-The Conflict-

Article: The Economic Impact of the Conflict on Israelis and Palestinians

Author: Robert Shan

Date of article: October 6, 2011

Website: If Americans Knew

                I was very interested in the presentation that we had of the Creativity for Peace organization. The presentation really helped me understand the conflict that was always in play since the day I was born. I think this generation doesn’t fully understand the history and the conflict between the two Israeli and Palestine people. This presentation truly opened my eyes to the everyday struggles of these people. Usually, especially in economics, we tend to see the bigger picture, how this will affect the economy in ten, twenty years and we forget that we are talking about human being and their lives.

                So I rushed home and started to research both the organization and the conflict. I wanted to find out how I could help these girls and better understand the conflict. In my frantic researching, I found an article about the economic effects of this conflict, so I chose it for my weekly economics blog.

                This article discusses the effect of Israel’s control on the employment of the Palestine people. In the graph there is a distinct gap between the Israeli employment line and the Palestine. The Israeli unemployment rate is 5.6% as opposed to West Bank’s 23% and Gaza’s 30%. The article continues on to say that this “sharp rise in Palestinian unemployment is universally viewed as resulting from Israeli policies of closure and movement restrictions. The economic situation in Gaza has been devastated by an air, sea, and land blockade that Israeli officials say was designed to keep Gaza indefinitely on “the brink of collapse.”

                Now this makes sense, if a government puts strict rules and regulation on its economy, of course the economic output is going to decrease but the drastic decline in Palestine’s economy is harmful to its own and worldwide economies. Most economists believe that “this may be the worst year in the Palestinian economic history. The average Palestinian’s personal income will fall by 40%, and 67% of the population will fall into poverty.”