Abir Dandis, the mother of the two girls who were murdered in the Negev town of Al-Fura’a last week, couldn't find a police officer to listen to her warnings, neither in Arad nor in Ma’ale Adumim. Both police stations operate in areas where Israel wants to gather the Bedouin into permanent communities, against their will, in order to clear more land for Jewish communities. The dismissive treatment Dandis received shows how the Bedouin are considered simply to be lawbreakers by their very nature. But as a resident of the West Bank asking for help for her daughters, whose father was Israeli, Dandis faced the legal-bureaucratic maze created by the Oslo Accords.

The Palestinian police is not allowed to arrest Israeli civilians. It must hand suspects over to the Israel Police. The Palestinian police complain that in cases of Israelis suspected of committing crimes against Palestinian residents, the Israel Police tend not to investigate or prosecute them.

In addition, the town of Al-Azaria, where Dandis lives, is in Area B, under Palestinian civilian authority and Israeli security authority. According to the testimony of Palestinian residents, neither the IDF nor the Israel Police has any interest in internal Palestinian crime even though they have both the authority and the obligation to act in Area B.

The Palestinian police are limited in what it can do in Area B. Bringing in reinforcements or carrying weapons in emergency situations requires coordination with, and obtaining permission from, the IDF. If Dandis fears that the man who murdered her daughters is going to attack her as well, she has plenty of reason to fear that she will not receive appropriate, immediate police protection from either the Israelis or the Palestinians.

Dandis told Jack Khoury of Haaretz that the Ma’ale Adumim police referred her to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Coordination and Liaison Committee. Theoretically, this committee (which is subordinate to the Civil Affairs Ministry) is the logical place to go for such matters. Its parallel agency in Israel is the Civilian Liaison Committee (which is part of the Coordination and Liaison Administration - a part of the Civil Administration under the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories).

In their meetings, they are supposed to discuss matters such as settlers’ complaints about the high volume of the loudspeakers at mosques or Palestinians’ complaints about attacks by settlers. But the Palestinians see the Liaison Committee as a place to submit requests for permission to travel to Israel, and get the impression that its clerks do not have much power when faced with their Israeli counterparts. In any case, the coordination process is cumbersome and long.

The Palestinian police has a family welfare unit, and activists in Palestinian women’s organizations say that in recent years, its performance has improved. But, as stated, it has no authority over Israeli civilians and residents. Several non-governmental women’s groups also operate in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and women in similar situations approach them for help. The manager of one such organization told Haaretz that Dandis also fell victim to this confusing duplication of procedures and laws. Had Dandis approached her, she said, she would have referred her to Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which has expertise in navigating Israel’s laws and authorities.

John Kerry revealed his long-awaited plan for peace in the Middle East on Sunday, hinging on a $4bn (£2.6bn) investment in the Palestinian private sector.

The US secretary of state, speaking at the World Economic Forum on the Jordanian shores of the Dead Sea, told an audience including Israeli president Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that an independent Palestinian economy is essential to achieving a sustainable peace.

Speaking under the conference banner "Breaking the Impasse", Kerry announced a plan that he promised would be "bigger, bolder and more ambitious" than anything since the Oslo accords, more than 20 years ago.

Tony Blair is to lead a group of private sector leaders in devising a plan to release the Palestinian economy from its dependence on international donors. The initial findings of Blair's taskforce, Kerry boasted, were "stunning", predicting a 50% increase in Palestinian GDP over three years, a cut of two-thirds in unemployment rates and almost double the Palestinian median wage. Currently, 40% of the Palestinian economy is supplied by donor aid.

Kerry assured Abbas that the economic plan was not a substitute for a political solution, which remains the US's "top priority".

Peres, who had taken the stage just minutes before, also issued a personal plea to his Palestinian counterpart to return to the negotiations.

"Let me say to my dear friend President Abbas," Peres said, "Should we really dance around the table? Lets sit together. You'll be surprised how much can be achieved in open, direct and organised meetings."

Thick locks hug the front gates of shuttered shops, now covered in graffiti and dust from lack of use. Only a handful of customers pass along the dimly lit road, sometimes stopping to check the ripeness of fruits and vegetables, or ordering meat in near-empty butcher shops.

“All the shops are closed. I’m the only one open. This used to be the best place,” said 64-year-old Mustafa Sunocret, selling vegetables out of a small storefront in the marketplace near his family’s home in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Amidst the brightly coloured scarves, clothes and carpets, ceramic pottery and religious souvenirs filling the shops of Jerusalem’s historic Old City, Palestinian merchants are struggling to keep their businesses alive.

