freepalestine
16th February 2011, 13:54
The Imperialistic Israeli Economy
</U>Institute for Palestine Studies
</B>
</U></I></B></STRONG>Institute for Palestine Studies , February 15, 2011
In a 1980 article, Rami G. Khouri described the underpinning economic benefits that incentivized Israel (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2147/images/Special%20Focus/Imperial%20economcs%20Khouri.pdf) to continue occupying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The occupation transformed Israel into a state with an imperial economy, relying for its well-being (and in some cases, such as water, for its very survival) on the captive economic resources of occupied territories and their subjugated and pacified populations. Deprived of the economic spoils of a military occupation, Israel's underlying economic woes would become even more obvious, serious and debilitating.
Historic De-development and the Challenge of Sovereignty
Raja Khalidi addressed the economic dilemmas of a key segment of the Palestinian people (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/9746.pdf): the 1.2 million who remain in Israel as citizens of the state. Surveying the community after 60 years of failed integration, this piece demonstrates how the Palestinian economies in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza are all part of a single Israeli-dominated economic regime. Starting from this position, he called for a new economic paradigm capable of charting a course for Palestinian development based on restructuring relations between the two unequal economies along lines laid out in the economic annex to the 1947 partition plan.</SPAN></SPAN>
Developing the Palestinian Economy in the Oslo Years
Economist George T. Abed was interviewed shortly after the signing of the Oslo Accords (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/1866.pdf). He discussed the Paris protocol on Economic Relations, which gave the Palestinians administrative autonomy over certain public services, and economic and financial policies. It was conditioned by the Oslo agreement, and was also based on the notion of "limited autonomy" for the Palestinians. Abed argued that the Paris negotiations were in some respects more favorable to the Palestinians than were the Oslo Accords. He listed the economic potential the protocol offered, but warned they were contingent on the right internal political approach. Focusing on "the Palestinians' own capacity to organize and to mobilize their resources for reconstruction and development," Abed said that Palestinian statehood is dependent on their establishment of "a democratic and open society and a vibrant and dynamic economy."
Writing in 2001, Sara Roy wrote about the economic ramifications of the Oslo accords (http://www.palestine-studies.org/journals.aspx?id=4223&jid=1&href=fulltext). She explored the economic, political, and social changes in the West Bank and Gaza that occurred since the beginning of the Oslo process in 1993. Arguing that Oslo enabled Israel to control the Palestinian territories through the Palestinian Authority with damaging results, Roy maintained the end result was the collective disillusionment and rage that finally exploded in the al-Aqsa intifada.
Leila Farsakh analyzed employment trends of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians in Israel during the Oslo years (1993-2000) (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/4555.pdf). While significantly reduced from pre-1992 levels, Palestinian labor flows to Israel remained important but changed in form and content, revealing contrasting Israeli policies toward the two territories. In Gaza, labor links with Israel were increasingly severed, reflecting the growing separation of the two economies and the transformation of Gaza into a de facto labor reserve. In the West Bank, where the process of economic "Bantustanization" is described, workers continued to be employed beyond the Green Line and in the settlements, enhancing the incorporation of parts of the territory into Israel.
The Palestinian Economy and the Second Intifada
In the aftermath of the second intifada, Salem Ajluni considered the lingering economic damage to the Palestinian economy (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/5557.pdf). This report provides data on the cumulative effects on the Palestinian economy and society of Israeli restrictions imposed and damage inflicted during the al-Aqsa intifada through January 2003. The author proposed that Israel is deliberately impoverishing the Palestinian population and that the United States, by failing to curb Israel, is complicit.
Employment and Workers Rights in Israel and the West Bank
http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/Special%20Focus/palestinian-workers1.jpgThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), opened membership discussions with Israel in May 2007, and in November of that year approved a road map for accession involving a process of review by a number of OECD committees, including the Employment, Labor, and Social Affairs Committee for which this report was written. The three main areas in which Israel’s candidacy was considered problematic were bribery of foreign officials, intellectual property rights, and Israel’s definition of its territory, which includes occupied East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Although not deemed one of the major "problem areas," an examination of the rights and employment situation of workers in Israel and the occupied territories formed part of the OECD’s overall review of Israel’s general economic policies as required in the road map for accession. This excerpt from the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/10645.pdf) reviews their findings in regards to these issues.
The Need for the Right Kinds of Reforms
http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/Special%20Focus/gaza_tunnels_540.jpgEver since the first internationally sponsored effort in May 2000 to rehabilitate the economic governance record of the Palestinian Authority (PA), issues of corruption, transparency, and reform have become inextricably intertwined with political debates. In a 2005 review essay, Raja Khalidi wrote (http://palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/6470.pdf) that "all parties (except perhaps the PA) consider that intractable issues such as statehood cannot be addressed until the PA has undertaken wideranging reforms."
