Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a crisis within a crisis in Palestine. The economy of the Palestinian Territories has been weakened by and subordinated to the Israeli occupation. The post-Oslo neoliberal turn has worsened the situation. The Palestinian public institutions have a very restricted policy space and are heavily dependent on the donors’ agendas. The role of the Palestinian economists and experts is significantly challenged by this unique situation, both in terms of theoretical contributions and policy-making. This chapter aims at scrutinising how to theoretically frame the specificities of the Palestinian economy and discussing both mainstream and ‘heterodox’ economic approaches can hardly offer effective policies and actions for a more sustainable and less unequal development, even in the aftermath of the pandemic. A number of interviews integrate the analysis about the economic debate in Palestine and the way economic thought is produced and translated into policies.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
As for the status of Jerusalem, see Resolutions 181 (1947) and 303 (1949) of the UN General Assembly. East Jerusalem is under Israeli administration.
- 3.
Isolation and separation have also had repercussions on data availability and coverage, particularly with respect to the so-called ‘tunnel economy’ and related tax revenues.
- 4.
See UNCTAD (2019), The economic costs of the Israeli occupation for the Palestinian people: Cumulative fiscal costs.
- 5.
According to PCBS data, almost two-thirds of overall investment is into the construction sector. MAS (2019) calculates that about 80% of private investment is for residential and commercial buildings. This kind of investment is predominantly debt-driven. Harker (2020) shows that data from the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA) confirms that most private debt is spent on land, housing and consumption rather than on productive activities.
- 6.
Shikaki (2021a) observes that several types of goods imported from Israel (e.g., garments, footwear, furniture, pharmaceutical products, etc.) were previously produced domestically, showing how the Palestinian manufacturing sector has declined over the decades.
- 7.
- 8.
See Farsakh (2016a) on the debate regarding the notion of colonialism prior to Oslo.
- 9.
Most of the projects funded were related to the housing and construction sector, including the city of Rawabi.
- 10.
The PMA calculates private debt by subtracting private credits to financial services and financial companies’ securities purchasing and carrying from total private credits.
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Capelli, C., Missaglia, M. (2022). Palestine: The Pandemic Between Occupation and Neoliberalism. In: Lazzarini, A., Melnik, D. (eds) Economists and COVID-19. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05811-0_4
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