 |
|
Palestinians see growing food shortages
The World Food Programme has boosted the number of beneficiaries by 25 percent in an effort to stave off 'food insecurity.'
from the March 7, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Since her husband died nearly a year and a half ago, Mrs. Shiham and her children have become dependent on payouts of 500 shekels ($120) every three months. When the donors to the Palestinian Authority (PA) initiated an aid boycott last spring because of Hamas's refusal to recognize Israel, the stipends from the social welfare ministry became more infrequent, coming just every six months.
Shiham also made the round of local Islamic charities, but some were shut down by the Israeli army on suspicion they had served as a financial conduit for Hamas.
Breakfast for the family consists of tea, bread, and olive oil. Lunch is often rice and lentils. Though Shiham can afford vegetables if she buys leftover produce at discount prices, she rarely has money for fruit.
"My kids love apples and they love bananas," she says. "Today, my son asked for apples, and I said, 'I don't have the money.' I started thinking, 'How am I going to get money for apples?' "
Though the international sanctions were aimed at the Hamas-led government, because the Palestinian economy is so dependent on public spending, per capita growth declined as much as 10 percent in 2006, according to a preliminary estimate by the World Bank. The reversal of three consecutive years of growth was also affected by a rise in security closures around Gaza and West Bank cities.
Israel argues that despite the security measures to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks, it is doing everything it can to ease the suffering of the Palestinian population.
"We are committed to working with the international community to ensure there are no food shortages in the territories," says Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "No one wants to see innocent Palestinians pay the price of an extremist and shortsighted Palestinian government."
But Daphna Golan, a researcher at Hebrew University's Minerva Center for Human Rights, argued that Israel needs to loosen restrictions of Palestinian movement to allow the Palestinian economy to grow. "If we want a normal future here," she says, "we don't want neighbors who are hungry."
RSS feed
