Before the state of Israel was created, many Arabs relied on agriculture as their main source of income. In the early years of the state, Arab agriculture in the West Bank and Gaza seemed to "freeze" in its development. This was because the Israeli government put strict control over the agricultural market. Since Jewish agriculture was not fully developed, the monopolizing companies did not hesitate to block Arab agriculture until they achieved its full strength. Also, Arabs were paid less for their produce because "the outlay for growing foodstuffs in an Arab village was less than its Jewish equivalent, and it was therefore considered only proper to reserve a proportion of the price for developing Arab villages (Jiryis 215)."

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These procedures had a great impact on the Palestinians living in the refugee camps who had no other source of employment except in Israel. Of the total Palestinian labor force, approximately 31 percent from the West Bank and 46 percent from Gaza worked in Israel, mostly in low pay construction jobs with no benefits or security. Palestinians only make up about 2 percent of the white-collar jobs in Israel, and Israelis even hold all the high paying jobs in Gaza and the West Bank. The Civil Administration is responsible for all economic matters regarding Palestinian life. A study said that 95 percent of the employees are Palestinian, however, most administrative positions are held by Israelis (Farsoun 229).

The number of Palestinians working in the Israeli labor market has steadily declined since the start of the Intifada. Two main reasons caused this: the Intifada leadership declared strike days, and the Israeli authorities imposed a curfew on the cities and villages for long periods of time. As a result, Arab workers were prevented from going to their jobs in Israel. Moreover, during the Gulf War of 1991, Israel imposed a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and workers were not allowed to enter Israel and the settlements. After that, the Israeli government adopted a policy saying that a work permit and a security screening was required for Palestinians who desired to work in Israel (PNA1 3).

Today there is a big poverty problem in Gaza Strip. There are two factors that pertain to this widespread poverty: "the dispossession of Palestinians from war, and ensuing population displacement; and, the absence of an independent Palestinian state, which deprived the Palestinians of the right to self-determination (PNA 4)." The Oslo Peace Accords limited power of the Palestinian Authority. The 1991 Gulf War caused the Israeli government to make policies excluding more Arabs from the labor force. These policies,

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Approximate Word count = 1355
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)