Israel strangling Palestinian economy

by Mati English

The conflict in the Middle East has already claimed almost 274 lives, Šoverwhelmingly those of Palestinians. Hospitals in the occupied territories 
cannot cope with the number of the wounded who are being brought in every 
day. There are protests against Israel and the USA and calls for boycotts 
of US products.

The heavy shelling of Palestinian territory by helicopter gun-ships and 
tanks has led to calls from Palestinians for arms to fight back.

At the same time Israel is also strangling the Palestinian economy. It has 
not only blocked the movement of goods from Gaza and the West Bank, but 
also between various Palestinian settlements.

From the moment Israel's brutal repression began on September 28 the 
Israeli Government imposed a strict ban on the entry of Palestinians into 
Israel, depriving more than one million Palestinian day labourers of even 
the meagre income they earned working at construction sites, farms, 
factories and hotels.

Persistent demands for UN observers to be sent to the occupied territories 
have been rejected by both Israel and the US.

Head of the PLO, Yasser Arafat, held talks with Russian President Vladimir 
Putin last Friday in Moscow. Both leaders regard the present situation in 
the Middle East as being "on the brink of catastrophe".

Putin expressed a desire to a bigger part in finding a peaceful solution to 
the crisis. Russia is a co-sponsor of the peace process and has a political 
role to play, Arafat reminded those involved.

While frantic diplomatic talks are taking place, there are protests against 
the US and Israel across the Middle East. Hundreds of Jordanian students 
pledged last week to boycott US goods.

"We plan to boycott US products, such as hamburgers, soft drinks and even 
medicines that have a substitute produced in Jordan and Arab countries", 
said a statement by the Professional Union Association and Jordan 
opposition parties.

Some shops in Amman have already put up signs asking consumers to boycott 
US trademark products such as Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola and McDonald's and 
Burger King.

Jordanian students are not alone in this campaign. Pupils and students in 
other Middle East countries are urging their families not to buy Israeli or 
American products because "every dollar we pay is transformed into a bullet 
that shatters the head or heart of a Palestinian brother".