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Poverty in Palestinian Territories slows Ramadan celebrations
Transcript from ABC (Australia, that is) "The World Today." Delicious. ELIZABETH JACKSON: Staying in the Middle East, and as weâve already heard today, the holy Muslim month of Ramadan has begun in the Palestinian Territories, and for the fourth year running itâs a time of gloom. With Palestinian cities under Israeli Army blockade, and three-quarters of Palestinian families living in poverty, this yearâs fasting period is a reminder of ongoing hardship. How âbout telling your listeners why that might be, Libbie? Our Middle East Correspondent, Mark Willacy, reports from Jerusalem. (car MARK WILLACY: Preparing for the daily fast and the nightly feast, Palestinians have been stocking up on nice meats and sweet lollies, traditionally consumed after sunset. But again this year, many families simply canât afford to splash out on fancy food. Farm life ainât what it used to be. In the West Bank, unemployment is running at about 50 per cent, and three-quarters of families live on less than AU$4 a day. And instead of telling everyone why that might be, we get ... In his Ramallah bakery, Hatim Ahmed is making the traditional Ramadan sweets. But again, this year business is poor. HATIM AHMED: Actually, this Ramadan we are not optimistic about it because of the closures and the people, the works, all the businesses slow down and most of the workers doesnât go to their works, they donât have any money. I hope and we pray for God MARK WILLACY: Ramallah, like other Palestinian cities in the West Bank, is under Israeli Army blockade. This mean people canât travel outside for work or to join family in surrounding villages for the nightly feast. The situation is even worse in Hebron. (noises from In Hebron, Palestinians find it difficult moving around the city centre, let alone outside. The reason is that 400 Jewish settler families live here and they need the protection of Israeli Army units. So the more than 100,000 Palestinian residents are restricted in where they can go to shop. âcause they have a tendency to explode without warning. HATIM AHMED: But in these recent days, because people are suffering from a lot of problems, most of them is economical problems, they are not exactly ready to receive Ramadan with the same excitement and the same, letâs say, happiness. And do we get an explanation of "cause and effect" from ABC? No-o-o-o, instead we get ... MARK WILLACY: The World Bank estimates that even if the violence stops and things get back to normal, then it will still take at least two years for the Palestinian economy to recover to pre-Intifada levels. Remember, "normal" in this context means that the whole West Bank would be just your average third-world shithole, instead of the extra-special shithole that it is. This is Mark Willacy in Jerusalem for The World Today. You could have filed this report from Sydney. Posted by: Steve White 2003-10-28 |
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