Word: gazans
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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While Israel naturally draws the lion's share of Gazan criticism, Arafat and his Authority are not exempt from it. "The Chairman thinks ideologically," says a human-rights worker who, revealingly, does not want to be named. "He is focusing on the basic principle, namely Palestinian independence. He's not interested in day-to-day problems, in infrastructure where we are starting from below zero. The few changes for the better have been trivial, cheap cosmetics. Paving a few roads, some improvement in education and public health--that's it." More trenchant complaints focus on corruption and nepotism...
While residents generally give Arafat's administration low marks for efficiency, the leading Gazan complaint is economic. Responding to the suicide bombings, Israel has limited the number of Palestinian laborers working in Israel to 29,000, down from the normal 100,000 or so at this time of year. The Gaza Strip has been especially hard hit, as it has little local industry. Trade with Israel has also been sharply curtailed. Because of the new strictures, the unemployment rate is at 58% in Gaza, and merchants are starving for business. True, self-rule there has brought some degree of pride...
...current environment in the Gaza Strip has strengthened the appeal of the militants. Palestinians have little, if anything, to show for the achievement of self-rule. The Gazan economy is in ruins. Foreign aid donors refuse to hand over significant funds until Arafat creates a credible system of accounting for the money. Israel, in response to the violence, has limited the number of workers allowed to cross the border daily for work. Just days before the Gaza riots, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned that the Gaza Strip would become "a new, tougher Afghanistan" unless economic conditions improved immediately...