This in from Andrew Turner’s office, in their own words, Ed
The Island’s MP, Andrew Turner, spoke out in the House of Commons recently about employment and trade relations in the Middle East.
Mr Turner raised concerns about the unemployment levels in Israel, Gaza and the rest of occupied Palestine, and asked the Minister from International Development, Alan Duncan MP, what assessments the Government has made as to the cause of unequal levels of employment in the region.
Mr Duncan’s response confirmed what Mr Tuner had expected, that there are large discrepancies in unemployment levels. The figures are as low as 7% in Israel, and as high as 17% and 28% in Gaza and the West Bank.
“Remove the controls that limit Palestinians”
Mr Turner said, “Without doubt more needs to be done to try and persuade Israel to remove the controls that limit Palestinians being able to cross the border in order to find work and, indeed, take advantage of more opportunities to create work in Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
“The restrictions Israel imposes are disproportionately unfair to Palestinian workers and pose a serious risk to the success of the Palestinian economy. Although Israel deems these restrictions to be integral to the security of their country, now is the time for reassessment to try and ensure that there are minimum restrictions on border crossing to enable consistent economic prosperity for the region.
“In addition, the Palestinian authority needs to focus on internal job creation and start to utilise their own natural resources in order to become more financially self-sufficient.”
Image: © From Christ At The Checkpoint as referenced in Hannah Brock’s account from Bethlehem
