By:Â Mazen Salah Al-Ajaleh
A number of important variables have deeply affected the economic and social structures (as well as the respective roles and relations) of the Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian internal division in mid-June 2007 came together with Israel’s total blockade on the Gaza Strip. This rift led to profound and immediate changes with the rise of an Islamist de-facto authority which relentlessly worked to eliminate the presence of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its respective institutions and cadres. This constituted a dramatic change in the nature of the political framework governing the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the non-developmental orientations neglected the interest of citizens and disregarded the issues of social justice, especially with Hamas’s inconsistent policy of tax collection amidst a state of economic stagnation and the spread of poverty.