Happy!
We need to get in the mood for this astounding post first.
Let's go to the videotape.
An astounding
88% of Jerusalem residents say they are happy with their lives despite rampant unemployment and poverty.
Jerusalem’s population at the end of 2012 stood at 815,300 people –
making it the largest city in Israel, according to a report released on
Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of Jerusalem Day.
There
are 515,200 residents, comprised of Jewish, non-Arab Christians or
other religions, marking 63 percent of the total city population; while
the Arab population stands at 100,300, or 37% of the city's residents.
Among the Jews residing in the city, 35% defined themselves as
ultra-Orthodox, 18% as religious, 12t as traditional-religious, 14% are
traditional but not very religious and 20% defined themselves as
secular.
...
According to the findings, the percentage of people who "feel poor"
in Jerusalem was the highest among all major cities in Israel. Some 28%
of people felt poor in 2013, 18% of the Jewish population and 45% of the
Arab population. In comparison, in Tel Aviv and in Haifa, less than 10%
felt poor.
However, the report cited that of the adult population
(aged 20 years old and above) in Jerusalem, 88% said they are satisfied
with their lives, compared to 85% of the population of other cities -
90% of Jews and 85% of Arabs, compared to the national average of 88%
and 70% respectively.
Furthermore the report indicated that 64% of
Jerusalem residents believe that in the coming years their lives will
improve, 58% of Jews and 76% of Arabs.
Who is happy? He who is satisfied with his lot.
Labels: City of Jerusalem, Dancing in Jerusalem, Haredim, poverty rates
The wrong solution
New data published on Tuesday shows that
20% of Israelis cannot afford food.
One fifth of Israel’s citizens cannot afford to purchase an adequate amount of food in order to subsist, new data from the National Insurance Institute (NII) released Tuesday at the Sderot Conference for Society have revealed.
Presented at a panel featuring representatives of the Ministries of Welfare and Social Affairs and Finance, local authorities and the non-profit sector, the NII shared the findings of a survey of some 5000 families showing that ten percent of the population suffers from some level of starvation or nutritional insecurity and nearly 20% feel extreme financial insecurity.
The survey’s results also showed that 13% of those questioned said they are often forced to go without enough food and 4% said they forgo food completely.
In addition, one third of the respondents said they had used money for food to make other essential purchases instead and 20% they had to turn to friends or family members for help in buying food.
But as usual, the government is suggesting the wrong solution.
“There is a serious problem with nutritional insecurity whereby people are forced to go without enough food or without food completely; in other cases families find food but it is not appropriate or healthy,” commented the Welfare Ministry’s Director General Nahum Itzkovitz.
However, he said to use the term “hunger” might be a little extreme.
There are problems feeding the needy, admitted Itzkovitz: “a close examination of food distribution by the third sector reveals that while some families are receiving ample food, there are others who get no help at all.”
“There is also a problem with the quality of the food,” he said.
Itzkovitz suggested a program of distributing ration cards so that those in need will be able to “purchase food with dignity.”
Such a program, he added, had already been presented to the Prime Minister and an agreement was reached to create it on a small scale.
The last thing this country needs is another entitlement program.
The cost of food in this country is outrageous. The cost of cottage cheese has come down (slightly) since last summer, but staples like milk, bread and produce - let alone meat, chicken and fish - continue to be outrageously expensive due to a lack of competition, government regulation and government subsidies. The percentage of its budget that an Israeli family spends on food is often 30% or more - even higher for poor people with large families.
Giving people food stamps will give those who sell the food another excuse to raise the prices.
We don't need another subsidy. We need the price of food to come down for everyone. We need real competition (including imports).
Labels: Israeli economy, poverty rates
Poverty rate in Washington DC worse than in Arab Judea and Samaria
With the 'Palestinians'
looking for more handouts, this ought to give American and European lawmakers some pause: The Arab-occupied areas of Judea and Samaria, which are under the control of the 'Palestinian Authority,' have a
lower poverty rate than Washington DC.
But do “Palestinian People” really need billions more in aid? The World Bank report for 2011 found that only 16 percent of the West Bank under PA control was living below the poverty line.
How serious is a 16 percent poverty rate? It’s better than the poverty rate in Washington D.C. which hit 18.9 percent. That means that politicians in Washington D.C. are diverting money that could have been used to help needy Americans a few miles from their offices, to help the comparatively better off terrorist populations in the West Bank.
Contrary to the barrage of news stories on the suffering of the Palestinians, the poverty rate for America and the West Bank aren’t that far apart. The California poverty rate is at 15.3 percent. And the national average at 14.3 percent is hardly that much better.
If a 16 percent poverty rate requires billions in international aid– then where is Washington D.C.’s international aid. Why isn’t there a UN aid facility distributing food near Foggy Bottom? And if being a failed state with no budget discipline requires international aid, then where are California’s aid pledges?
Many of the PA’s chief donors have poverty rates in the same range. Some are even worse off. Greece’s poverty rate is at 20 percent. Spain’s is nearly as high. And 17 percent of the EU population is considered to be at risk of poverty. Even Germany’s strong economy still has a 15.5 percent poverty rate. A few percentage points away from the West Bank.
But most damningly Israel’s poverty rate is nearly 24 percent. Worse than in the Palestinian Authority. About half those numbers come from its Arab population, which unlike their cousins in the Palestinian Authority, aren’t the beneficiaries of vast amounts of aid.
What’s the West Bank’s economic secret? 16.9 percent unemployment, a better number than among many of its international donors, funded by those same donor countries.
The dirty secret of the Palestinian Authority is that it is a wholly subsidized enterprise paid for by American and European taxpayers. And most of the money goes to the same place that it does in California– to the local government and its vast army of employees and their pockets.
Read the whole thing. And then call your representative and ask him or her why your taxes are being used to fund the 'Palestinian Authority.'
Labels: Palestinian finances, poverty rates, Salam Fayyad, US foreign aid
