Soaring unemployment and poverty are fuelling unrest as Palestinian firms and workers face ‘economic siege’
At al-Salam glass and ceramics factory on the outskirts of Hebron, the glassblowing furnace and the potter’s wheel are no longer in daily use; the room where artists decorate bowls and tiles with the traditional blues, yellows and reds of the Palestinian craft is sometimes empty.
The glass panes of one window and a door now bear the unmistakable spiderweb-like holes created by gunfire. Israeli soldiers at a nearby checkpoint fired live bullets at teenagers and young men throwing stones in an altercation a few weeks ago, said the factory’s owner, Sami al-Nader.
