Economics

Five decades of occupation have severely limited Palestinian development, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Israel-controlled Area C. Al-Shabaka Policy Analyst Ahmad El-Atrash examines development as a vehicle for Palestinian steadfastness and resistance in Area C and beyond, and recommends ways Palestinians can advocate for development projects that would serve them for generations to come.

The rules that apply to the rest of the world have long applied differently to Palestine-Israel, and this even extends to satellite imagery. Al-Shabaka US Policy Fellow Zena Agha examines how a US law limits such imagery’s quality, circumscribing research as well as the documentation of Israeli human rights violations, and recommends ways to correct this wrong.

Israeli settlements violate international law, but so too do business dealings with them. Al-Shabaka Analyst Valentina Azarova examines the recent UN database of such businesses, arguing that it can protect states and their nationals and be applied to other country contexts. She also discusses how the UN, states, and Palestinians can counter claims that the database is a blacklist against Israel.  

The Palestinian Authority claims it is looking for ways to delink from Israel. It should start with the Paris Protocol: It expired 19 years ago but continues to be the basis for economic relations. Al-Shabaka Analyst Nur Arafeh demonstrates how the Protocol has hurt the Palestinian economy while benefiting Israel and outlines alternative economic arrangements.

Palestinian women in Israel have one of the world’s lowest labor participation rates, while their Jewish counterparts have one of the highest. Al-Shabaka Policy Analyst Suheir Daoud argues this is not simply a result of “Palestinian culture” or “Islam,” but of Israeli state policies, and recommends ways Palestinians can promote Palestinian women’s rights in Israel.

Though apartheid is an important framework for challenging Israeli rule, Al-Shabaka Analyst Haidar Eid and Guest Contributor Andy Clarno argue that true justice can only come by recognizing apartheid as not only a system of racial discrimination, but also of racial capitalism. Drawing on the South African example, the authors recommend ways to move the analysis forward.

The Israeli occupation does not only exist above ground. Al-Shabaka Policy Fellow Tareq Baconi examines how Israel enjoys a gas bonanza while barring the Gaza Strip from tapping its own fields. He argues that Palestinian dependency on Israeli energy amidst US calls for “economic peace” undermines Palestinian rights, and suggests ways to challenge this status quo.

Israel’s engineered economic collapse of East Jerusalem has rendered it essentially unlivable for Palestinians. Al-Shabaka Policy Fellow Nur Arafeh focuses on two of the city’s strategic assets that exemplify this collapse, tourism and the commercial markets of the Old City, and examines both existing and potential Palestinian initiatives of sumud, or steadfastness, that challenge Israeli-imposed obstacles.

Israel is marshaling pro-Israel forces in Europe as well as in the US against the European Union’s recently issued guidelines on labeling some of its settlement products, for fear that this will lead to stronger measures. Al-Shabaka’s Nur Arafeh, Samia al-Botmeh and Leila Farsakh debunk Israel’s arguments both as regards the impact on the Palestinian economy as well as on Palestinian workers.

World attention has been focusing on the Palestinian revolt against Israel’s military occupation. Meanwhile, plans were reportedly still going ahead for an Israeli release of frequencies required for long-awaited 3G and even 4G systems and services. Al-Shabaka analysts Nur Arafeh, Wassim Abdullah, and Sam Bahour provide an incisive account of Israeli obstacles to the Palestinian sector’s development that have led to hundreds of millions in direct losses and lost opportunities.