Faced with worsening health problems, Sunocret told IPS that he cannot work outside of the Old City, even as the cost of maintaining his shop, with high electricity, water and municipal tax bills to pay, weighs on him.

“I only have this shop,” he said. “There is no other work. I’m tired.”

Abed Ajloni, the owner of an antiques shop in the Old City, owes the Jerusalem municipality 250,000 Israeli shekels (68,300 U.S. dollars) in taxes. He told IPS that almost every day, the city’s tax collectors come into the Old City, accompanied by Israeli police and soldiers, to pressure people there to pay.

“It feels like they’re coming again to occupy the city, with the soldiers and police,” Ajloni, who has owned the same shop for 35 years, told IPS. “But where can I go? What can I do? All my life I was in this place.”

He added, “Does Jerusalem belong to us, or to someone else? Who’s responsible for Jerusalem? Who?”

Illegal annexation

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in 1967. In July 1980, it passed a law stating that “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel”. But Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and subsequent application of Israeli laws over the entire city remain unrecognised by the international community.

Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory – along with the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights – and Palestinian residents of the city are protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Jerusalem has historically been the economic, political and cultural centre of life for the entire Palestinian population. But after decades languishing under destructive Israeli policies meant to isolate the city from the rest of the Occupied Territories and a lack of municipal services and investment, East Jerusalem has slipped into a state of poverty and neglect.

“After some 45 years of occupation, Arab Jerusalemites suffer from political and cultural schizophrenia, simultaneously connected with and isolated from their two hinterlands: Ramallah and the West Bank to their east, West Jerusalem and Israel to the west,” the International Crisis Group recently wrote.

Israeli restrictions on planning and building, home demolitions, lack of investment in education and jobs, construction of an eight-foot-high separation barrier between and around Palestinian neighbourhoods and the creation of a permit system to enter Jerusalem have all contributed to the city’s isolation.

Formal Palestinian political groups have also been banned from the city, and between 2001-2009, Israel closed an estimated 26 organisations, including the former Palestinian Liberation Organisation headquarters in Jerusalem, the Orient House and the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce.

Extreme poverty

Israel’s policies have also led to higher prices for basic goods and services and forced many Palestinian business owners to close shop and move to Ramallah or other Palestinian neighbourhoods on the other side of the wall. Many Palestinian Jerusalemites also prefer to do their shopping in the West Bank, or in West Jerusalem, where prices are lower.

While Palestinians constitute 39 percent of the city’s population today, almost 80 percent of East Jerusalem residents, including 85 percent of children, live below the poverty line.

“How could you develop [an] economy if you don’t control your resources? How could you develop [an] economy if you don’t have any control of your borders?” said Zakaria Odeh, director of the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, of “this kind of fragmentation, checkpoints, closure”.

“Without freedom of movement of goods and human beings, how could you develop an economy?” he asked.

“You can’t talk about independent economy in Jerusalem or the West Bank or in all of Palestine without a political solution. We don’t have a Palestinian economy; we have economic activities. That’s all we have,” Odeh told IPS.

Israel’s separation barrier alone, according to a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD), has caused a direct loss of over one billion dollars to Palestinians in Jerusalem, and continues to incur 200 million dollars per year in lost opportunities.

Israel’s severing and control over the Jerusalem-Jericho road – the historical trade route that connected Jerusalem to the rest of the West Bank and Middle East – has also contributed to the city’s economic downturn.

Separation of Jerusalem from West Bank

Before the First Intifada (Arabic for “uprising”) began in the late 1980s, East Jerusalem contributed approximately 14 to 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the Occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). By 2000, that number had dropped to less than eight percent; in 2010, the East Jerusalem economy, compared to the rest of the OPT, was estimated at only seven percent.

“Economic separation resulted in the contraction in the relative size of the East Jerusalem economy, its detachment from the remaining OPT and the gradual redirection of East Jerusalem employment towards the Israeli labour market,” the U.N. report found.

Decades ago, Israel adopted a policy to maintain a so-called “demographic balance” in Jerusalem and attempt to limit Palestinian residents of the city to 26.5 percent or less of the total population.

To maintain this composition, Israel built numerous Jewish-Israeli settlements inside and in a ring around Jerusalem and changed the municipal boundaries to encompass Jewish neighbourhoods while excluding Palestinian ones.

It is now estimated that 90,000 Palestinians holding Jerusalem residency rights live on the other side of the separation barrier and must cross through Israeli checkpoints in order to reach Jerusalem for school, medical treatment, work, and other services.

