Poverty at 78% in Arab East Jerusalem
A new report reveals that 78 percent of Palestinians in Jerusalem – and 84 percent of Palestinian children – live under the poverty line.
According to the report by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the 360,000 Palestinian residents of the city – 38 percent of Jerusalem’s total population – have reached the highest poverty rate ever in 2011. By comparison, in 2006, 64 percent of the Palestinian population and 73 percent of the children lived under the poverty line.
The report, titled “Policies of Neglect in East Jerusalem” points out “limited employment opportunities, a severely depleted educational system, and a systematic lack of physical and economic infrastructure.”
The main reason for the poverty, according to the report is the high unemployment rates – 40 percent of the men are unemployed as are 85 percent of the women.
The report also cites neglect by the Israeli authorities, noting that there is only one industrial area in East Jerusalem, in Wadi Joz, and it too may be closed to due to the expected expansion of the road leading to the Western Wall.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
