Palestine Economy Portal – Mutasim Muhsen

Translated by Tamara Barakat

Many of the citizens of Abu Dis and Al-Azariya, near occupied Jerusalem, resort to the governorates of the West Bank, specifically Ramallah, to buy their needed products because of the unjustified increase in the prices of products sold in their towns, and the obvious manipulation in prices.

The problem lies in the fact that the two towns are located within Areas “C” and “B,” and that many merchants raised the prices of their products because people pass through them as they head toward Jerusalem and they form a market for settlers who live nearby.

The public sector employee, Ali Far’oun, says that he is forced to go to Ramallah to buy what he needs from different stores and carry their heavy weight around instead of being able to shop at the stores near his house in Abu Dis. He told the Palestine Economy Portal, “I can manage and buy some products with around 100 shekels in Ramallah, but in my town, this amount of money wouldn’t allow me to buy half the amount of the same products.”

Moreover, many of the citizens of Abu Dis and Al-Azariya work in Ramallah since it has more job opportunities and the majority of governmental institutions and ministries are located in it, especially after it became the political capital of Palestine due to the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.

As for Mrs. Um Muath, who is a homemaker, she says that there is a discrepancy between the prices of the sold products, and so she has to visit more than one store to find the best price.

Also, Abu Mahmoud Abu Hilal, a citizen from Abu Dis, thinks that the stores located at the eastern entrance of Al-Azariya sell their products for higher prices because they are close to the road leading to Jerusalem and the settlements of Ma’ale Adumim and Mishor Adumim. The people living in Jerusalem and the settlers buy their products from these stores. The merchants regard this as an opportunity to increase their prices since the people living in Jerusalem and the settlers are already used to paying high prices.

When asked about the reason behind the discrepancy in prices and their increase in comparison to the other governorates, merchants said that they buy their supply of products from other merchants who sell them for high prices, and not from the original supplier.

The acting general manager of the Consumer Protection Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Economy, Ibrahim Al-Qadi, says that areas like Abu Dis and Al-Azariya rely on retail businesses and so the merchants have to increase the prices of their products to be able to make profit, unlike wholesale merchants who buy products for lower prices and can only increase their prices within a limited range due to competition. This reflects positively on the consumers, as they would have a variety of options.

Additionally, the fact that both towns are located within Areas “C” and “B” limits the Ministry of Economy’s ability to follow up on the merchants.