“Israel is using all kinds of tools to push the Palestinians to leave; sometimes they are visible, and sometimes invisible tools,” explained Ziad al-Hammouri, director of the Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic Rights (JCSER).

Al-Hammouri told IPS that at least 25 percent of the 1,000 Palestinian shops in the Old City were closed in recent years as a result of high municipal taxes and a lack of customers. “Taxation is an invisible tool…as dangerous as revoking ID cards and demolishing houses,” he said. “Israel will use this as pressure and as a tool in the future to confiscate these shops and properties.”

Immediately after the historic visit of President D. Trump to the region, and with the conclusion of the local elections in the West Bank and during the hunger strike in Israeli prisons, Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) conducted a national public opinion poll May 21-23 among 5,00 Palestinians (18+) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The poll focused on the following issues: the Palestinian hunger strike in Israeli prisons, the visit of President Abbas to Washington and the visit of US President D. Trump to the region, and the after math of the local elections. The margin of error for this poll is 4 percent. The poll can be found online at www.awrad.org or call us at 0599204527.

Optimism about the hunger strike and discontent with the positions of the institutions and the leadership: 88 percent believed that the Palestinian political prisoners will achieve some or all of their demands. Two thirds were dissatisfied with the performance of President Abbas as well as Hamas towards the strike. A majority believed that the strike revived the Palestinian cause at the international level, while others believed that it strengthened the profile and influence of Marwan Barghouthi.

Negotiations and Trump’s Visit: A majority view President Abbas’s visit to Washington and that of President Trump to the region as more symbolic than leading to real change. Two thirds of the respondents believed that Abbas’s visit to Washington was unsuccessful. A majority believed that Trump’s visit has no or little importance to the Palestinians. In addition, 57 percent believed that President Trump is not serious about reaching a deal between the Palestinians and Israelis.

At the same time, Palestinians continue to be divided around the resumption of negotiations, and less than half expect that future negotiations will lead to a two-state solution.

Local Elections: Local elections were carried out in the West Bank on the 13th of May. The majority of voters expressed non-political motives for the participation.45 percent viewed their participation as a civic personality while 15 percent viewed it as an opportunity to support their family candidate. Refraining from voting was mostly due to the absence of any list or the fact there was only list running in many communities. In addition, many registered voters believed that the competing lists did not offer real change or that the results of the elections were predetermined.

PA’s cuts to public sector salaries and services in Gaza: The majority of respondents view these cuts as politically motivated either to pressure Hamas into negotiating a solution to the ongoing division or to force Hamas to take full responsibility for Gaza. Others believe that they are initiated to satisfy Western demands that the PA end Hamas’ rule in Gaza. 51 percent oppose the continuation of these cuts.

To View The Full Result as PDF

The following press release presents the results of an online survey of Palestinian youth (18-35 years old) in the West Bank and Gaza, conducted in March 2017. The survey measures support for upcoming local elections in the West Bank, knowledge of recent clashes in Balata Refugee Camp, daily priorities, and sources of news and information.

Among the findings:

• Overall, 60 percent of youth support local elections, planned to be held exclusively in the West Bank this May. However, support is geographically stratified, with only 46 percent of Gaza supporting the holding of elections, compared to 40 percent who oppose. Among West Bank respondents, only 53 percent say they intend to vote (a much lower rate than previous elections).

• 86 percent of respondents say they are aware of recent security incidents in Nablus’ Balata Refugee Camp. Overall, respondents place equal blame on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the camp militants. Regionally, however, Gaza respondents are more likely to fault the PA.

• Employment and the cost of living are the two greatest concerns of youth, constituting 75 percent of responses.

• 69 percent of youth identify social media as their primary source for news and 21 percent news websites. Only 5 percent cite television as their primary source, compared to 1 percent who select newspapers. However, the primary use of social media and the Internet among youth is communicating with friends (34 percent). This is followed by news (26 percent) and culture and education (19 percent).

• While official and semi-official sources of news and information are viewed by the majority as objective (63 percent) and reliable (66 percent) - or “somewhat” so - the majority of youth do not believe these sources are progressive (55 percent) or portray Palestinians in the best light (57 percent).

To View the Full Result as PDF

The following are findings from AWRAD’s most recent online survey, conducted from the 19th to the 27th of December. 230 Palestinian opinion leaders in the West Bank and Gaza participated in the survey, which measured perceptions of the recent Fatah Congress. Respondents included political leaders, civil society leaders, academics, youth and women leaders, journalists, and Fatah-Congress members. For the full results, please refer to www.awrad.org.

