Joblessness Hangs at 45% in Blockaded Gaza

In findings that can hardly be expected to generate Palestinian goodwill for Israel, a five-year Israeli blockade on Gazan exports has contributed heavily to the joblessness of nearly half the population and a sharp decline in real wages, according to a U.N. report.

In 2009, the city of Gaza had a population of 450,000. Private businesses have lost the most jobs, researchers say, while the public sector run by Hamas—the leading party which resolutely refuses to recognize Israel—has actually added jobs. —ARK

BBC:

Gaza’s unemployment rate was among the world’s highest, at 45.2% in late 2010, the UN has found, as Israel’s blockade of the territory enters its fifth year.

Real wages meanwhile fell by more than a third, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said.

Its report says that private businesses have been hardest hit by the continuing ban on virtually all exports.

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Flickr / Takver

People in Australia protest Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its attack on a humanitarian aid flotilla in June 2010.