A state of stagnation and depression appears to be evident in the markets of occupied Jerusalem few days after the holy month of Ramadan has begun while sorrow and anger is felt among Jerusalemites after Washington transferred its embassy to the occupied city and following the bloody massacre perpetrated by the Israeli military in Gaza amid insistence on steadfastness and survival in defiance of Israel’s policy of impoverishment.
The merchants of the city who pay a heavy price to resist the policies of the Israeli impoverishment wait for the holy month of Ramadan to compensate for the losses of the year in light of the successive taxes imposed on them by the Israeli occupation which drain their profits.
Siege and isolation
Merchant Mustapha Abuzuhra said: “Jerusalem is a central city a spiritual capital of the Islamic world” adding “This city is visited by Muslims Christians and others from all over the world.”
He told the PIC that the holy city is suffering from siege and isolation from the West Bank calling on the people of the West Bank to travel to the Aqsa Mosque and to shop from the Old City which suffers another siege due to the Israeli occupation authorities’ advice to foreign tourists not to buy from Arab merchants.
He noted “This has led to a recession and scarcity of resources in the city and forced a large number of Arab merchants in the Old City to close their shops because of the scarcity of shoppers.”
Abuzuhra said that buying from Jerusalem is a blessing especially food because God Almighty blessed the Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings. Thus buying from there means supporting Jerusalemite merchants who serve as guards of the Aqsa.
Price reductions
Meat and poultry merchant Khader Natsheh said: “We hope that the commercial movement will be active during Ramadan this year as we noticed that there is a good movement of shoppers.”
He explained that due to the difficult economic conditions experienced by citizens the prices of poultry and fish have been reduced.
Wadih al-Halawani pointed out that the current situation in the Gaza Strip is reflected in the holy city stressing that the month of Ramadan this year comes with sadness and sorrow as the city saw the transfer of the American embassy and the fall of the martyrs in Gaza.
Washington transferred last Monday its embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem despite the international condemnation. The Israeli occupation forces committed during that same day a massacre in Gaza that resulted in the death of more than 60 Palestinians and the injury of 3000 others on the Gaza borders.
“The month of Ramadan comes this year in a very difficult economic condition” said Halawani. “Shoppers only buy the necessary supplies and give up many goods they are accustomed to buying.”
Systematic impoverishment
Fadi al-Haddmi a specialist in economic affairs in Jerusalem warns of the collapse of the economy in the holy city due to the political and practical campaign of the various occupation agencies which poses a serious danger to the besieged and strangled Jerusalem economy which is struggling to survive.
He referred in particular to the merchants of Jerusalem in the Old City who the occupation authorities are trying to dump their shops and displace them to the outside markets in order to control all economic joints in the Old City. The occupation authorities by doing so seek to Judaize and Israelize the city turning it into a small and isolated “Ghetto” in the so-called Greater Jerusalem.
He stressed that the next stage will witness more impoverishment of Jerusalemite merchants so that they give up their shops estimated at over 1200 which are considered by the occupation authorities as a thorn in the throat.