Khalidi called the book, State Formation in Palestine: Viability and Governance during a Social Transformation, the first scholarly and thoroughly researched analysis of the realities, facts, and figures of Palestinian economic management since 1994. The book contends that Palestinian state formation and economic management processes were more sophisticated and pluralistic than they were often considered, especially given the fundamentally adverse conditions, starting with the PA's "asymmetric relation" with Israel. Some of the PA's governance shortcomings could be attributed to the inherent constraints of operating under occupation conditions.
The World Bank: the Current Situation in the Palestinian Territories
http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/Special%20Focus/ecngrowth2001_2009.bmp
In 2009, Palestine experienced a third consecutive year of economic growth and rising per capita GDP, according to a June, 2010 World Bank economic monitoring report (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/EconomicUpdateJune2010newsletterfinal.pdf). While this resurgence is a cause of optimism, the situation remains precarious. Growth in the West Bank can be partly attributed to the relatively stable security environment and improving business environment. But it appears to be mostly driven by large inflows of foreign assistance that may not be sustainable.
The economy in Gaza remains devastated; however, a regular flow of goods coming through tunnels from Egypt and via other sources have allowed a few private sector activities to resume. Despite the growth, the recurrent deficit rose in 2009, mostly as a result of emergency spending in Gaza in the aftermath of Israel’s military operation in early 2009.
Economic Performance
Changes since 2009
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 9%
Per Capita GDP 5%
Highest growth sector: Construction
Construction activity 36%
Number of workers 3%
Unemployment rates -
West Bank - .4% (17.7% to 17.3%)
Gaza Strip - .5% (38.4% to 37.9%)
Consumer prices 3.58%
Bank financing of vehicles 62%
Bank deposits 14.2%
Government revenues 17.3%
Government expenditures -2.7%.
Government deficit -22.5%
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Economy and Future Prospects
As an advisor to the Palestinian Authority president and the Palestinian Investment Fund, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa is an authority on the Palestinian economy. In a December, 2009 JPS interview, Dr. Mustafa reported there was a marked improvement in the Palestinian economy in the West Bank over the previous three years. However, the Israeli occupation limits its performance and makes it heavily dependent on the Israeli economy. The West Bank economy, he reports, is still below its 1967 and 1999 levels. Gaza’s economy is in a catastrophic state as a result of Israel’s embargo and the absence of Palestinian legitimacy, he said. Reaching an independent, sustainable economy requires not only continuing the program of reform but also removing Israeli restrictions. The Palestinian economy will never be strong until the two halves of the nation are reunited.
:: Article nr. 75031 sent on 16-feb-2011 04:14 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=75031 (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=75031)</I>
</U>Institute for Palestine Studies
</B>
</U></I></B></STRONG>Institute for Palestine Studies , February 15, 2011
In a 1980 article, Rami G. Khouri described the underpinning economic benefits that incentivized Israel (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2147/images/Special%20Focus/Imperial%20economcs%20Khouri.pdf) to continue occupying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The occupation transformed Israel into a state with an imperial economy, relying for its well-being (and in some cases, such as water, for its very survival) on the captive economic resources of occupied territories and their subjugated and pacified populations. Deprived of the economic spoils of a military occupation, Israel's underlying economic woes would become even more obvious, serious and debilitating.
Historic De-development and the Challenge of Sovereignty
Raja Khalidi addressed the economic dilemmas of a key segment of the Palestinian people (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/9746.pdf): the 1.2 million who remain in Israel as citizens of the state. Surveying the community after 60 years of failed integration, this piece demonstrates how the Palestinian economies in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza are all part of a single Israeli-dominated economic regime. Starting from this position, he called for a new economic paradigm capable of charting a course for Palestinian development based on restructuring relations between the two unequal economies along lines laid out in the economic annex to the 1947 partition plan.</SPAN></SPAN>
Developing the Palestinian Economy in the Oslo Years
Economist George T. Abed was interviewed shortly after the signing of the Oslo Accords (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/1866.pdf). He discussed the Paris protocol on Economic Relations, which gave the Palestinians administrative autonomy over certain public services, and economic and financial policies. It was conditioned by the Oslo agreement, and was also based on the notion of "limited autonomy" for the Palestinians. Abed argued that the Paris negotiations were in some respects more favorable to the Palestinians than were the Oslo Accords. He listed the economic potential the protocol offered, but warned they were contingent on the right internal political approach. Focusing on "the Palestinians' own capacity to organize and to mobilize their resources for reconstruction and development," Abed said that Palestinian statehood is dependent on their establishment of "a democratic and open society and a vibrant and dynamic economy."
Writing in 2001, Sara Roy wrote about the economic ramifications of the Oslo accords (http://www.palestine-studies.org/journals.aspx?id=4223&jid=1&href=fulltext). She explored the economic, political, and social changes in the West Bank and Gaza that occurred since the beginning of the Oslo process in 1993. Arguing that Oslo enabled Israel to control the Palestinian territories through the Palestinian Authority with damaging results, Roy maintained the end result was the collective disillusionment and rage that finally exploded in the al-Aqsa intifada.
