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The segregation of Palestinians in the OPT is even more blatant. With most Palestinians confined to caged communities, which they can leave only with a special permit from Israel, surrounded by roads which they are not allowed to travel on, and subjected daily to a humiliating and arbitrary system of surveillance, the similarities between the life of Palestinians in the OPT to the life of blacks under apartheid in South Africa are even more striking than those of Palestinian citizens.

Israeli citizens, and especially Jewish settlers, enjoy privileges in the OPT over the indigenous Palestinian population. As a result, the Palestinian economy is strangled. Businesses depend on special permits from the Israeli authorities for importing raw materials and machinery, for transporting finished goods (not only to Israel but also within the OPT itself). As the Palestinians have no borders, Israel controls all of their imports and exports, and collects customs from products intended for the OPT (customs which are often withheld by the Israeli government). Meanwhile, Israeli businesses enjoy unrestricted access to the Palestinian economy.

The Palestinians have been deprived of the right to work freely, to produce, trade, and generally to sustain themselves. In the Gaza Strip, many have thus become dependent on international aid for food. Israel has not only robbed them of their livelihood, but also of their dignity.

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3965-economic-separation-under-israeli-control

Economic separation under Israeli control
Shir Hever, author of The Political Economy of Israel's Occupation, examines Israeli policies towards the Palestinians through an economic lens, arguing that separation is a poor economic option for all parties involved

SHIR HEVER FOR THE ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER
WEDNESDAY, 07 DECEMBER 2011

The Zionist movement had always been a diverse movement, with different branches promoting different approaches to the colonization of Palestine. The biggest internal contradiction of Zionism has been the tension between expansionism and ethnic purity, a disagreement with widespread economic ramifications.

The Israeli political map is dominated by Zionist parties, which agree on the concept of a Jewish state, but they do not agree on the level by which the Jewish state will impose restrictions on non-Jews within its bounds, or on the final borders of that state.

Palestinian citizens in Israel

Palestinian citizens of Israel, currently comprising approximately 20 percent of all Israeli citizens, were kept under military rule in the years 1948-1966. The Zionist government discouraged Jews from purchasing products from Palestinian citizens or from employing Palestinian citizens, and therefore the exploitation of the Palestinian's labor was minimal. Although most of their lands were expropriated, the people themselves were pushed out of the Israeli economy and were forced to develop a niche economy.

The military rule was repealed in 1966, allowing Palestinian citizens to travel freely within Israel, but their economic marginalization continues to this day. Their average wage is half of the wage of Jewish citizens, they suffer from a lack of approved industrial zones, from inferior infrastructure and lower investments in education and health.

Many Israeli economists (including the chairman of the Central Bank of Israel) argue that the marginalization of the Palestinian citizens is counter-productive for the Israeli economy, and that Israel cannot fulfill its economic potential while holding back a fifth of the population. However, the current political environment in Israel is becoming increasingly hostile towards Palestinian citizens, and discrimination, intimidation and marginalization are becoming more severe. The government continues to allocate a discriminatory budget which contributes to growing inequality.

The Occupied Palestinian Territories

Warehousing

Scholars who compare Israel's policies with the policies of Apartheid South Africa often point out that the biggest difference between the two systems was that blacks in South Africa were incorporated into the economic system as the working class, and exploiting their labor was an important aspect of the apartheid system. In Palestine, however, the Israeli government strives for a policy of separation � in which Palestinians are marginalized from the economic sphere.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Gaza Strip, which Israel turned into the world's biggest open-air prison. Although Israel has the ability to exploit the Gazan economy, it instead opts to close Gaza off (at great cost). This policy is also used in the West Bank, where the separation barrier is creating prison-like enclaves that are increasingly dependent on international aid.

This policy, which Jeff Halper called "warehousing" is a policy which Israel is exporting to other countries through technological developments that enable a more efficient separation of "unwanted" people.

Warehousing appeals to conservative elements around the world, who are also great supporters of Israel. They wish to adopt Israeli policies of warehousing and containment against labor migrants, refugees, ethnic minorities, and, at times, even protestors.