The Political Economy of Israel's Occupation

Shir Hever

Description

The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967 has many important economic aspects that are often overlooked. In this highly original book, Shir Hever shows that understanding the economic dimensions of the occupation is crucial to unravelling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



Hever rejects the premise that Israel keeps control over Palestinian territories for material gain, and also the premise that Israel is merely defending itself from Palestinian aggression. Instead, he argues that the occupation has reached an impasse, with the Palestinian resistance making exploitation of the Palestinians by Israeli business interests difficult, but the Israeli authorities reluctant to give up control.



With traditional economic analysis failing to explain this turn of events, this book will be invaluable for students, activists and journalists struggling to make sense of the complex issues surrounding Israel's occupation.
Acknowledgements

Preface

Part I

Introduction

1. Background on the Palestinian Economy

Part II: Selected Topics in the Economy of the Occupation

2. International Aid

3. Inflation in the OPT

4. Economic Cost of the Occupation to Israel

5. Trends in the Israeli Economy

6. Case Study: The Wall in Jerusalem

Part III: Implications of the Economy of the Occupation

7. Beyond Exploitation

Chapter 8 – Theoretical Analysis and Binationalism

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Human Rights
• Political Science
• Middle Eastern
• Political economy
• Middle East
• Palestine
• World
• Discrimination

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 06 août 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783714186
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ISRAEL’S OCCUPATION
The Political Economy of Israel’s Occupation
Repression Beyond Exploitation
Shir Hever
First published 2010 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Shir Hever 2010
The right of Shir Hever to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780745327952 Hardback ISBN 9780745327945 Paperback ISBN 9781849645447 PDF eBook ISBN 9781783714193 Kindle eBook ISBN 9781783714186 EPUB eBook
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CONTENTS

List of figures, tables, and maps

List of abbreviations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction
1
Background on the Palestinian economy Dependency

The Oslo Process

Corruption in the Palestinian Authority
Part I
Selected topics in the economy of the occupation
2
International aid

Aid efforts to the Palestinian Territories: historical overview

Foreign aid and humanitarian aid

Is aid really needed?

Current foreign aid to the OPT

Comparison with Israel

Sources of foreign aid

Beneficiaries of foreign aid

Benefits to Israel

Conclusion: effects of foreign aid
3
Inflation in the OPT

Inflation in Israel and in the OPT

Why is Palestinian inflation so high?

Who benefits from Palestinian inflation?

The occupation’s effect on Israel’s currency
4
Economic cost of the occupation to Israel

Economic discourse on the cost of occupation

Growing awareness of the cost

Breaking down the costs

The hidden facts

Careful calculation

The calculation

Summing the cost

Security implications

Comparisons of totals

Compensations

Who actually pays these costs?

Profits of the occupation

Conclusion
5
Trends in the Israeli economy

Reports on the Israeli economy

Why does Israel appear strong?

Comparison of growth rate

The Israeli educational system in decline

The Israeli political crisis: cause or symptom?

Not a democracy

Demographics – the socioeconomic standing of non-Jews

The true face of the labor market

Israel’s foreign trade balance

Israeli economic discourse of bliss

Conclusion
6
Case study: the Wall in Jerusalem

Introduction

East Jerusalem before the Wall

The Wall’s history

The characteristics of the Wall

The everyday effects of the Wall

The Wall in Israeli discourse

Land confiscation

Privatization

“Security need”

The making of the working class in East Jerusalem

Gaps in the educational system

Gaps in occupational status

Movement of labor in Jerusalem and the quality of life

Deteriorating healthcare services

Areas of special interest

Difficulties in obtaining goods

Arrested trade

Diminished income in East Jerusalem

Implementation of the welfare reform program

Housing shortages

Severed families

Bedouin tribes

Growing pessimism and discontent

Importance of Jerusalem employment to the Palestinian economy

Binational reality

Conclusion: the economic damage of the Wall
Part II
Implications of the economy of the occupation
7
Beyond exploitation

“Conspicuous consumption”

“Sabotage”

Marxist discourse on the Israeli occupation of the OPT

The Israeli anomaly

Exploitation

Filling the gaps

Outlines of Bourdieu’s theory

Distinction, symbolic capital, and habitus

Bourdieu’s theory and the occupation

Shortcomings of Bourdieu’s theory

Outlines of Amartya Sen’s theory

Sen’s theory and the occupation

Drawbacks of Sen’s theory

Sen and Veblen – entitlement and sabotage

Outlines of institutional theory

Veblen and institutional theory

Capital beyond means of production

Veblen and the occupation

Institutional theory and the occupation

The theory of Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan

Drawbacks of Bichler’s and Nitzan’s theory
8
Theoretical analysis and binationalism

