Israel/Palestine

Poverty and Welfare
The poverty rate in East Jerusalem has reached alarming dimensions. This is a result of the severe neglect by authorities and is framed against the backdrop of the continuous political conflict.

For almost five decades, the Israeli authorities – including the Jerusalem municipality – refrained from investing adequate budgets in the Palestinian neighborhoods and even
imposed restrictions on the development of East Jerusalem as an urban unit serving the Palestinian public. The outcome is a labor market that does not match the size of the
population, very limited areas for industry and a weakened education system. The language and culture gaps between the eastern and western areas of the city and the political tensions between Arabs and Jews further restrict the occupational horizon of the Palestinian residents.

In recent years, the poverty levels in East Jerusalem have become further exacerbated. In 2006, 64% of Palestinians in Jerusalem lived below the poverty line, whereas by 2013 the rate rose to 75.4%.

A key reason for this exacerbation is the construction of the Separation Barrier, which severed Jerusalem from the West Bank, separated neighborhoods and suburbs that had previously been connected and interdependent and even cut off several Jerusalem neighborhoods from other parts of the city. The severing of economic, commercial, religious, familial and touristicties has worsened the socioeconomic situation and also hindered access to education, healthservices, religious institutions and more.