Palestinian families count cost of price hikes in West Bank before Eid
His fears seem justified. Prices have soared in recent weeks in the Palestinian Territories, which is now considered one of the most expensive places in the Arab world. The cost of a sheep for sacrifice, for example, has reached $ 500 in the West Bank. Al-Hadidi said rising prices are even causing family arguments that sometimes end in families breaking up.
“There is more than one divorce case that has occurred due to family problems caused by high prices, so much so that the head of the family has not been able to provide for the needs of his family members, which feeds the problems inside the house until the matter does not end in divorce, “he told Arab News.
Al-Hadidi said the rising prices of Eid Al-Adha supplies mean families must find at least $ 300 more to pay for them than last year.
“Ramallah has become the most expensive city in the world,” he added, accusing Palestinian leaders of not doing enough to curb merchants’ greed and control prices.
“The Palestinian government is subordinate to Israel in terms of price increases and if I were of the new generation, I would have left the country and emigrated.”
According to Al-Hadidi, the Palestinian Authority appears to be indifferent to rising prices as many of the agencies that import food have close ties to senior officials within the authority.
After the PA announcement last month that public sector workers would receive only partial wages, Al-Hadidi wondered how they can live on only 70 or 80 percent of the already meager wages.
He pointed out that in previous years Ramallah was much busier and busier in the days leading up to Eid Al-Adha than this year.
Hashem Ibrahim, 58, the owner of what he says is the oldest grocery store near the Al-Manara roundabout in central Ramallah, told Arab News that Eid purchases were down about 60 percent compared to the previous year. last year.
“The demand for purchases from citizens is lacking and this is limited to the purchase of only the necessary items”, he said, adding that the increase in prices and the delay of the PA in paying salaries to public sector workers in June contributed to the decline in trade.
Jihad Abu Eid, the owner of Al-Amin butcher shop in Ramallah, told Arab News that the demand for meat and sacrifices for Eid Al-Adha this year is very low. He added that he resisted his price hike in the hopes that it would attract customers.
He explained that he is absorbing much of the increase in the cost of meat, with the price of a cow rising by $ 430.
According to economist Nasr Abdel Karim: “The Palestinian economic crisis is a complex situation, linked to various circumstances that affect it directly and indirectly, such as the Ukrainian-Russian war which indirectly affected the economy through the joint trade channel with the Ukraine, in addition to the clear and significant impact of the Israeli occupation policies followed by the Palestinian government ”.
Mohammad Shaheen, spokesperson for the Consumer Protection Association, said the suggested measures to alleviate the retail crisis fall not only on the government, but also on consumers, who must adapt to a new shopping culture in which to adjust their shopping habits. Retail. to match income and purchasing power.
Ibrahim Al-Qadi, head of consumer protection at the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy, said efforts are being made to control price increases, both by purchasing local products as an alternative to importing, and through the assistance of neighboring countries that can quickly and easily supply the Palestinian market.
Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, told Arab News: “The government paid $ 43 million to support basic necessities such as fuel, electricity and food, tightened control over traders and urged them to not to increase prices, to mitigate the repercussions of the global food crisis on the local Palestinian market”.
