Good news is no news would seem to be the case when it comes to the international media’s reporting on the Middle East. This would seem to be particularly true of the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum, where it is rare to read anything beyond the usual head-shaking reports on poverty, repression, violence and general hopelessness (especially when it comes to assessing the prospects of the sadly misnamed “Peace Process” making any headway). So pervasive is this knee-jerk pessimism, exacerbated as always by the dramatically polarised views that people have towards the whole controversy, that few have as yet registered how developments on the ground are creating a new, decidedly more positive reality.
Contrary to all expectations, not to mention the dominant trends of the past decade, the Fatah-controlled West Bank is not merely showing economic resilience but is in fact forging ahead at a dramatic pace in that regard. Last year, it registered an impressive 7% growth rate, in part because of the strong economic performance in neighbouring Israel. Some experts put the real growth rate at 11%. This is an extraordinary achievement at a time when the world as a whole is struggling to emerge from a severe recession.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, veteran Middle East analyst Tom Gross described the city of Nablus as “bursting with energy, life and signs of prosperity” in a way he had not previously seen in his many years of covering the region. One sign of this new buoyancy, apart from the crowded shops and restaurants, were the number of BMWs and Mercedes on the streets (considerably more than he had seen, for example, in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv). As of the middle of last year, in fact, the Nablus stock market was, according to Palestinian Securities Exchange head Ahmad Aweidah, the second-best performing in the world, after Shanghai.
Gross painted a similar picture of Ramallah, the capital. New apartment buildings, banks, brokerage firms, luxury car dealerships and health clubs were the order of the day. Meanwhile, plans were afoot to build a new Palestinian city, Rawabi, just north of Ramallah.
Tourism is very much on the up. The official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported near-record tourism in the third quarter of last year, with some 136 000 overnight hotel stays in the 89 hotels currently open.
It goes without saying that a very different situation exists in the Hamas dominated Gaza Strip, where a ruinous, self-defeating pursuit of violent hostilities against Israel has made impossible the kind of development currently witnessed in the West Bank.
Israel, routinely depicted as the obstacle to Palestinian development, has been very much involved in the current economic turn-around. Palestinian farmers were being trained by Israeli agricultural experts and Israel was supplying them with irrigation equipment and pesticides. With regard to the Rawabi project, the Jewish National Fund helped plant 3 000 tree seedlings for a forested area skirting the city and Israelis are helping in planning public parks and other civic amenities. Critically, the decline in terrorist violence against Israelis from the West Bank has led to Israel’s dismantling of most of the checkpoints.
One can only hope that Palestinians, whether at the leadership or street level, will take to heart the obvious lesson from all this, namely that whereas violence carries with it a high price tag its alternative, peaceful co-existence, brings significant rewards. To be sure, there remains wide-spread poverty in the West Bank, but the relative peace of the past few years has already led to the problem being significantly alleviated.
For their part, Israel needs to make every effort to facilitate the recovery process, such as through constantly reviewing and adapting its own policies with regard to security, recognising and remedying cases of unfair and unreasonable discrimination and in general striving to normalise its day-to-day relationship with its Palestinian neighbours.
None of this is easy. A legacy of profound anger, fear and distrust on both sides generated by years of the bitterest conflict, continues to exercise its malign influence. Certain deal-breaking issues, such as the question of refugees, borders, security and the future of Jerusalem, are as far away as ever from being resolved. Inevitably, these will continue to fester, and addressing them certainly cannot be shelved indefinitely.
Interviewed by the Washington Post last June, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave a surprising response to the writer, Jackson Diel’s question as to why he had rejected the previous year’s offer by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud to create a Palestinian state in virtually the whole of the West Bank. “In the West Bank we have a good reality. The people are living a normal life,” was what he actually said.
Aweidah was more explicit, explaining that there was no sense of urgency in pursuing Palestinian statehood because of the need for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to assist the Palestinian security forces in keeping out Hamas. (It will be remembered how in 2006, Fatah was driven from Gaza by Hamas in a short and brutal civil war; today, and for good reason, Fatah would seem to fear a recurrence of this in the West Bank more than they fear the IDF, notwithstanding what they might say for public consumption.)
