Palestinian workers’ dependence on Israel is now placing them in harm’s way. Although many are likely to catch the coronavirus in Israel while working, Israel is refusing to take responsibility for their welfare.
With Israel and the Palestinian Authority at an impasse over tax transfers, the PA is facing imminent collapse. So, more in desperation than with any realistic prospect of achieving peace, attention is turning to Trump’s long-promised “deal of the century”. Reports suggest it is due for release next month.
Israel's military authorities have published a video on social media publicising Palestinian attractions in the West Bank, in what looks like a generous promotional stunt to bring tourists to Palestine. Except that is precisely not where the video invites them. Instead it beckons tourists to visit "Judea and Samaria", the Biblical names Israel uses to justify the illegal Jewish settlements that dominate much of the West Bank.
In just a decade, a Palestinian farming project, Canaan Fair Trade, has recruited 2,000 small-hold olive farmers in the West Bank. It teaches them how to grow crops that can withstand the privations of a hostile occupation; cooperate to raise prices and make a sustainable living; and access foreign markets as a way to bypass Israeli control.
Shir Hever, who has spent years piecing together the murky economics of the occupation, has published a new report that makes shocking reading. Like others, he believes international aid has allowed Israel to avoid footing the bill for its occupation. But he goes further. His conclusion is that at least 78 per cent of humanitarian aid intended for Palestinians ends up in Israel’s coffers.
The Palestinian worker left to bleed to death in Tel Aviv
Family of Ihsan Abu-Sitta
Middle East Monitor
