According to a new report, the European Union has increased its export of goods from the illegal Israeli settlement areas fifteen times more than they are from Palestinian territories. The report, which was drafted by a coalition of 22 NGO’s including the International Federation of Human Rights, found that the EU nations import more than $300 million of goods from the illegal Israeli settlement areas.
3. Facilitation of the movement of people and goods
• The number of roadblocks was reduced from 44 in 2008 to 10 in 2012, most of which are normally open. The most recent roadblock to be removed, in the last two weeks, was roadblock 328 north of Jericho, connecting Jericho to Highway 90.
• The infrastructures at the goods crossings and at the Allenby Bridge between Israel and Jordan were upgraded and hours of operation extended. The bridge was kept open for 48 hours straight at the beginning of Ramadan to enable the passage of more than 25,000 visitors.
• About 20% more entry permits to Israel were granted during 2012 compared to the similar period last year.
4. Increase of workers allowed into Israel - On 14 July, 5,000 additional work permits were approved for Palestinian construction workers to work in Israel.
5. Increase of Palestinian imports/exports - Palestinian exports to Israel in 2011 increased by 18.3% compared to 2010. There was an increase of 33% in the passage of goods through the Allenby Bridge. Palestinian exports (excluding Israel) grew by 13% in 2011. Also Palestinian imports (excluding Israel) grew by 9.3% in 2011 compared to 2010. In 2011 the number of permits for agricultural imports in Judea and Samaria was increased by 12% and 814 licenses for agricultural imports were granted, compared to 725 in 2010. In addition, a meeting took place a few months ago between the head of the Israeli customs authority and his Palestinian counterpart together with a group of leading Palestinian importers and exporters. They discussed ways to remove obstacles to increasing Palestinian foreign trade.
...downtown Ramallah sparkles. The scars of an intractable conflict and occupation melt away: cafes bustle with smartly dressed patrons, water-pipe smoke perfumes the air and basslines from trendy clubs shake the night. New model BMWs ply leafy avenues beneath villas and tall apartment blocks sprout from the West Bank hills.
But it's more mirage than miracle. "Thank God for loans," said Ibrahim el-Far, owner of the newly-opened branch of the upscale Italian cafe chain Segafredo Zanetti in Ramallah...
Government spending and living on credit at all levels of Palestinian society is rampant and, as the euro zone crisis has shown, may prove to be the economy's undoing.
Bank lending for personal consumption in the Palestinian territories has risen five-fold in the last two years to $417 million. Total credit for cars alone accounts for a further $119 million, according to the Palestinian Monetary Authority.
"If you're immersed in troubles, why not try to live well, have night life and good coffee? If we've been slapped once by occupation, the slap from the credit bill won't hurt as much," El-Far said.
...Salaries for a swollen public sector again cannot be paid in full this month. The productive base for the economy is shrivelling while unemployment climbs along with poverty...growth is down from a peak of 9 percent in 2010 after the lows of the Intifada to 5.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from the same 2011 period.
...16,000 Palestinian businessmen from theWest BankJudea & Samaria...established businesses and firms in Israel and itssettlementscommunities in theoccupieddisputed/liberated territories. This includes establishing several factories and companies that has numerous branches, all paying taxes to Israel.
Smeirat also studied the motives that pushed those Palestinian investors to invest in Israel and its illegal settlements, especially since the issue is very sensitive and more Palestinian organizations, activists and officials are calling for boycotting Israel and its settlement products.
Talking to Haaretz, the researcher...stated that the Paris Agreement does not prohibit investing in settlements.
...The capital of 16.000 Palestinian investors in the Palestinian Authority areas are distributed as the following; 3300 investors in Hebron, 3100 in Ramallah, 3000 in Nablus, 2000 in Bethlehem, and 1000 in Nablus.
Cigarette and Petrol tax from Egypt
Tax on cars and other luxury items
Annual vehicle registration
Income tax on PA salaries
Business tax
Tunnels tax
Black market income, Islamic Bank, Insurance comopany
Rental income of construction equipment
VAT on commerce from Israel
Various excises
Control of aid and charity donations
Pensions from PA
Protection monies and fines
Business ventures, hotels, real estate, fish farms
Non-monetary income from businesses
...An estimated 22,000 Palestinians currently work in the settlements, of whom 11,000 are in construction, 8,000 in industry, and about 3,000 in agriculture.
