Ignoring the condemnation of the international community, the ceasefire resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, and even the persuasion of the old man, the Israeli frenzied assault on Gaza continues, residential areas, hospitals, schools, foreign institutions, international organizations and institutions have all been reduced to rubble under his artillery fire. Israel's madness has made this open-air prison even worse, and more and more people are paying attention to Gaza, to Palestine, what is their life like, what is the economy like?
The answer is: it's really very difficult for the Palestinians, more difficult than you think.
Many of you have probably heard that Jews often talk about how much suffering they have gone through, and they have gone out of their way to publicize what happened to them. When it comes to Israel and the Jews, the first thing that comes to mind is "suffering".
However, if you understand the life of the Palestinians, the next time you hear this, although you will not be able to "hehe" in your heart, you will at least be able to maintain a certain degree of sobriety.
In order to give you an in-depth understanding of the situation in Palestine, the following will be explained in detail from agriculture, industry, trade, finance and daily life.
Almost everyone knows that Israel is richer than Palestine. Israel's GDP was $86.6 billion in 1994, $125.1 billion in 2002, and $522 billion in 2022. Palestinian GDP was $2.843 billion in 1994, $4.004 billion in 2002, and $191.22 in 2022. Judging from these data in general, it is completely dozens of times crushing.
And the specifics are even more impactful. Be prepared.
Let's start with agriculture.
Why agriculture in the first place? Because it is the backbone of the Palestinian economy.
As we all know, Palestine has two parts of territory, one is the West Bank, which is more than 360 square kilometers, and the other is Gaza, which is more than 5,800 square kilometers. But these are just numbers, in fact, Israel has been encroaching on a lot of land, and it is called "settlements" and "reclamation areas". At least half of Gaza, while the West Bank is divided into three parts, with the Palestinians actually controlling 18 percent, the two sides jointly managing 25 percent, and Israel controlling 57 percent.
After a large area of land has been occupied, how much arable land is left? 22 per cent of the entire region. How much better can the economy be if arable land is greatly reduced? The problem is not only arable land, but also irrigation.
It is not enough to occupy so much land, and the Israeli side also controls the water resources of the entire region. Control surface rivers and existing wells, strictly restrict the use of water by the Pakistani side, and do not allow new wells to be drilled. To what extent? In the West Bank, 77 percent is used for Israeli settlements and 23 percent for Palestinians. In Gaza, 75 per cent for settlements and 25 per cent for Palestinians. What impact does this have on agriculture?
In the West Bank, for example, 95 per cent of the settlements are irrigated with agriculture, while the Palestinians have 5 per cent. What should I do if I don't have enough? How much is it? There is no fixed number, and the price will increase at will. It started at $0.5 per cubic meter, then rose to $0.83 and later even $3.5. Think about it, if such an expensive water price is all spread out to the cost of agriculture, what can farmers have left all year round?
And the Pakistani government has not provided any help, there is no subsidy, the basic irrigation facilities are not perfect, let alone mechanization, and the farmers rely entirely on physical strength to farm the land and rely on the sky for food!
The roots of poverty are getting deeper and deeper. That's not all, there's still something to come!
Everyone knows that farming requires field care, not only irrigation, but also hoeing, fertilizing, and pesticides? In other words, from sowing to harvesting, you must often go to the field to take care of the crops. But even these basic farm tasks cannot be completed.
This is because the Israeli side often uses security threats as an excuse to impose curfews, blockades, and even martial law. This makes it impossible for farmers to take care of their crops in a timely manner, resulting in reduced yields or even no harvest. I really want to cry without tears!
In short, Pakistan's agriculture is still basically in the stage of human and animal labor, and there is a shortage of arable land, insufficient water resources, a low degree of mechanization, and the lack of freedom of peasants, all of which seriously restrict agricultural production. As a result, agricultural output is extremely unstable and fluctuates downward. In the West Bank, the share of agricultural output in GDP fell from 36 per cent in 1972 to 15 per cent in 1993. Gaza, 28.4 per cent in 1968, fell to 12.6 per cent in 1994.
Later, the data became more and more unsightly, and the government simply said bright spots, such as the contribution of olives to the economy at 14%.
There are already various restrictions, coupled with the continuous war, agriculture is even worse, in this case, it is good for farmers to have enough to eat, and making money is simply a luxury!
Let's talk about industry.
Palestinian industry can be described in eight words, congenitally insufficient, acquired powerless.
Due to the lack of natural resources, Pakistan's industry has not improved, and later due to the influence of Israel, it has become even more difficult. The Pakistani side needs to obtain a license from the Israeli side to open a factory. The Israeli side has strict restrictions on the types of factories, and the standard is not to seize the market of similar factories in Israel.
The Israeli side is not allowed to open labor-intensive factories such as manufacturing and cement industries, and generally only allows the opening of small factories such as textiles, leather, building materials, and plastics, with poor equipment and no more than 10 workers. Seventy per cent of these factories are distributed in the West Bank and thirty per cent in Gaza.
In Gaza, for example, in 1985, 90.3 per cent of factories employed no more than seven people, many of which were simply done by their own families. How much money can you make on this scale? Very little. Industry accounted for 4.5% of GDP in 1965 and 11.6% in 1984.
The overall data is not good-looking, and the government only says that it has increased, such as the industrial growth rate or something, and does not mention the total output value at all.
Some people may ask, there is not much arable land, and the factories are so small, what are so many people doing?