Results of Fatah’s Congress: Respondents are divided on the significance and impact of Fatah’s 7th Congress. Respondents split almost evenly with approximately one-third believing the Congress strengthened, weakened or had no effect on the party.

Respondents are less divided when assessing the Congress’ broader impact on Palestine with a plurality believing it had no impact (40 percent). A plurality (43 percent) is also doubtful that the Congress was a positive expression of democracy. Respondents in the West Bank are more positive than those in Gaza when assessing these issues.

Fatah’s Internal Elections: 44 percent of respondents believe that Fatah is more democratic than other political parties, though 39 percent believe it is roughly the same.

A majority also believes Fatah’s internal elections were to some extent transparent and fair. However, a majority (51 percent) is dissatisfied with the overall representation, as well as the representation of women (54 percent). Again, responses in Gaza are less positive than in the West Bank.

Fatah’s Platform: The majority of respondents (51 percent) do not believe that the platform adopted by the Congress represents a significant change from the previous one.

23 percent believe it is a regression with respondents in Gaza more likely to believe this is the case.

Congress’ Beneficiaries: When asked who gained the most from the Congress, a majority (60 percent) of respondents identifies President Abbas.

Fatah Leaders: The most respected figure in Fatah’s Central Committee is Marwan Barghouthi (38 percent), followed by Jibril Rajoub (11 percent) and Nasser al Qidwa (10 percent).

The Future: With the conclusion of the Congress, a plurality (40 percent) of respondents believes Abbas should focus on new elections at all levels. Roughly one-quarter (24 percent) believes he should focus on reconciliation with Hamas. Three percent believes the peace process should be the President’s goal.

To View the Full Result as PDF

The following are highlights from AWRAD’s most recent national poll in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, conducted 10-12 July 2016, sample size 1,200. For the full results, please refer to www.awrad.org.

Stagnation: A simple majority (a higher rate in the West Bank) reports that security has diminished. Economically, a plurality in the West Bank states that their family’s situation has remained the same as a year ago, while a majority in Gaza states that their situation has deteriorated. Correspondingly, a majority of Palestinians believes that Palestine is currently heading in the wrong direction. Overall, the data reflects stagnancy in popular sentiments. Compared with national surveys from the previous two years, a growing number of respondents, and in some instances a majority, believes that things are not changing; neither improving nor worsening. Nevertheless, a simple majority of respondents remains optimistic about the future.

Internal Violence & Crime: There has been a notable spike in internal violence and crime in recent months that has negatively impacted the lives of average Palestinians. West Bank respondents attribute events to moral and social decay within Palestinian society, followed by an inability of PA security forces to enforce the rule of law, combined with weak economic growth and declining social services. Gaza respondents, however, identify frustration with economic and social circumstances as the primary cause.

Weapon Possession & Enforcement: Palestinians, particularly in the West Bank, are split in their evaluation of the security agencies’ response to recent events with an overwhelming majority in both the West Bank and Gaza of the belief that the PA and its security agencies should impose harsher measures to deal with private weapon possession.

Local Elections: Half of all respondents are aware that the PA has declared that local elections will be conducted in the West Bank on October 8, 2016. A simple majority plans to vote, with the remainder undecided or planning not to vote.

West Bank & Local Elections: If Hamas - which now says that it will participate - does not run in the local elections, a third of West Bank respondents state that they will not vote.

Gaza & Local Elections: A majority of Gaza respondents support the conduct of local elections in Gaza, simultaneous with those in the West Bank. If local elections are not conducted in Gaza on October 8, a simple majority of Gazans says they would hold Hamas responsible.

Political Parties & Local Elections: A simple majority of West Bank respondents say they are uncertain who they will vote for or that they will not vote in scheduled October local elections. In Gaza, the number of undecided is only half that of the West Bank. Among those who intend to vote, a Fatah list is currently the most popular, followed by a Hamas list.

Support for Presidential & Parliamentary Elections: A majority of Palestinians continue to support the immediate conduct of presidential and legislative elections.

Political Leadership: With President Abbas indicating his intent to retire, Marwan is the preferred presidential candidate in a presidential contest. Ismail Haniyeh is the second most popular choice, followed by Mohammad Dahlan, who derives his support almost exclusively from Gaza.

Fatah Leaders: Among Fatah leaders, Marwan Barghouti remains the first choice of respondents followed by Dahlan, Saeb Eraikat, Majed Faraj Jibril Rajoub and Naser al Qidwa.

Hamas Leaders: Ismael Haniyeh currently tops Khaled Mesha’al as the preferred choice amongst Hamas figures in a presidential contest.

To View the Full Result as PDF