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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
August 17, 2004
/ 30 Menachem-Av, 5764
Will the Palestinians learn to be careful about what they wish for?
By
Michael Matza
They wanted the occupiers out and when they left, so did the jobs
http://www.jewishworldreview.com | (KRT)
GAZA CITY The Erez Industrial Zone, a once-vital source of jobs for 4,000 Palestinian workers, is a virtual ghost town.
 | | HABIBI, CAN YOU SPARE A ... ? West Bank Arabs waiting for employment
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Forklifts weave between factory buildings, but their pallets are mostly empty. Fewer than 25 of what six months ago were 150 manufacturing plants even bother to open their doors inside the sun-baked Gaza complex along the border with Israel.
About 500 Palestinians, mostly skeleton crews assigned to mothballing duties, show up for work on a typical day.
Two months after Israel's announcement that it would abandon the industrial zone as part of its proposed evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, the 30-year-old site, hailed as a model of Palestinian-Israeli cooperation, is another casualty of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The disappearance of the carpentry, welding and sewing workshops including some jointly owned by Israelis and Palestinians undermines the economic base for 50,000 Palestinians living in the Strip, according to a recent United Nations estimate.
With unemployment in the Gaza Strip running at 70 percent, few Erez workers can expect to find equally good jobs inside the densely populated seaside rectangle, where 1.3 million Palestinians live sandwiched between the Mediterranean and a heavily guarded Israeli security fence.
Because Israel, citing security concerns, has severely curtailed the number of day laborers it permits to enter Israel, that option also is virtually foreclosed to the displaced workers.
"I don't know what I'll do," said Adeeb Zarouq, 41, a metal-furniture welder, who for the moment has his job at an Erez factory but knows his days of employment are numbered.
On a salary of $130 a week, Zarouq supports himself, his wife, his father and seven children. He rents a Gaza City apartment for $150 a month.
He is counting on Israel to recognize its self-interest in not letting the economic pressures inside Gaza reach explosive proportions that could affect the entire region.
"It's like surgery," he said on a recent night off. "If you operate on one of my arms, you have to give me a transfusion in the other."
Kobi Cohen, 40, chairman of the Erez manufacturers' association, runs a garment-manufacturing plant at Erez that formerly employed 350 Palestinian workers producing a line of men's clothing under the brand name Chaos.
Today, a half-dozen Chaos workers spend their days packing up sewing machines.
Cohen considered moving his plant to Israel to take advantage of a compensation package that Israel offered to displaced Erez businesses.
But the much higher minimum wage for workers inside Israel about twice what he pays his Gaza workers more than offset the benefits, he said.
Moreover, he did not want to entirely abandon his loyal Gaza workers, whom he credited for his company's success.
So instead of just closing up, Cohen sold his sewing machines on what he says are generous payment terms to a Palestinian in Gaza City, who will employ about 100 Palestinians in three workshops.
Cohen intends to supply raw materials to the workers through the Karni crossing, a mid-Strip passage where goods pass back and forth through an opening in the wall that separates Israel and the Gaza Strip. He intends to export the finished garments the same way and sell them in Israel and throughout Europe and parts of Central America.
Among the factors contributing to the deterioration of the Erez Industrial Zone are tensions caused by the suicide bombings that have rocked Israel in the last four years, and attacks on the zone itself.
The Islamic resistance movement Hamas, which wants to portray Israel's disengagement as a panicky flight under fire, has shot rockets into the gated terminal and tunneled around its perimeter to launch attacks.
In January, a 22-year-old woman sent by Hamas detonated explosives at the workers' entrance, killing herself, two soldiers, a border policeman and a private security guard. Since then, there have been three deadly attacks inside the zone, which also houses an Israeli army garrison.
"Hamas will say it forced the Israelis out," and the Israelis will respond with force, Zarouq , the Erez welder, said. "When that happens we, the workers, will be the losers once again."
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© 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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