Went to Israel to work. How many people? Sometimes hundreds of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands. For example, in 1993, there were about 116,000, in 2000, there were about 250,000, and in 2020, there were about 130,000.
Many people do not know that Palestinian workers are paid 2.5 times their monthly wages as their own workers. But few people know that these jobs are not stable. The Israeli side has imposed blockades and martial law at every turn, and those Palestinians who have come to Israel to work have to lose their jobs. For example, in 2000, the conflict between the two sides and the implementation of a long-term blockade by Israel led to an increase in unemployment from 170,000 to 310,000 in Pakistan, with an unemployment rate of 34.3 percent.
In short, Pakistan's industry is still struggling under the pressure of Israel.
As we all know, the efficiency of agriculture and industry is closely related to commodity trade, after all, what is produced must be sold in order to make money. So, what about Pakistan's trade?
Then let's talk about commerce.
To sum it up in one sentence, it is subject to the Israeli side.
For example, in terms of agricultural trade and exports, Palestinian's competitive agricultural products, such as citrus and olives, are not allowed to enter Israel, and only the agricultural products that Israel needs, such as grains and sugar cane, can enter. There are no restrictions on imports, and the competitiveness of Israel's agricultural products is not comparable to that of Pakistan at all, and its market share in the country is also shrinking.
In short, if you want to make some money, you have to produce according to the needs of the Israeli side, form complementarity, and to put it bluntly, what he needs to plant.
The industrial situation is even worse, from production to trade has been led, and only those who do what the Israeli side needs and do not want to do have a market and make money.
Even if it is so passive, the Pakistani side still has to swallow its anger and continue to do it. Why? Because you can't do without it.
Pakistan's trade with Israel accounts for 96 percent of total exports, and imports account for 77.2 percent of total imports. This includes all the necessities of life for the Palestinians. It is equivalent to saying that Israel holds the power of survival on the Palestinian side, and once the Israeli side stops, it will be difficult for the Palestinian side to even maintain its basic survival! Can he move?
Of course, Pakistan can still do some business with other countries, such as Arab countries, and has a certain range of self-determined tariff rights for imports. This would have been a good thing, but imports have to be imported from the Israeli port. Why? The land, sea and air are actually controlled by Israel.
That's where the problem comes in. The Israeli side collects customs duties and value-added tax on behalf of the Israeli side, and then transfers them to the Pakistani side, whether to give them or not, how much to give, and when to give them, then the Israeli side has the final say. When it's good, hand over some, and when it's bad, don't give it if you don't give it, just give a reason.
For example, in 2000, the Israeli side stopped transferring money for what reason? It was not until 2002 that the transfer was resumed, and a little bit was given, and most of the heads were deducted.
You must know that these taxes are the main source of finance for the Palestinian government, and if this happens, the Palestinian government will find it difficult to sustain itself and will directly fall into a financial crisis; not only will officials not be able to pay their salaries, but all kinds of construction will be suspended, social activities will shrink, the prestige of the government will plummet, and the people will be dissatisfied in all kinds of ways.
But even so, we still have to have a good relationship with the Israeli side, because if the relationship is not good, we really can't get a dime!
It has all come to this point, and it is impossible for Israel to let go of the most crucial thing, currency.
Let's talk about the financial industry.
Israel has a firm grip on Pakistan's currency and finance. At the beginning of the occupation, the Israeli side closed Palestinian banks, and the only currency allowed to circulate was his shekel. After the 1980s, there was a slight relaxation to allow Palestinian banks to open but to prohibit foreign exchange operations; Why doesn't Gaza have this treatment? Because the militant groups are making a fuss.
Later, the Israeli side proposed stricter rules, requiring Palestinians to carry no more than $1,200 in currency. The aim is to cut off the economic resources of the militant groups. But in this case, the trade activities are very inconvenient, but who cares?
It can be seen that by controlling finance, Israel can control the development of all walks of life in Pakistan and crack down on radical organizations.
At this point, one might ask, what is the state of life of the Palestinian people?
Poverty and unemployment are the norm. According to the World Bank, since the outbreak of the conflict in 2000, half of the population has been extremely poor, living on less than $2.1 a day, or about 15 yuan in yuan. Even after more than a decade, the situation is still not much better.
According to data released by the United Nations, in 2016, the poverty rate in Pakistan reached 25% and the unemployment rate reached 29%. The situation in Gaza is even worse, with 78 per cent of women unemployed and 50 per cent of the labour force unemployed.
Quarantine, lockdown, martial law are the norm. It's no secret that Gaza is tightly besieged, and even in the West Bank, where there is a greater degree of freedom, the wall and checkpoints are everywhere, and queuing for security has become a daily sight. It's a kind of isolation.
There is also the lag in communications. Before 2018, the West Coast only used 3G networks. Gaza, on the other hand, is still using 2G. This is another kind of isolation.
Constant wars are the norm. Many people are shocked by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, but who hasn't grown up in the fighting?
Some people may be tempted to ask, can't it be changed?
The international community has been making efforts, and it is indeed very difficult. The key is to promote peace talks between the two sides and realize the establishment of a Palestinian state. And then we can talk about building homes. After all, where can there be a home without a country?
We sincerely hope that the Palestinian people will be able to live in peace in their homeland at an early date.
Finally, I leave you with a question, under what circumstances do you think Israel and Palestine can be completely reconciled?