Business & Economy

It is a craft that has been passed down from one generation to the next. The al-Mathloums were one of the best-known bamboo furniture-making families in Gaza but now, of his brothers, only Zakariya, the eldest son, is struggling to keep the tradition and the business alive.

Israel’s ongoing blockade has suffocated countless export industries and continues to dictate the types of crops grown in Gaza, including flowers.

West Bank trade remains largely isolated from global markets due to restrictions imposed on the movement of goods, according to a July 2011 study by the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Throughout Gaza, children take on responsibilities of adults to help their families, and adults revert from skilled labor to doing nearly anything to bring in a salary.

Despite Israel’s declared “easing” in June 2010 of the total siege on Gaza, manufacturers there are hurting badly. In June 2011 the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that “only 5 percent of the pre-blockade export volume was reached from November 2010 to April 2011.”

Severe pollution and Israel’s frequent attacks on fishing vessels have made it healthier for Gazans to eat farmed fish rather than fish caught at sea.

The five-story building housing the now abandoned Hamdanco sewing factory is filled with machines gathering dust; it used to be the place of employment of 130 workers, including sewers and administrative staff.

Few visitors make it to the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, causing the city’s tourism sector to suffer.

The Electronic Intifada contributor Ray Smith interviews Raja Khalidi, a senior economist with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, about the PA’s economic policies and its implications for statehood.

The Palestinian Authority is preparing to establish a state in the near future. But the Palestinian economy remains strongly tied to Israel, and manufacturers are struggling to recover from the second Palestinian intifada.