There would indeed seem to be a growing, if necessarily understated, approach on both sides that sees progress in the short-to-medium term as taking the form of small, incremental changes on the ground rather than in the fraught pursuit of sweeping, final-status breakthroughs on the diplomatic front. The international community, in light of the many failed, indeed counter-productive, high-level peace initiatives that have come and gone over the past decade and more, would do well instead to find ways to assist the West Bank Palestinians in their efforts to uplift themselves.
With all due respect, this analysis is deeply flawed. I lived in Nablus as recently as last year. The growth that you currently see in contrast to Gaza is not due the differences between “violent” Hamas and the non-violent PA, it is due to one simple thing- the removal of the blockade on Nablus. Yes, for since the second intifada Nablus has had every entrance and exit blocked by by the Israeli army with some of the most notorious checkpoints in Palestine. Checkpoints that made a one hour journey a three hour journey. I often saw trucks with fresh produce just sitting there for hours. That stifled growth. If the blockade on Gaza was removed you would see similar growth.
So all your analysis really says is bend to the will of the occupying force who will destroy you if they don’t agree with you and may let you live a half-life if they agree.
BTW: I’ve never seen a luxury car in Nablus (wait, I saw one Polo player). And those that seem to be rich are often corrupt PA members bribed for their complicity in the occupation or ex-patriates who actually live in the US/Europe where they make their money.
Shaista – While setting out to refute what I wrote, what you really have done is confirm its basic thrust, namely that by turning their backs on violence, West Bank Palestinians are reaping rich economic rewards whereas those in Gaza, who have not, continue to live in dire poverty. The blockades imposed by Israel during the previous years of conflict obviously stifled economic growth, just as the Allied blockade on Germany during World War I (just one example) crippled the German economy. That is the reality of warfare. I find illogical, therefore, your saying that the differences between the WB and Gaza hasn’t anything
to do with the difference between Fatah, which has opted, however grudgingly, for non-violence, and Hamas, which continues to pursue it. On the contrary, it has everything to do with it. The tragedy is that Gaza could indeed experience the current success of the WB if its leadership would only abandon its self-destructive policies of violence, thereby enabling Israel to lift the blockade it has been forced to impose. Things don’t have to be thew way they are.
@Shaista
The author states that “…the decline in terrorist violence against Israelis from the West Bank has led to Israel’s dismantling of most of the checkpoints.”
If the blokade on Gaza was removed you would get a proportionate growth of rocket fire and suicide bombers into Israel.
It is a fact that Fatah and Hamas are bitter rivals and that violent civil war would ensue if brother Israel were not keeping them apart.
And if west bank is peaceful why is israel stealing their land.USA has called for a halt in settlement activity. Can you enlighten us on that please?
Yes, I get what you are saying. Just, the blockades in Nablus did not come down because of non-violence. It came down the week of the Gaza attacks to create this type of comparison. It is absolutely artificial and you are just promoting the Israeli government stance.
Btw, there were no rocket attacks happening when the Gaza attack took place. Furthermore, Israel broke the cease-fire that Hamas had been adhering to. Furthermore, the attack was completely disproportionate and involved war crimes.
As much as you deny it, the lifting of blockades is about punishing people for democratically electing a party that the Israeli government doesn’t like and rewarding an UNELECTED corrupt “government” that toes your line. To most Palestinians the PA are not elected representatives, and in many instances they are simply doing the work of the Israeli army.
If only those Gazans would embrace free market capitalism and put aside all dreams of self-determination, right to land etc. Why can’t they be more like those corrupt Abbas followers – the ones who cast a blind eye towards the Goldstone report. (Apparently, lucrative cellphone contracts had something to do with that hypocrisy).
Nah. I don’t buy it. The bantustans may prosper some – but long-term it stinks.
