Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 18)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 18)
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services. Between 1969 and 1985, this savings amounted to
over $350 million, since the total wages paid to workers from
the territories in that period was $2,260 million. Added to this,
the Histadrut gained $ 1,489 million between 1968 and 1985,
from direct deductions from these workers’ wages, plus
employers’ contributions to the National Insurance Institute
and the interest compiled on these funds (ayerage rate 8.7%).
This means that the total profit derived by the Israeli economy
from West Bank and Gaza labor in the years between 1969 and
1985, was $ 4890 million. (This does not include the amounts
saved with the employment of illegal labor.)
In addition to this economic exploitation, thousands of
Palestinian workers have to spend the night in ‘Israel’ even
though this is illegal. They are housed in subhuman conditions
and subject to harassment by the Israeli authorities and to
racist attacks.
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Armed settler waits for bus to West Bank settlements
ECONOMIC SUBORDINATION
In analyzing the economic conditions in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, two main trends stand out. The first is the gross
inequality between the settlers and the local population. The
second is the persistent Israeli drive to integrate the economy of
the occupied territories into the Israeli economy on the basis of
subordination. In this way, the territories serve primarily as a
cheap labor reserve and a market for Israeli products, and
secondarily as a source of certain products which would be
more expensive to produce in ‘Israel’. This aims simultaneous-
ly at strengthening the Israeli economy, while undermining any
independent Palestinian national economy which would pro-
vide the material base for Palestinian statehood.
18
The economic activity of the 60,000 settlers accounts for
35% of the gross domestic product of the West Bank, although
they constitute less than 7% of the total population. The
Palestinian gross domestic product in the West Bank has not
changed in the last years. Added to the distortions in the in-
digenous economy by land confiscation and restrictions on
trade and industry, the stagnation of the Israeli economy has
kept the Palestinian gross domestic product stagnant
(estimated at $810 million in 1983). Palestinian disposable in-
come was $1,300-1,500 million in 1984. This amounts to
$1,450-$1,650 per capita, 30% of per capita consumption in
‘Israel’.
Of the Palestinian gross domestic product, 7% is derived
from industry, 27% from agriculture, 16% from construction,
36% from transport, commerce and private services, and 14%
from public services. The agricultural sector has declined fur-
ther in recent years. From contributing 40% of the gross
domestic product in 1980, it fell to 27% in 1983. Industry is a
marginal sector with little possibility for development due to
the overall economic situation and specific Israeli-imposed
restrictions.
Military occupation has allowed the Israeli state to control
the trade of the occupied territories to its own advantage,
making this a major factor in economic subordination and in-
tegration. In 1984, Palestinians in the West Bank sold $100
million worth of goods to ‘Israel’ and bought $363 million
worth of goods from the Zionist state. Trade with ‘Israel’ ac-
counted for 55% of the West Bank’s export and 90% of its
import. In 1984, the West Bank and Gaza Strip received 10.6%
of the Israeli export, making the territories the second-ranking
market for Israeli goods, after the USA. In 1985, the Israeli
surplus in the balance of trade with the West Bank and Gaza
Strip was $420.2 million. See table no. 3.
TABLE No. 3
Surplus in the Israeli balance of trade with the West Bank and
Gaza Strip in millions of dollars
Total - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 28
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