[[{"content_id":"21493","domain_id":"0","lang_id":"en","portal_id":"2","owner_id":"29","user_id":"1","view_accesslevel_id":"0","edit_accesslevel_id":"0","delete_accesslevel_id":"0","editor_id":"0","content_title":"West Bank economic situation leading to explosion, third Intifada","content_number":"0","content_date_event":"2012-10-17 11:40:00","content_summary":"","content_summary_fill":"0","content_body":"Daily Star in an analysis by Jonathan Ferziger, Fadwa Hodali wrote Wednesday:\r\nIn the Palestinian city of Ramallah, protesters thronged the streets this month shouting “feed my children” after the PA government once again failed to pay 170,000 civil servants their monthly salaries on time. In al-Khalil (‘Hebron’) to the south, hundreds of demonstrators burned tires in September to protest the economic squeeze, while in Beit Lahm (‘Bethlehem’) residents tore down road signs to show their anger.\r\nPalestinian Authority Head Mahmoud Abbas is struggling to plug a $1.3 billion budget deficit as foreign aid dries up. That’s forcing government workers to subsist on partial salaries .\r\n“The PA doesn’t have any magic solutions or even a political vision and all doors seem to be closed,” Naser Abdul-Kareem, an economist at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, said in a telephone interview. “The situation is not just bad and complicated, but it’s leading to an explosion.”\r\nAbbas, 77, returned frustrated from September’s United Nations General Assembly, where he asked foreign donors to honor outstanding aid pledges. Without foreign aid, Abbas’s government would face a budget deficit of more than 7 percent of gross domestic product at a time when government borrowing from local banks is according to the World Bank “at the limit that the banking sector can sustain.” Foreign aid accounts for about 14 percent of GDP, while the share of public sector jobs account for 22 percent of overall employment, according to the World Bank.\r\nDonors, including Persian Gulf Arab states, cut or reduced aid after Abbas last year asked for U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood, a step that the U.S. and ‘Israel’ opposed.\r\nAbdul-Kareem said public anger in the West Bank may lead to a third intifada – the Arabic name for two previous uprisings against ‘Israel’. This time, he said, the action also may be directed against Abbas and his government.\r\nIn the event that does happen, ‘Israel’ would hardly be left unscathed, said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza.\r\nThe 4.2 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza’s roughly 6,220 square kilometers are constantly reminded of Israeli restrictions on movement and land ownership, while Jewish settlements in the West Bank are allowed to keep expanding, Abusada said.\r\n“At the end of the day, Israel will certainly be the primary target,” Abusada said.\r\nBecause Abbas’ administration plays a major role in keeping order and preventing attacks on Israelis, it’s unlikely that Israel, the U.S. and the European Union would let it collapse, said Jonathan Spyer, an Israeli political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, which is north of Tel Aviv.\r\n“It may be ironic, but Abbas’ best insurance against meeting the fate of other secular rulers in the Arab Spring is the Israel Forces,” Spyer said.\r\nIsrael is taking action to bolster the Palestinian Authority, though Abbas says it’s not enough. Israel offered to distribute 5,000 additional permits for Palestinians to work in the country, the Finance Ministry said in a Sept. 27 statement. It also advanced payment of 380 million shekels ($98 million) from taxes collected on the Authority’s behalf.\r\nThough the Palestinian Monetary Authority has rough plans to issue its own currency, West Bank and Gaza residents use the shekel because of the small size of the economy and its reliance on Israel for trade and collection of shipping tariffs, officials say.\r\nAmong the biggest barriers to Palestinian economic growth have been Israeli roadblocks throughout the West Bank, which slow the movement of goods to market, according to the World Bank. ‘Israel’ says the restrictions prevent militant attacks.\r\n‘Israel’ has removed several military checkpoints in the West Bank and has eased limitations on imports into Gaza during the past year.\r\nTo help soften Palestinian anger, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad vowed last month to cut the price of fuel and to pay government salaries on time. Other Cabinet members say that pledge isn’t realistic.\r\n“The donors have not paid their share and there is no specific data when the salaries will be delivered,” Finance Minister Nabil Qassis told reporters on Oct. 3 in Ramallah, referring to September salaries. August salaries were partially paid. “This month is worse than last month and if financial aid is not provided the crisis will continue.”\r\nThe West Bank and Gaza’s $10 billion gross domestic product expanded about 5 percent in 2011, down from an average of about 9 percent from 2008 to 2010, the International Monetary Fund said. Unemployment rose to 19 percent in the first half of 2012 from 16 percent in the previous year, according to the IMF.\r\n“We’re demanding change,” said Hazem Abu Helal, a 27-year-old lawyer who took part in the Ramallah protests. “You just can’t disconnect politics from the economy.”","content_html":"