The basic assumption here seems to be that if the Palestinians realise the hopelessness of their situation and submit to the Israeli authorities then their lives will be a golden summer? Possibly, certainly years of resistance to the Israeli state has delivered to the Palestinians nothing but poverty, death and destruction. However, some people might say “what about settlement expansion in the West Bank?” These people of course, don’t understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. How can you argue with the idea that ‘settlements’ are just a natural part of a growing Israeli population? That the Israelis need to move ‘east’ to obtain space to expand? That they need more space to live? That they need more living room? “But what about the Palestinians already living in the West Bank?” Those who don’t the conflict would say. Resistance to settlement expansion (or any action taken on behalf or in the name of the Israeli state) would result only in bombed cities, dead Palestinians and stifling economic sanctions. Therefore, I would suggest that the Palestinians either leave West Bank completely (which is part of “Greater Israel” and doesn’t belong to them anyway right?) or submit to whatever action the Israeli state takes in the West Bank with a smile on their faces. The Palestinians in the West Bank may even want to thank Israel for the all the good things they have done for them. So in sum, I agree with everything david has to say.
I’m 25. The Israeli palestinian conflict was going on before I was born, it has been going on for my entire life and it will go on long after I’m dead.
I agree with Shaista fully and such views can only only come from a person that has been there and witnessed the going-ons in Israel/Palestine for themselves. The fact is Israel is playing chess with people’s lives and Mr Saks, it is clear you are doing the job of the Israeli government. I was there two years ago and one thing I can mention is that Israel has always made sure that people didn’t find out about its provocative daily attacks on Palestinians in various parts of the West Bank, many of them students, yet it made so much noise about rocket attacks that even missed their targets by miles. Israel’s agenda is to cripple Hamas because it represents the truth about what it really happening in that part of the world. Hamas never said they don’t want to to recognize Israel…all they said was that for Israel to get such a favour it must be prepared to do the same for the Palestinian state. It is 2010 now and are we anywhere near to resolving the issue of the final status of the Palestinian state??? The answer is a big fat NO. So your analysis Mr Saks strays far from the truth. Israel is currently planning to seal off all entry points from the Egyptian side of the border into the Gaza Strip, further tightening the blockade…how can anyone develop in such a situation???
“According to a June 2009 World Bank report, real G.D.P. in the occupied Palestinian territory has declined by a “cumulative 34 percent in real per capita terms” since September 2000. Given this, even the most minimal Israeli gestures cannot help but bring improvement.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/opinion/09iht-edkhouri.html
Imagine if the Jewish inhabitants within Israel attacked and terrorised the 1.4 million Moslem and Cristian Arab Israeli citizens. Why is there no Palestinian reciprocity to Israel’s hosting its Arab Israeli citizens? Arabs live in Israel and Jews live in Palestinian areas.
If an Arab builds or buys a home in Israel, they are not then being accused of expanding arab settlements in Israel.
The reason Jewish settlements in the West Bank are guarded enclaves which encroach upon Palestinian lands, is because they would be otherwise attacked for being Jews.
If the Jews are to be expelled from Palestinian West Bank because they are Jewish, then the Arab Israelis must replace them and lose their Israeli citizenship.
Both the Israeli politicians and the Palestinians need to understand that the Palestinian Jews are staying where they are.
Iro Mr Steve comments, I guess in the 60s the blacks in south africa were also ungrateful for the great things the whites did for them too. And by the very same comments you have negated Mr Saks entire argument-that the Arabs of West Bank will have to make way for the Israelis. Then what is the purpose of all the progress.
Until a Mandela and a De Klerk emerges in palestine/israel, these debates will continue endlessly.
The next question is, is israel willing to accept a one man one vote given its reluctance for a two state solution.
Finally for as long as there is no peace in Gaza and West Bank, none of the Arab neighbours (who are blue in the face) will ever recognise Israel or even allow you to enter their country with an Israeli stamp on your passport.
How ironic that it is the responses to Saks’ “article” are truly educational! Keep up the propoganda, Saks…the responses will educate me.
