Palestinians welcome ease of restrictions with hope and anxiety

“The biggest challenge now facing the PA government is the high rate of unemployment and poverty,” said economy expert Adnan Sulieman.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
A Palestinian vendor sells food in a restaurant after Palestinians ease the restrictions of the coronavirus. Ramallah, May 26, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)
A Palestinian vendor sells food in a restaurant after Palestinians ease the restrictions of the coronavirus. Ramallah, May 26, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)
The Palestinian Authority announced on Tuesday that no new cases of coronavirus have been detected among Palestinians in the past 24 hours. This comes amid signs of a slow return to normalcy after the PA eased restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
PA Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said that eight patients have recovered from the disease. She said that 602 Palestinians had been diagnosed with the disease since the beginning of March – 319 in east Jerusalem and its suburbs, 228 in the West Bank and 55 in the Gaza Strip. Some 80% of those diagnosed with the disease have recovered, al-Kaila said, adding that the areas of Jericho, Toubas, Salfit, Jenin, Kalkilya, Ramallah, al-Bireh, Bethlehem, Tulkarem and Nablus were now free of the disease.
On Monday, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced a series of measures to ease the lockdown imposed in the West Bank since the first cases of coronavirus were discovered in Bethlehem. Shtayyeh said that courts, ministries and official bodies will return to work regularly after the three-day Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, which ends on Tuesday. Nurseries will also reopen according to the safety procedures, he said, adding that public transportation would operate normally.
In addition, Shtayyeh announced that all businesses would be permitted to operate as of Tuesday morning. Mosques and churches were also reopened on Tuesday morning, including the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.
On June 10, the PA will begin operating an air bridge to transport Palestinian students from Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Russia and other countries, the Palestinian premier said.
Despite the announcement, many businesses remained closed in several parts of the West Bank as Palestinians observed the last day of Eid al-Fitr.
While most Palestinians welcomed the easing of the restrictions, many said they feared that it would take several weeks or months before they see any improvement in the economy.
Some Palestinians, on the other hand, criticized the tough measures taken by the PA government to stem the spread of the coronavirus, arguing that they were exaggerated and harmful to the economy.
“The people can finally breathe,” said Ramzi Sandouka, a souvenir merchant from Bethlehem, where the Church of Nativity was reopened for the first time in two months. “We are relived that the lockdown has ended, but Bethlehem relies mostly on tourists. As long as there are no tourists, the economy will continue to be very bad.”
Mervat Bandak, a Christian mother of three from Bethlehem, said she was “very excited” to see the Church of Nativity open. “This is a big day for all,” she said. “We have suffered a lot because of the coronavirus and the curfew imposed by the PA. “I think more than 70% of the people in Bethlehem have lost their jobs and income since the beginning of the crisis. I don’t know how long it would take before the situation returns to normal. But we have to be optimistic.”
The owner of a restaurant in nearby Bet Sahour said he believes that at least 30% of the restaurants and cafes in the Bethlehem area would not return to business because of the heavy financial losses. “I don’t believe many people can afford to go to restaurants these days,” he said. “We used to rely a lot on Arab-Israelis, but I doubt if they would be returning soon.”
According to the restaurant owner, the owners of small businesses in the West Bank have received no financial assistance from the PA government in the past two months.
“The biggest challenge now facing the PA is the high rate of unemployment and poverty,” said economy expert Adnan Sulieman. “I believe the rate of unemployment in the West Bank is anywhere between 30% and 40%. We will see many business owners and employees applying for work permits to enter Israel to search for work.”
PA Minister of Tourism Rula Maayeh expressed hope that Bethlehem and the Church of Nativity would again see millions of tourists and pilgrims. “The opening of the church gives us and the rest of the world hope that the pandemic will end,” she said.
A PA cabinet minister expressed hope that Israel would increase the number of permit works for Palestinians in the coming days. “This will help our economy,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “Israel too has an interest in boosting the Palestinian economy.”
A former PA cabinet minister told the Post that while the Shtayyeh government did a “great job” in preventing the spread of the coronavirus, it nevertheless has failed to devise a plan for avoiding a severe and unprecedented economic crisis. “The Palestinian government’s precautionary measures were very good and effective,” he said, referring to the lockdown on most villages and cities. “But they have also destroyed our economy, and it doesn’t seem that the government has a serious plan to deal with the problem.”
A Palestinian journalist from Ramallah said on Tuesday that the easing of the restrictions may have prevented the eruption of widespread protests. “Shtayyeh’s announcement came at the right time, when people were beginning to take to the streets to protest the lockdown and other restrictions,” she noted.
“Many Palestinians were beginning to complain about economic hardship, while others accused the government of exaggeration. If the economy does not recover quickly, we still may see people rising against the Palestinian Authority. For most Palestinians, the most important issue now is to return to work and feed their families. They would like to see our leaders devote all their time and energy to the economy.”