Palestinians Blame Israel for Economic Slump

November 26, 2012

Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah are struggling to cope with an economic slowdown in the Palestinian territories, spurred by a decline in foreign aid. Many blame the Palestinian Authority and Israel for their troubles.

Ramallah residents are used to adjusting to the pressures of the Israeli occupation, and the city has been lauded for its economic growth.

But as the region is squeezed economically, some on the West Bank are questioning their leaders in the Palestinian Authority, based in this city.

"I don’t expect any help from the Palestinian Authority. Maybe if a state is established, but as long as the PA lives on funding, it will never get better," said a Palestinian teenager.

"The PA treats the Israelis better than it treats us," said another.

These young men live in Ramallah's Amari refugee camp, home to 7,000 people whose families became refugees in the 1948 war that established Israel.

They are governed by the Palestinian Authority, which relies on foreign aid to meet its budget.

As the global economy falters, that aid has dropped by half to less than a billion dollars annually. The authority can't pay its workers on time.

The Omeir family supports three generations and two complete families in this small house. Nour is their main support. She's a teacher on the Palestinian Authority's payroll and has not received her salary in months.