Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A captive Palestinian market

The business picture in the Palestinian territories is not so much of resurgence as of an economy thwarted at every turn

Rachel Shabi
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 September 2009

".......Piece these together and the picture is not so much of resurgence as of an economy that gets thwarted at every turn. That's one reason why many Palestinians aren't buying the fanfare declarations over finances. "You can't separate economic peace from political peace," says Aweidah, one of countless voices articulating the same thing.

It's not just the aspiration for independence and statehood that informs this statement. It's the obvious fact that people can't grow their own economy while an external force is pulling the strings. Until Palestinians are free to make their own decisions, cheery economic signals, while appreciated, tend to be viewed wearily as a case of Israel rewarding the West Bank populace with a few extra rations, for good behaviour."

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