Leila Farsakh analyzed employment trends of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians in Israel during the Oslo years (1993-2000) (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/4555.pdf). While significantly reduced from pre-1992 levels, Palestinian labor flows to Israel remained important but changed in form and content, revealing contrasting Israeli policies toward the two territories. In Gaza, labor links with Israel were increasingly severed, reflecting the growing separation of the two economies and the transformation of Gaza into a de facto labor reserve. In the West Bank, where the process of economic "Bantustanization" is described, workers continued to be employed beyond the Green Line and in the settlements, enhancing the incorporation of parts of the territory into Israel.
The Palestinian Economy and the Second Intifada
In the aftermath of the second intifada, Salem Ajluni considered the lingering economic damage to the Palestinian economy (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/5557.pdf). This report provides data on the cumulative effects on the Palestinian economy and society of Israeli restrictions imposed and damage inflicted during the al-Aqsa intifada through January 2003. The author proposed that Israel is deliberately impoverishing the Palestinian population and that the United States, by failing to curb Israel, is complicit.
Employment and Workers Rights in Israel and the West Bank
http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/Special%20Focus/palestinian-workers1.jpgThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), opened membership discussions with Israel in May 2007, and in November of that year approved a road map for accession involving a process of review by a number of OECD committees, including the Employment, Labor, and Social Affairs Committee for which this report was written. The three main areas in which Israel’s candidacy was considered problematic were bribery of foreign officials, intellectual property rights, and Israel’s definition of its territory, which includes occupied East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Although not deemed one of the major "problem areas," an examination of the rights and employment situation of workers in Israel and the occupied territories formed part of the OECD’s overall review of Israel’s general economic policies as required in the road map for accession. This excerpt from the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/10645.pdf) reviews their findings in regards to these issues.
The Need for the Right Kinds of Reforms
http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/Special%20Focus/gaza_tunnels_540.jpgEver since the first internationally sponsored effort in May 2000 to rehabilitate the economic governance record of the Palestinian Authority (PA), issues of corruption, transparency, and reform have become inextricably intertwined with political debates. In a 2005 review essay, Raja Khalidi wrote (http://palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/6470.pdf) that "all parties (except perhaps the PA) consider that intractable issues such as statehood cannot be addressed until the PA has undertaken wideranging reforms."
Khalidi called the book, State Formation in Palestine: Viability and Governance during a Social Transformation, the first scholarly and thoroughly researched analysis of the realities, facts, and figures of Palestinian economic management since 1994. The book contends that Palestinian state formation and economic management processes were more sophisticated and pluralistic than they were often considered, especially given the fundamentally adverse conditions, starting with the PA's "asymmetric relation" with Israel. Some of the PA's governance shortcomings could be attributed to the inherent constraints of operating under occupation conditions.
The World Bank: the Current Situation in the Palestinian Territories
http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/Special%20Focus/ecngrowth2001_2009.bmp
In 2009, Palestine experienced a third consecutive year of economic growth and rising per capita GDP, according to a June, 2010 World Bank economic monitoring report (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/EconomicUpdateJune2010newsletterfinal.pdf). While this resurgence is a cause of optimism, the situation remains precarious. Growth in the West Bank can be partly attributed to the relatively stable security environment and improving business environment. But it appears to be mostly driven by large inflows of foreign assistance that may not be sustainable.
The economy in Gaza remains devastated; however, a regular flow of goods coming through tunnels from Egypt and via other sources have allowed a few private sector activities to resume. Despite the growth, the recurrent deficit rose in 2009, mostly as a result of emergency spending in Gaza in the aftermath of Israel’s military operation in early 2009.
Economic Performance
Changes since 2009
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 9%
Per Capita GDP 5%
Highest growth sector: Construction
Construction activity 36%
Number of workers 3%
Unemployment rates -
West Bank - .4% (17.7% to 17.3%)
Gaza Strip - .5% (38.4% to 37.9%)
Consumer prices 3.58%
Bank financing of vehicles 62%
Bank deposits 14.2%
Government revenues 17.3%
Government expenditures -2.7%.
Government deficit -22.5%
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Economy and Future Prospects
As an advisor to the Palestinian Authority president and the Palestinian Investment Fund, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa is an authority on the Palestinian economy. In a December, 2009 JPS interview, Dr. Mustafa reported there was a marked improvement in the Palestinian economy in the West Bank over the previous three years. However, the Israeli occupation limits its performance and makes it heavily dependent on the Israeli economy. The West Bank economy, he reports, is still below its 1967 and 1999 levels. Gaza’s economy is in a catastrophic state as a result of Israel’s embargo and the absence of Palestinian legitimacy, he said. Reaching an independent, sustainable economy requires not only continuing the program of reform but also removing Israeli restrictions. The Palestinian economy will never be strong until the two halves of the nation are reunited.
:: Article nr. 75031 sent on 16-feb-2011 04:14 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=75031 (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=75031)</I>