Israel pumps millions of dollars to prop up Fatah in the West Bank. Hamas was democratically elected as the govermenet of chocie by the Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza. Previous American president George Bush even congratulated the Palestinians on having a fair election, until the results came out and Hamas won in a landlide victory.
Please note that there are two STEVE’s on this comments forum. It will not be difficult to distinguish the one from the other by reading their views which are at opposite ends of the universe.
@ Muhammad and Steve
Israel does offer all its elligible citizens, Jew and Arab alike, the universal franchise ie one man one vote. It is the only democratic country in the region. Hamas may have been elected democratically, but then proceeded to undemocratically toss Fatah leaders from the roof tops to their deaths. The rest of Fatah fled for their lives, thus securing unopposed tyrrany for Hamas into the forseeable future.
Secondly, the neighboring Arab countries of Jordan and Egypt have a peace accord with Israel and thereby recognise the country of Israel and its sovereignty very well, thankyou.
And what does the arab world think of jordan and egypt? Let’s take out their forein aid and see how much of a country they are or how strong their current leadership will be
Dear Muhammad and Others
Any reasonably sane person reading my previous post on this subject would appreciate the obvious SARCASM of which they are written. Indeed, I feel it is sad tribute to the literary standards in South Africa when even the bluntest sarcasm is taken at face value. I mean in one sentence I talk about the Israel government bombing Palestinian cities, killing Palestinians and inflicting economic sanctions and then in another suggest the Palestinians in the West Bank may want to thank Israel for the all the good things they have done for them! Does this NOT sound like sarcasm to you? Did no one get the direct link I made between “living room” and “living …”, you know I am not even going to go there.
The REAL Steve
Dear REAL Steve,
and 
etcetera. It might be a good idea to include these for the writers to use, as in the absence of facial expressions and tone of voice, sarcasm and humour can easily be missed. Once again, my apoolgies for missing your tone.
My sincere apologies that I didn’t realise that you were being sarcastic…it was truly not obvious to me. I guess that is why they created emoticons like
please would the editor include emoticons including an emoticon for sarcasm so that these can be used by writers to this forum as it can be difficult to read these expressions in the absence of facial expressions and tone of voice.
Good new is no news when it comes to Middle East reporting, I wrote, while also being aware that for many people, good news is bad news – something to be qualified, explained away or denied outright. The Palestinian economic recovery in the West Bank is a reality, easily verifiable, which surely is good news all round. My feeling, though, is that a great many people out there would quietly prefer for the Palestinian population to continue to live in misery, since this makes it easier to keep anti-Israel feeling on the boil.
Probably, the revival of the West Bank combined with the relative peace that exists there will prove to be a flash in the pan. For the time being, though, the gradual normalisation of daily life that is taking place there should at least be tentatively welcomed by those who would genuinely like to see some form of workable Israeli-Palestinian co-existence emerge in the long run.
Dear david saks
I think the problem is not so much that the economic recovery of the West Bank disturbs people but rather it is the argument that you are trying to convey. The tone of that argument is immediately familiar to any White South African who has had to patiently listen to the following: “I just don’t understand what all this freedom rubbish is about. During apartheid our blacks were the happiest in Africa. We kept them honest, we kept them out of poverty, we kept them from killing each other. Look at the rest of Africa, brutal dictators, famine and collapsing economies. I am sure that deep down the blacks are grateful for all that we have done/given them” (for the hard of thinking, I don’t actually argee with this argument). But of course your argument is more politely phrased.
Personally I think the reason that there might be some anti-Israeli feeling out there might have something to do with the REASON that the Palestinians are squeezed into the West Bank, dependent on the goodwill of Israel for their ‘economic recovery’. I think it all goes back to that hopeless dream the Palestinians have about their lost olive trees (and ‘lost olive trees’ is a metaphor for those who didn’t quiet catch that). And while you and I both know that it is a dream that will never never never be realised, dreams like that (as they say) die only slowly.
