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CNN Sunday Morning
Palestinian and Israeli Businesses Taking Serious Hit from Conflict
Aired May 19, 2002 - 10:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Anand Naidoo talked with some business owners in both Israel and Palestinian territory, to get a sense of how life has been for them since the Israeli incursion began weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANAND NAIDOO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Manger Square in Bethlehem. Across the way over there the Church of the Nativity. Around the square here, there are many stores boarded up. They're closed. These are stores that sell mainly to tourists, and the tourists are not here anymore. There are some stores around the square that are still open, like the one behind me. I spoke to some of the store-keepers to find out how they're managing to make ends meet.
Can you give us some idea of how much of a drop of business you've seen over the past 18 months?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of them, even when the stores are -- even if you can see the stores are open, you can't guarantee their business is going well.
NAIDOO: Now we're here at a falafel stand, which is just off the square, which is run by George over here. George, how has business been these last few months?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The business gets bad day by day. There's no tourists, there's no people. And souvenir shops, they are closed before one year ago, and we still have a problem.
NAIDOO: How much of a drop, how much of a percentage drop in business have you seen in the last few months?
NAIDOO: Zero percent, nothing, nothing. I have been here for 10 days. I didn't pay -- I didn't receive any -- I think that it was 150 shekel (ph) within ten days. It's not for the rent, it's not for living, it's not for daily life, it's very bad, very bad. We are suffering here, to the throat.
NAIDOO: Businessmen experiencing hard times here, on this side of the divide. Some of the businesses have been closed for more than a year, some only open for two hours a day. I'm Anand Naidoo. Next, we'll be looking at how businesses are coping in central Jerusalem.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Anand Naido's report comes in two parts. Just before the break he visited shopkeepers in Palestinian territory in the Middle East. Now he resumes his peace talking to some business owners on the Israeli side of the line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NAIDOO: I'm standing in Zion Square, at the entrance to the Ben Yahuda mall in the heart of downtown Jerusalem, one of the city's main shopping thoroughfares. In the past few months there have been at least 12 bombings in the vicinity of this area, which have claimed the lives of more than 50 people. That's the human toll. There has also been a toll on small businesses within this area. We went around to ask some of the small businessmen how they've been effected.
We are doing a report on how businesses have been affected by the conflict here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, it's improving. We have customers. But after any bomb, we have a week that we are alone, just by ourselves.
NAIDOO: If you look at things overall, over the last few months...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe Jerusalem's starting to come back again.
NAIDOO: In terms of business, what kind of drop have you seen over the last one and a half years?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to -- two times. One until September, it was about 50 percent.
NAIDOO: Fifty percent drop?
NAIDOO: From September. Until now, another 50 percent. So total would be about 80 percent down.
NAIDOO: How are you managing to cope from month to month?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole street of Ben Yahuda is all (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for less (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to pay.
NAIDOO: Is that a tax?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a tax to pay on the store. Security's pretty strong here, a lot of soldiers taking care of us.
NAIDOO: In the best case scenario, what would be the best for your business?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best? For peace to come, everything would go back to normal like it was.
NAIDOO: The municipality here in Jerusalem and in the government are offering some help in the way of tax breaks. But it's clear from the small sample we've talked to here and in Bethlehem, that most people are looking for a political solution to this crisis.
Anand Naidoo, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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