IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
Photo Essays
Ramadan is a sacred time of year for devout Muslims. The holy month began days after the Israeli military killed 62 protesters in Gaza’s Great Return March. Despite the sorrow over the killings, and despite the ongoing suffering Palestinians in Gaza experience due to the Israeli-imposed blockade, four hours daily of electricity, lack of drinking water, and chronic unemployment — families in Gaza still mark Ramadan with devotion, and with dignity.
on June 14, 2018
Israeli military authorities closed down about 35 Palestinian quarries in the West Bank in late March 2016 and confiscated millions of dollars’ worth of equipment. The crackdown, which has paralyzed the quarries, puts the livelihoods of up to 3,500 workers at risk and highlights the discriminatory nature of Israeli rules for Palestinian quarries, which have been unable to obtain new licenses for more than 20 years.
on April 21, 2016
A United Nations agency has warned that Gaza may become uninhabitable by 2020 if current political and economic trends continue. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in a statement released late Tuesday that eight years of effective bans on most exports, three major conflicts and tight restrictions on materials entering Gaza had “shattered its ability to export and produce for the domestic market, ravaged its already debilitated infrastructure, left no time for reconstruction and economic recovery, and accelerated the de-development” of the Gaza Strip.
on September 2, 2015
Fact Sheets
In the summer of 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew Israel's army and approximately 8,000 Jewish settlers from the interior of the occupied Gaza Strip after concluding that maintaining Israel's settlement enterprise there wasn't worth the cost. The IMEU offers the following fact sheet on how this plan has affected Palestinians in Gaza and beyond ten years later.
on August 18, 2015
Half of Gazans say they are considering emigration from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research reported Tuesday. Unemployment in Gaza increased in 2014 "to reach 44 percent -- probably the highest in the world," the World Bank reported, with the poverty rate in the occupied Palestinian territory reaching 39 percent...
on June 10, 2015
Recommended Reports
Blockades, war and poor governance have strangled Gaza's economy and the unemployment rate is now the highest in the world according to the latest World Bank economic update. The report will be presented to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), a forum of donors to the Palestinian Authority, at the bi-annual meeting in Brussels on May 27, 2015.
on May 21, 2015
Palestine 101
Unemployment peaked at around 60% in 2003, mainly as a consequence of Israeli checkpoints, closures, and other restrictions on Palestinians' freedom of movement.
on October 6, 2005