...[there is] Palestinian legislation, a continuation of the decision to boycott products from the settlements. Likewise, the proposal aspires to disengage the economy of Palestine from that of the settlements...
Israeli industrialists and contractors were predictably quick to cry foul. How is it possible to maintain the settlements without cheap labor? If Israel wants to stick with its settlement policy, it must tell the public to pay up. The bill is already on the table. In exchange for every Palestinian worker who will leave, the settlers are asking for NIS 2,000 in compensation to make up the wage difference between an Israeli and a Palestinian worker. That adds up to NIS 44 million for industry alone, with farmers and building contractors waiting in line. This sum covers more than the social benefits paid to Israeli employees and not to Palestinians; some of it is meant to serve as a "bonus" to lure Israeli workers.
But beyond exposing the wage gap between Israeli and Palestinian workers, and the new tax Israelis will be asked to pay the industrialists and contractors in the territories (who had it easy )...
The departure of the Palestinians from the settlements and the entry of Israelis in their place means a rise of about 20,000 settlers. If this includes their families, the number of Israeli labor migrants to the West Bank will reach 60,000 to 80,000 persons, increasing the number of settlers living in the territories by 20 to 25 percent.
Recent World Bank, IMF and Palestinian Ministry of Finance data point to
significant improvement of the Palestinian economy, even during the current global financial crisis. Indeed, official Palestinian data indicates that the West Bank [amazing that the official MFA site uses this term, eh?] has shown economic growth rates of 5-7% in 2008.
Speaking after talks with Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the Palestinian authority, Brown said there were "considerable opportunities" for economic partnership between Palestinians and the UK.
"The UK enjoys a close relationship with the Palestinian people and I hope today's conference will cement this. I hope in the coming days we can move further and faster towards the peace settlement that everyone wants to see happen," he said.
Brown and Fayyad spoke at a news conference before the opening of the two-day Palestine trade and investment forum, which is designed to give British investors an overview of business and investment opportunities in sectors including finance, infrastructure, information and communications technology, agribusiness and tourism development. A 40-strong [are all 40 strong?] Palestinian delegation is taking part.
..."Establishing a viable Palestinian state with a stable economy and flourishing private sector is a crucial part of this process," Brown said.
The forum taking place in the City would provide a chance to explore further opportunities for development...
Fayyad said the forum would be "a significant and important" step in the process of enabling the Palestinians to achieve their aspirations.
At the news conference Brown also criticised the Israelis for continuing to allow settlements to be build on the West Bank. "We have consistently called for Israel to dismantle settlements," he said.
Commenting on the "economic peace" plan proposed by Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Fayyad said that irrespective of who was behind the idea, it was both naive and unfounded. Fayyad said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was no economic conflict that requires an economic solution. Rather, he said, it is a
political conflict that requires a political solution.
the Palestinian Authority is convening the Palestine Investment Conference, in an effort to improve economic and social conditions in the territories, which is a critical component of the broader Middle East peace process.
Walter Isaacson, chairman of the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership and president of the Aspen Institute, says partnership members will attend the May 21-23 business conference in the West Bank city of Bethlehem with the aim of increasing investment in the Palestinian economy.
The joint effort by the U.S. government, private businesses, civic leaders and the Palestinian Authority to help create jobs and educational opportunities for Palestinians was announced December 3, 2007, by President Bush. The investment component is part of an intensive diplomatic initiative, begun at the November 2007 Annapolis Middle East peace conference, that is intended to lead to Palestinian statehood...
"This would complement something that's already been launched, which is the Middle East Investment Initiative {MEII], which supplies small business loans for ... $50,000 to almost up to $500,000 now for businesses operating in the West Bank."
The MEII is a public-private partnership between the Aspen Institute, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Palestinian Investment Fund that provides a $228 million loan guarantee program. Isaacson said that six Palestinian banks are working with the loan program as partners. There are 11 additional projects being developed and there has been $1.6 million in loans made to support them, he said.
"In order to have a political settlement, you also have to have stability. You have to have economic opportunity," Isaacson said...
The partnership is headed by Isaacson and co-chaired by Sandy Weill, former chairman of Citigroup; Lester Crown, chairman of Material Service Corporation; Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine; and Jean Case, chief executive of the Case Foundation.
a fascinating lesson of how Palestinians still acknowledge the power of the collective; how they oppose a liberal economic policy under occupation and colonization, and nurture a democratic suspicion as to the motives of the leading class.
Posts