International involvement and Israeli marketing

Negotiations at a standstill

The two-state solution

The one-state solution

Scenarios of conflict

Concluding remarks

Bibliography

Index
FIGURES, TABLES, AND MAPS
FIGURES
2.1
Total foreign aid to the OPT, 1994 to 2006
2.2
Per capita foreign aid to the OPT, 1994 to 2006
2.3
The 20 largest countries in receipt of per capita aid, cumulative figures, 1994 to 2006
3.1
Comparison of inflation, Israel and the OPT
4.1
Settler population
4.2
Costs of the occupation
4.3
Total cost of the occupation
5.1
Israeli imports and exports as a percentage of GDP
5.2
Central Bank of Israel foreign currency reserves
5.3
Poverty in Israel, 1979 to 2007
5.4
Proportion of Jews among Israeli citizens
5.5
CBI reserves in days of imports
6.1
Effects of the Wall on East Jerusalem, 2005
7.1
Sabotage: the relations between profit and industry
7.2
Leading oil companies: differential profits
TABLES
2.1
Distribution of Palestinian households by the most important need of locality and region (September 2003)
2.2
Total humanitarian aid, 1999 to 2005
2.3
Per capita aid (world rankings), 1999 to 2005
2.4
Aid dependency, world rankings, 1999 to 2005
2.5
Total aid (world ranking, including all foreign aid to Israel)
2.6
World rankings for per-capita aid, foreign aid to Israel included, 1999 to 2005
MAPS
6.1
The Separation Wall in Jerusalem
6.2
The E1 Plan
ABBREVIATIONS
ACRI
Association for Civil Rights in Israel
CBI
Central Bank of Israel
CEO
chief executive officer
COGAT
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Occupied Territories
CPI
Consumer Price Index
GDP
gross domestic product
GNI
gross national income
GNP
gross national product
GSS
General Security Service (“Shabak”)
ICBS
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
IMFA
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ISM
International Solidarity Movement
IWA
Inside Wall Area
PMoP
Palestinian Ministry of Planning
NGO
non-governmental organization
NII
National Insurance Institute
NIS
New Israeli Shekel
OECD
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
OPT
Occupied Palestinian Territories
OWA
Outside Wall Area
PA
Palestinian Authority
PCBS
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
PLO
Palestinian Liberation Organization
TIM
Temporary International Mechanism
UN
United Nations
UN OCHA
United Nations Office of Coordinating Humanitarian Affairs (UN)
UNRWA
United Nations Relief and Works Agency
UNSCO
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process
VAT
Value Added Tax
WFP
World Food Programs
WZO
World Zionist Organization
PREFACE
The 1990s were a decade of change in Israel/Palestine, and a decade of change for me personally as well. My dual interests in economic theory and in political analysis were both deeply affected by the Oslo Process. At the time, these negotiations filled me with hope. I must confess that I was taken in by Israeli politicians who promised peace, and by economists who said that peace coupled with a “free market” would lead to prosperity for both sides.
As the decade passed, reality gave me a hard slap in the face, and my twofold belief in the free market and the peace process was shattered. I was a student of economics at Tel-Aviv University, where I became aware of the profound shortcomings of mainstream economic theory, and was intrigued to explore alternative economic theories. It was also a time when a global social movement began emerging to protest against the growing economic gaps around the world and the impoverishment of millions in the name of “free trade.”
At the time, prime minister Ehud Barak (for whom I regrettably voted) made his “generous offer” to the Palestinians, ignoring international law and proposing a fragmented, cantonized state, declaring that it was the “best offer” that Israel would ever make. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization published a report that the drinking water in the Gaza Strip was no longer fit for human beings (Gray, 2007). Only the illegal Israeli settlers in Gaza continued to receive fresh and clean water from Israel. Then opposition leader Ariel Sharon entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque with armed guards in tow. These provocations led to the outbreak of the second intifada. They also betrayed the fact that Israel’s leadership had chosen occupation over peace.
I followed the events with horror, took every opportunity to hear eyewitness reports of Palestinians, attended demonstrations and other political events. These demonstrations were an opportunity to observe the occupation first hand, and after finding myself staring down the barrel of a gun and being beaten by Israeli soldiers, I felt the need to take more effective action to change the reality in my country.
I was given a rare opportunity to express my twofold interest in politics and economic analysis at the Alternative Information Center, where I founded a project to publish economic reports on the occupation. Some of these reports have been compiled into this book. In the course of