surroundings have modified and dictated the socio-economic profile of the city. • Deprivation of traditional labor and the decrease in economic opportunities: “Inner-city transportation in Umm al-Fahm is difficult and employment opportunities are lacking; […] wages are too low and […] [finding] a job inside the city or in surrounding Palestinian villages is near impossible.”373 The undermining of the economic development of Umm al-Fahm in conjunction with an ever-increasing dependency on the Israeli economy compounds the socio-economic deprivation of Umm al-Fahm, which cannot attain a higher standard of living or sustain associated higher living costs.374 • Disintegration of social cohesion due to overcrowding and disconnection: The aforementioned policies engender poverty, a lack of economic opportunities, intensified tensions, pressure, stress, and local violence. “[…] the [Israeli] occupation is directly associated with the increased level of violence in Umm al-Fahm by proliferating arms and condoning crimes. The political situation imposed on us is also an indirect contributor to the violence.”375 Israeli imposed isolation and self-blame create internal tensions. “The [Israeli] police’s failure to prevent crime often leads to a state of continuous reprisals among families which perpetuates violence even more.”376 • Assertion of strict cultural and religious values due to coerced isolation, overcrowding, and insularity. “Religious intolerance is an attempt to protect oneself and one’s identity from Israeli colonialism; masculinity and religious conservatism are thus linked and reinforced by colonialism and religious conservatism. The [Israeli] geographic siege has produced social dissolution and cultural conservatism.”377 In fact, what Israel has created, both directly and indirectly with its policies of segregation, fragmentation and isolation, is a situation that inevitably induces poverty, and ultimately increases violence and religious conservatism. Israel then utilizes this to justify further perpetuation of these oppressive policies. This is the very essence of a system of structural discrimination and oppression. 373 Fahmawi Youth Movement, supra 301. 374 Ibid. 375 Ibid. 376 Ibid. 377 Ibid. 92