerly employed in Israel. As a result of this economic crisis, Palestinians have cut their expenditures by at least 50%. 

Besides the closures, which represent the worst form of collective punishment we are also victims of daily violence and intimidation from the Israeli army and settlers. The so-called Israeli pinpoint shelling of Palestinian security strongholds usually takes place in the midst of civilian areas. For the past month, Israeli premier, Ariel Sharon, has opted for what he called "targeted killings" of Palestinian activists or presumed activists. Here again, the world may be led to believe that these executions are all square and clean. First and foremost, there is no such thing as a 'clean' murder, killing is a dirty business even if Sharon himself does not have to soil his hands but orders his troops to shell the cars or houses of Palestinians militants. Second, these killings happen in broad daylight and amidst civilian areas populated by innocent men, women and children. In fact of the fifty-one people killed in the last ten months because of this policy of assassination .

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