The research that both the group and I have conducted has uncovered a substantial amount of information related to the economy of the Occupied Territories and the purpose of the settlements in an economic respect. The primary purpose of the settlements in an economic sense was to foster a strong integration of the Occupied Territories into the Israeli economic parameter while at the same time maintaining a sense of dependency on behalf of the subordinated Palestinian government and population. While not going into too much detail regarding the legal aspect behind the settlements being established since that will be covered in our presentation, the aspiration of the state and its institutions to control space and define the people based on a perceived ethnonational heritage certainly influenced the hierarchy separating the populations based upon their "Israeli" or "Palestinian" heritage. Likewise, the desire of the state to reconstruct and reaffirm its sovereignty and prevent a two state solution proved instrumental in its push for settlement in the territories. Thus, economic integration, the political sphere, and territorial space were firmly entwined.
The Israeli government encouraged citizens to move to the settlements through a variety of appealing economic incentives. First off, housing prices were remarkably more affordable in the settlements compared to in Israel where a steady rise in market prices was well documented. The government also offered loans and grants to would be settlers at low interest rates, and offered security protection and allowed for legal leniency among other benefits. Moreover, the large and mostly unskilled Palestinian labor community became firmly dependent upon Israel and the Jewish settlements as a result of economic fragmentation within the territories and the distinction made by the state based upon citizenship and identity that corresponded to certain rights and privileges. Economic integration of Palestinian workers into the Israeli economy was particularly emphasized during the 1970s and 1980s in an attempt to keep the people satisfied and minimize political resistance. Palestinians made up a hefty bulk of the labor force in the agricultural, construction, and service sectors in Israel and the settlements. During the 1990s, as a result of Israeli economic diversification in the high tech sector and in respect to the relationship to outside powers, the demand for Palestinian labor dropped and the people suffered. The emergence of the Second Intifada increased the restrictions on Palestinians through periodic closures at borders and limitations on identity permits. Legal measures for Palestinians also did not include accident insurance and minimum pay that Israelis had. At one point during the Second Intifada, employment numbered at close to 38% amongst Palestinians in the territories. The accessibility to outside partners was severely limited during this time for the Palestinian economy, and while exports from Israel freely entered severe taxes on imports were placed on Palestinian goods. Banks were unwilling to loan credit particularly in the private sector due to such uncertainty and instability, and the high costs of conducting trade with Israel further limited economic expansion. The arrangement of settlemets in finger patterns throughout the territories along with the separation barrier and road construction barred communal unification and cohesion within the Palestinian territories. A two state solution was made increasingly more difficult through the increase in settlements and legal manipulation.
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A befitting quote from the Journal of Palestinian Studies showed how by changing the way the economic structure it allowed for the labor pool to greatly expand. What is being affected by having this large labor pool of both Palestinian and Israeli workers is not necessary the currency per say, but rather conflicting issues within the government and social dynamics.
ReplyDelete“The economy of Israel has benefitted from the changes it has created within the economic structure of the territories. The availability of a large pool of unskilled and semi-skilled workers has provided Israel with a reserve of labor which it can utilize or marginalize without great risk to its own economy…Wages paid to workers from these areas do not drain Israel’s economic reserves since the consumption expenditure of Palestinian labor is directly tired into the Israeli economy itself. The resulting state of dependence of the Palestinian labor market on the economy of Israel renders the former vulnerable to the political, social, and economic exigencies of the latter” (pp, 36-37) Journal of Palestinian Studies Vol. 17 No.1
Plus the settlements also serve the strategic, interests of Israel as well as economic. Strategically, the territories captured in 1967 were seen as drastically improving Israel’s position in the Middle East. The Suez Canal and the Sinai desert gave the country a buffer zone between it and Egypt. The Jordan River and the Jordan valley provided a much more defensible boundary. Also, economically beneficial to the Israeli government was control of the Golan Heights, which allowed them to control a large share of the water in the region, mineral resources in the Sinai also adds economic value to these territories. These considerations of the settlements allowed the government to benefit immensely by the decision to allow and expand settlements in the occupied territories.
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