West Bank: in Jenin, "besieged" by the Israeli army, the market looks gray
Audio 01:30
Israeli forces on the roof of the family home of Diaa Hamarshah, who carried out a shooting in a suburb of Tel Aviv, during a raid near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank;
March 30, 2022. © Mohamad Torokma, Reuters
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
For several days, Israel has tightened the noose around Jenin, the city of origin of two of the assailants of the latest shootings in Israel.
Army incursions are almost daily and the Minister of Defense has imposed restrictions: Palestinians from Israel - who represent 75% of the purchasing power of this city - no longer have the right to enter Jenin .
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With our correspondent in Jenin,
Alice Froussard
While the economic situation is normally an asset for this city in the northern West Bank thanks to its agricultural land, its quality food products and its factories, traders are particularly affected by
the restrictions
decided by Naftali Bennett.
Local traders and businessmen can no longer cross the separation wall and all permits given for Ramadan have been revoked.
►Also read: An Israeli army raid in the Palestinian camp of Jenin leaves one dead and injured
Entire stalls of fruits and vegetables, windows decorated for Ramadan, racks full of clothes, but abnormally empty aisles.
In the Jenin market, traders are desperately waiting for customers.
Hasan, 20, is a seller in a linen store.
“
Since the Palestinians of Israel cannot come because of the siege
,” he explains, “
we sell a lot less.
Usually they come to buy a lot of things here because it's cheaper than in Israel.
And then with the security context, and as the army has closed everything, even the Palestinians from the West Bank are not coming, the workers are staying at home…
”
Once again, the atmosphere of Ramadan is gloomy, says Salman Marai, 56, in his decoration shop.
“
It's as if it was done just for Jenin, just to kill the city,
laments the trader.
We had the same type of restrictions twenty years ago
.
»
Because this seat has an air of deja vu… That of the
second intifada
(2000-2005, editor’s note), or last year because of the coronavirus.
During Ramadan, it is even worse for the economy of the governorate, describes Mohammad Kamel, director of the Chamber of Commerce.
“
In Jenin, it can fall quickly, but it's difficult to get back to the level.
There, the shortfall is 1.2 million dollars per day with these restrictions, so to repair the losses of Ramadan, it will take at least five months.
It's a sort of collective punishment, which won't do anything… except to generate more chaos, and more reactions from the Palestinians.
»
Because in Jenin, nothing changes, he tells us, and a whole generation has known only the despair and violence of the occupation.
►Also see: Israel: two dead in an attack in Tel Aviv, the assailant killed
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Israel
Palestinian territories
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