Daily Star in an analysis by Jonathan Ferziger, Fadwa Hodali wrote Wednesday:<\/font><\/p>\r\n

In the Palestinian city of Ramallah, protesters thronged the streets this month shouting “feed my children” after the PA government once again failed to pay 170,000 civil servants their monthly salaries on time. In al-Khalil (‘Hebron’) to the south, hundreds of demonstrators burned tires in September to protest the economic squeeze, while in Beit Lahm (‘Bethlehem’) residents tore down road signs to show their anger.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Palestinian Authority Head Mahmoud Abbas is struggling to plug a $1.3 billion budget deficit as foreign aid dries up. That’s forcing government workers to subsist on partial salaries .<\/font><\/p>\r\n

“The PA doesn’t have any magic solutions or even a political vision and all doors seem to be closed,” Naser Abdul-Kareem, an economist at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, said in a telephone interview. “The situation is not just bad and complicated, but it’s leading to an explosion.”<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Abbas, 77, returned frustrated from September’s United Nations General Assembly, where he asked foreign donors to honor outstanding aid pledges. Without foreign aid, Abbas’s government would face a budget deficit of more than 7 percent of gross domestic product at a time when government borrowing from local banks is according to the World Bank “at the limit that the banking sector can sustain.” Foreign aid accounts for about 14 percent of GDP, while the share of public sector jobs account for 22 percent of overall employment, according to the World Bank.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Donors, including Persian Gulf Arab states, cut or reduced aid after Abbas last year asked for U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood, a step that the U.S. and ‘Israel’ opposed.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Abdul-Kareem said public anger in the West Bank may lead to a third intifada – the Arabic name for two previous uprisings against ‘Israel’. This time, he said, the action also may be directed against Abbas and his government.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

In the event that does happen, ‘Israel’ would hardly be left unscathed, said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

The 4.2 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza’s roughly 6,220 square kilometers are constantly reminded of Israeli restrictions on movement and land ownership, while Jewish settlements in the West Bank are allowed to keep expanding, Abusada said.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

“At the end of the day, Israel will certainly be the primary target,” Abusada said.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Because Abbas’ administration plays a major role in keeping order and preventing attacks on Israelis, it’s unlikely that Israel, the U.S. and the European Union would let it collapse, said Jonathan Spyer, an Israeli political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, which is north of Tel Aviv.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

“It may be ironic, but Abbas’ best insurance against meeting the fate of other secular rulers in the Arab Spring is the Israel Forces,” Spyer said.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Israel is taking action to bolster the Palestinian Authority, though Abbas says it’s not enough. Israel offered to distribute 5,000 additional permits for Palestinians to work in the country, the Finance Ministry said in a Sept. 27 statement. It also advanced payment of 380 million shekels ($98 million) from taxes collected on the Authority’s behalf.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Though the Palestinian Monetary Authority has rough plans to issue its own currency, West Bank and Gaza residents use the shekel because of the small size of the economy and its reliance on Israel for trade and collection of shipping tariffs, officials say.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Among the biggest barriers to Palestinian economic growth have been Israeli roadblocks throughout the West Bank, which slow the movement of goods to market, according to the World Bank. ‘Israel’ says the restrictions prevent militant attacks.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

‘Israel’ has removed several military checkpoints in the West Bank and has eased limitations on imports into Gaza during the past year.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

To help soften Palestinian anger, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad vowed last month to cut the price of fuel and to pay government salaries on time. Other Cabinet members say that pledge isn’t realistic.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

“The donors have not paid their share and there is no specific data when the salaries will be delivered,” Finance Minister Nabil Qassis told reporters on Oct. 3 in Ramallah, referring to September salaries. August salaries were partially paid. “This month is worse than last month and if financial aid is not provided the crisis will continue.”<\/font><\/p>\r\n

The West Bank and Gaza’s $10 billion gross domestic product expanded about 5 percent in 2011, down from an average of about 9 percent from 2008 to 2010, the International Monetary Fund said. Unemployment rose to 19 percent in the first half of 2012 from 16 percent in the previous year, according to the IMF.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

“We’re demanding change,” said Hazem Abu Helal, a 27-year-old lawyer who took part in the Ramallah protests. “You just can’t disconnect politics from the economy.”
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