Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 19)
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- Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 19)
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It is noteworthy that 61% of the surplus was accumulated
in the period after the Camp David agreements (1979-85). The
bulk of the occupied territories’ export to ‘Israel’ consists of
manufactured goods, in line with the Israeli policy of allowing
limited industry to meet its own needs. In the years 1983-85,
more than 85% of the territories’ exports to ‘Israel’ were in-
dustrial products. This is both due to the relative industrial
development in the territories and to the heavy restrictions on
agricultural products.
OCCUPATION TAX
The Israeli expenditures in the occupied territories are
allocated from the budget of the Military Administration. In
the year 1983/84, these amounted to $105 million; in 1984/85,
they were $70 million. Direct taxation from the West Bank
covered 58% of the 1983/84 budget, and 67% of the 1984/85
budget. The deficit of the Military Administration thus ap-
pears to be $44 million and $23 million for these two years
respectively. Looking at these figures alone, it would appear
that the occupation is a fiscal burden on the Israeli budget.
This is not, however, the case, since ‘Israel’ collects a number
of taxes in the occupied territories which go directly to the
Israeli treasury.
The Israeli income from the 15% value added tax, levied on
the products which the West Bank and Gaza Strip import from
‘Israel’ currently amounts to $100 million; in 1985, it was $90
million. The income of the Israeli treasury from 112% tarifs on
imports from abroad is $85 million per year; average annual
imports are valued at $20-80 million. Assuming a 35% (Israeli
state) subsidy on agricultural imports to the West Bank and
Gaza Strip not exceeding $100 million, and making a simple
calculation, one sees that the Palestinian people have to pay an
occupation tax of over $100 million annually. (This is actually
a conservative calculation because it does not include every
single tax.) |
Over the last 20 years, the Zionist state has not only
deformed the natural development of the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, but also integrated the economies of these territories into
the Israeli economy on an unequal basis, creating a new form
of dependency. ‘Israel’ has not only abused Palestine’s natural
resources, but also subjected the people to extreme economic
exploitation, based on racist discrimination. As a result, the
living standard of Palestinians under occupation is one-quarter
that of Israelis.
IRON FIST
Parallel to economic exploitation, the Palestinians under
occupation experience severe political repression. The Zionist
authorities’ iron fist policy aims not only to abort any
resistance, but to stamp out all Palestinian nationalist expres-
sion and activities. Especially for Palestinians living in the
refugee camps of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, daily ex-
istence is similar to that of a forced labor camp.
Zionist repression is both systematic and arbitrary, based on
military decrees issued at will and on the Emergency Regula-
tions of 1945 imposed by the British Mandate. Palestinians are
stopped at random and subject to search; they may be detained
for things like carrying a pocket knife or wearing clothes in the
colors of the Palestinian flag. In addition to shooting at
demonstrators, Israeli soldiers and settlers harass the popula-
tion at large, causing frequent death and injury.
Curfews and the closure of schools and universities are
common forms of collective punishment. More brutal is the
demolition of a whole family’s home due to allegations against
one family member. Palestinians are arrested arbitrarily, tor-
tured to obtain false confessions and tried in military courts
without due process of law. Others face administrative deten-
tion without being charged or tried, for up to six months
renewable. Still others are confined to their homes or villages.
Since 1967, thousands have been deported from their
homeland.
Statistics from the first eight months of 1987, issued by the
Palestine Human Rights Information Center in Jerusalem,
give a concrete impression of the results of the Israeli iron fist:
In this period, 17 political killings of Palestinians by the Israeli
army or settlers were reported; 111 were seriously injured;
13,000 6live and fruit trees were uprooted by the occupation
forces; universities, schools and unions were closed 48 times;
six community leaders were expelled; 109 Palestinians were put
under town arrest; 84 houses were demolished or sealed; ap-
proximately 4,500 Palestinians were in Israeli jails.
The facts described above should give ample explanation for
why the people of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have risen up
in revolt. Yet they also demonstrate the deep economic interest
the Zionist state has in retaining these territories, even aside
from historical Zionist expansionist dreams. The importance
of the current uprising in this context is that it is an enormous
step in the direction of making the occupation so costly that the
Zionist state may be forced, eventually, to rethink its occupa-
tion policy. |
Sources
Meron Benvenisti, The West Bank Data Base Project: 1986
Report.
Taysir Arouri, Al Nahj, No. 16, 1987, «Israeli Economic
Gains from the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip»
(Arabic).
Said Jawad, Palestinian Affairs, Nos. 176-7, November
-December 1987, «Demographic, Social and Economic
Changes in the Occupied West Bank 1975-85» (Arabic). @
Burhan Karkutli
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