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2. The Motives and the Consequences of the Gaza Great Return March
- Author:
- Omar Shaban
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Pal-Think For Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- For four consecutive Fridays, tens of thousands of Gaza’s gather close which began on Friday, 30/3/2018 to the Gaza border with Israel what became known as “Gaza Great Return March, GRM. According to several reports, it can be said that the most the important motive for the Great Return Marches, are the tragic conditions in which Gaza’s live. Gaza has been besieged for more than 11 years. It suffers from a severe Palestinian division, and its people are suffering from a shortage of electricity, water scarcity, and inability to travel. Not to forget the three previous wars that destroyed everything in the Gaza Strip. Not to mention the failure of both options; the peace process led by the PA and armed resistance led by Hamas. The GRM was driven by the siege, the high level of unemployment, the ongoing consequences, up to today of the three wars, and the prevention of freedom of movement. However, raising the slogan “right of return” for the march was a unifying factor that helps to mobilize tens of thousands of participants. This slogan goes beyond any ideologies or socio-political issues. The march has achieved part of the goals, which is to have peaceful movements that begin with the commemoration of Land Day on March 30 till May, 15, the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba.
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
3. UNRWA’s Educational System and Impact
- Author:
- John Mark Shorack
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Pal-Think For Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The United States government under President Trump recently announced the withdrawal of monetary aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, commonly referred to as UNRWA. This is a major blow to UNRWA’s finances considering the United States’ yearly contribution’s amounted to one-third of their budget. Since UNRWA’s founding it has been a leading force providing support of Palestinian refugees across the Middle East region mainly providing education and emergency medical assistance.
- Topic:
- Education, International Affairs, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
4. Hamas parliament approves budget for Gaza gov't
- Author:
- Emad Drimly and Fares Akram
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Pal-Think For Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- GAZA, Hamas parliamentary bloc has recently approved the financial budget for Hamas’ government in the Gaza Strip, officials said on Monday. The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) approved the budget, although other parliamentary blocs, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, boycotted the session. The budget for the fiscal year is 428 million U.S. dollars and it applies only in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, excluding the West Bank which is ruled by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) led by Abbas. Fatah says the PLC sessions have been illegal since June 2007 when Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of the coastal strip. The approval of the budget took place as Israel still keeps a tight blockade on Gaza and amid vagueness and controversy over Hamas’ financial resources. In the West Bank, the Western-backed Abbas government goes through fiscal crisis despite financial support from the international community.
- Topic:
- Democratization, International Political Economy, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Gaza
5. Hamas Finds Gaza Tunnels’ $500 Million Loss Worse Than Madoff
- Author:
- Pal Think
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Pal-Think For Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Investment opportunities are rare in the Gaza Strip. So when Nabila Ghabin saw one last year, she pawned her car and jewelry and put $12,000 into a network of tunnels that brought in supplies smuggled from Egypt. She was one of about 4,000 Gazans who gave cash to middlemen and tunnel operators in 2008 as Israel blocked the overland passage of goods. Then Israeli warplanes bombed the tunnels before and during the Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 Gaza offensive and the investments collapsed. Now investors, who lost as much as $500 million, want their money back from Hamas, which runs Gaza. Hamas Economics Minister Ziad Zaza says about 200 people were taken into custody in connection with the tunnel investments; most have been released. Hamas is offering a partial repayment of 16.5 cents on the dollar using money recovered from Ihab al-Kurd, the biggest tunnel operator. The imbroglio over the 800 to 1,000 tunnels has deepened Hamas’s decline in public opinion in Gaza and highlights the Wild West nature of the underground economy that supports this jammed enclave of 1.4 million people
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, International Security, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Gaza
6. Palestinians line up for dwindling cash in Gaza
- Author:
- Pal Think
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Pal-Think For Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Local banks in Gaza, under pressure from Israeli sanctions, are running out of cash and desperate Palestinians lined up at branches Monday hoping to pull money out of frozen accounts. But most banks have sharply curtailed withdrawals over the past two weeks and some have posted signs telling customers they cannot take out any more money. The U.N. stopped distributing cash handouts to Gaza’s poorest last week. Economists and bank officials are warning that tens of thousands of civil servants will not be able to cash paychecks next month. “No society can operate without money, but that’s the situation we are reaching in Gaza,” said economist Omar Shaban. The Israeli shekel is a widely used currency in the Gaza Strip, and the territory needs at least 400 million shekels, or about $100 million, each month in new currency to replace aging notes and to pay salaries
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Gaza