The REAL Steve
Dear REAL Steve,
I am beginning to catch on to your writing style, your sarcasm and humour and am enjoying your responses. Thanks for pointing out so clearly in your previous reply where you have been using metaphor and sarcasm etc…and please can I ask you to continue to do so for the next 2 or so replies while I get to know your writing style better. Please would you explain what you mean by the dream of, “lost olive trees”. What is the dream?
The Real Steve – I understand what you are saying, but obviously will disagree with you. Your attempt to impose a South African paradigm on what I wrote seems a little forced. Moreover, it does not give the WB Palestinians due credit for what they are largely achieving through their own efforts.
I would further like to make the point, usually ignored by those inveterately hostile to Israel, that it is not only the Palestinians who have dreams. The Jewish longing for their ancient homeland has ancient roots, preceding the Muslim Arab invasion by more than a millennium. The hope of one day returning helped sustain them throughout their long exile.
Why, incidentally, did people only become concerned over Palestinian national rights only after Israel’s establishment? During all the preceeding centuries when the land was under the hegemony of various world empires, the rights and aspirations of those living their were non-issues. It makes me frankly suspect the motives of those who clamour for justice for Palestine in the here and now.
Face facts mohammed,steve etc…Israel is there to stay. Dont make out that Hamas is against Israel due to the settlement of the west bank and gaza. Israel was attacked in 1948 before any settlement took place, again in 69 and again in 73. That land was won during a war initiated by Arabs. Now if Arabs had won would they be giving Land back to Israelis??
Dear david saks
I take your point about comparing apartheid South Africa and the Israeli. Indeed, how the could the two situations be more different. In one you have the occupation of land through military force, the relocation of the natives into tiny territorial pockets, the subjection of that native population to extreme restrictions on movement and access to ‘occupied land’ with the whole system is underpinned by a mythology of “God Gave us this Land/Preservation of Our Civilization”. And then you have Israel…
So your argument is that both the Palestinians and the Jews have dreams but the Jewish dream is better?
I think perhaps ‘caring about the Palestinian national rights’ can probably be traced to the comparatively new dislike of colonialism in any form. I mean no one in the international community really cared about the ‘national rights’ of Indians until the British Occupation of that country right? Do you think the compassion that people felt towards Indian anti-colonialism was based solely on racism towards British Whites? Actually you might have a point there…
Oh and accusing anyone who would dare to argue that the current state of affairs in Israeli/Palestine is unjust of being anti-Semitic …now that is an original tactic not used by the Israeli state on every occassion.
Real Steve – Just for the record, I did not accuse you or anyone of antisemitism. This is a taunt people are too quick to resort to when confronted with evidence of their own double standards and prejudices against Israel. I see no point in addressing the decidedly crude and emotive characterisation of how Israel came into being, since you evidently are not interested in departing from simplistic, black-and-white propaganda canards. I guess it serves me right for being naive enough to engage with you in the first place.
“….Interviewed by the Washington Post last June, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave a Surprising response to the writer, Jackson Diel’s question as to why he had Rejected the previous year’s offer by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud to create a Palestinian state in Virtually the Whole of the West Bank.
“In the West Bank we have a good reality. The people are living a normal life,” was what he actually said.
Aweidah was more explicit, explaining that there was No sense of Urgency in Pursuing Palestinian Statehood because of the need for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to assist the Palestinian security forces in keeping out Hamas. (It will be remembered how in 2006, Fatah was driven from Gaza by Hamas in a short and brutal civil war; today, and for good reason, Fatah would seem to fear a recurrence of this in the West Bank more than they fear the IDF, notwithstanding what they might say for public consumption.) ….”
IOW, The article explains how the West Bank is Booming, while Gaza/Hamastan doing poorly.. and Abbas, watching Prosperity in the West Bank and letting the IDF do his fighting against Hamas, is in No rush for a Palestinian State, and Why he Rejected Israel’s last offer of that State. NOT that it wasn’t a Good offer.
Things are going just Ducky for him and his constituents .. As Is.