The World Bank's endorsement of a Palestinian economic reform plan was tempered by a Dec. 13 report, "Investing in Palestinian Economic Reform and Development," which stated that even with full funding but no relaxation in the closure regime on Palestinians, growth would be slightly negative and the already high and growing poverty levels would rise dramatically.
The best-case scenario would be the "downward cycle of crisis and dependence," added the report. Oxfam International, too, voiced its concerns by saying aid to the Palestinians would not help unless Israel eased the travel restrictions that have stalled hundreds of millions of dollars in support.
"There are more and more restrictions imposed on the movement of the Palestinian population," Elois Fillion, protection coordinator of the International Committee of the International Committee of the Red Cross told the Middle East Times. "It makes me concerned regarding increasingly limited access to their farming land and to basic services such as emergency medical care, which is only available in East Jerusalem, Israel, or abroad."
"This is of particular concern in regard to the current closure of the Gaza Strip, where we consider the humanitarian situation as critical," added Fillion.
Israel's closure policy is a combination of the separation wall, flying and permanent checkpoints, roadblocks, closed military areas, ditches, fences, and an increasingly strict permit system.
This policy has not only decimated the Palestinian economy but also has had a particular and profound effect on the cultural, religious, educational, business, and family ties of Palestinians with East Jerusalem, in particular, which belongs to the Palestinians under international law as outlined by U.N. Security Council resolutions.
In a bid to establish facts on the ground, Judiaize Jerusalem and reverse the demographic threat of a higher Palestinian birth rate, the Israeli authorities have made it harder for Palestinian residents to stay in Jerusalem or for family members from the West Bank to join them.
Palestinians residing outside of Jerusalem for seven or more years lose their Jerusalem residency status unless they can prove Jerusalem residency within the municipal boundaries and the importance of the city in their daily life, which is imperative in order to keep their identity cards.
According to U.N. figures, in 2006 over 1,360 Palestinians had their ID cards revoked. This was five times more than in 2005, and more than in any previous year since 1967.
In 2003, the Citizenship and Entry into Israel was enacted. The temporary order, which has been renewed on several occasions, denies spouses from the occupied Palestinian territories who are married to Israeli citizens or permanent residents (Jerusalem ID card holders) the right to acquire citizenship or residency status and thus the opportunity to live with their partners in Israel and Jerusalem.
As a result, thousands of married couples are forced to live apart from one another. In Israel, foreign spouses who are Jewish are automatically granted citizenship under the Law of Return.
Furthermore, since 1982 the Israeli Interior Ministry has not permitted the registration of Palestinian children as residents of Jerusalem if the child's father does not hold a Jerusalem ID card, even if the mother is a Jerusalem ID card holder.
When Sahar and Tariq got married 31 years ago, Sahar had a Jerusalem ID card while Tariq was a West Bank ID holder. Their three daughters were all born in Jerusalem but the family lived in Abu Dis, just outside the Israeli declared municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, as it was cheaper.
As their two eldest daughters were born before 1982, they were given Jerusalem ID cards. However, the youngest daughter was born after 1982 and was ineligible to inherit her mother's Jerusalem permanent resident status as her father was a West Bank ID holder.
The building of the separation wall or barrier has also made life much harder for Palestinians to access East Jerusalem.
Conservative U.N. figures estimate currently about 25 percent of the 253,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have been cut off from the city by the barrier denying them, amongst other things, access to the excellent standard of health care at Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem.
Furthermore, the barrier is dividing students and teachers from their schools. Of the 33,000 students and 2,000 teachers in East Jerusalem schools, as many as 6,000 pupils and more than 650 teachers face difficulties reaching their schools.
Since 1993, security measures taken by the Israeli Defense Forces have also restricted millions of Muslim and Christian worshipers from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from visiting their holy sites in Jerusalem – in particular the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City.
Economically, Jerusalem used to be the thriving center of Palestinian business but today it is isolated from many West Bank customers who have difficulty accessing its market places. Gaza businesses are almost entirely cut off from the Jerusalem economy.
However, Israeli military spokesman, Captain Zidki Maman, told the Middle East Times that the building of the barrier and the restrictions on movement where necessary for Israel's security to prevent attacks by suicide bombers.