Lt. Col Pistolese (of European Union) urges Israel to ease restrictions on Egypt-Gaza crossing

[Douglas Carpenter]

link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/815070.html

Sun., January 21, 2007

snip:"Pistolese urges Israel to ease restrictions on Egypt-Gaza crossing
The head of the European mission monitoring operations at the Egypt-Gaza border, Lt. Gen. Pietro Pistolese, urged Israel on Thursday to stop restricting operations there, saying disruptions only promote "extremism and terror."

Pistolese said Thursday that no weapons have been smuggled through the crossing since it was opened, and that all weapons that were discovered were destroyed.

Since the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June, Pistolese said, the crossing has been open only 39 days. During that time 80,000 people have passed through it, he said, though 550,000 could have used it if it had been open the entire period.

Israel, citing security alerts, has kept the Rafah terminal - Gaza's main gateway to the outside world - closed for about 80 percent of the time since Shalit's capture.

The European monitors at Rafah were deployed as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement of November 2005 that was to ease movement in and out of Gaza. The agreement was reached two months after Israel withdrew from the coastal strip."

"Pistolese said it is counterproductive to deprive Gaza's 1.4 million people of access to the rest of the world."

link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/815070.html

[newyorican]

1. An obvious bold faced lie by Ha'aretz

because we know Israel left Gaza over a year ago and Egypt controls the border.

The Egyptian/Gaza border is not controlled by Israel but by the PA and Egypt. Egypt is keeping it closed, not Israel.

Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, Tom.

no israeli is there, but the cameras watch over.

Now we are supposed to believe the Israelis are controlling the Egyptians?!? Antisemitic blood-libel!!1!



..or, perhaps the above quotes are disingenuous?

[Violet_Crumble]

4. How long will it take for more claims that Egypt controls the Gaza border to appear?

Not long, I bet...

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. someone really said that?

perhaps we need to keep kicking this post to make sure this misunderstanding is finally cleared up

[Violet_Crumble]

6. Yeah, it's been said by a few people quite regularly n/t

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. well I hope this article from a leading and highly respected Israeli newspaper clears it up

[Douglas Carpenter]

8. you really think so?

[Englander]

9. AP's at it, as well.

European border monitoring head urges freer movement at Egypt-Gaza terminal

The Associated Press
Published: January 18, 2007

NETANYA, Israel: The head of the European mission monitoring operations at the Egypt-Gaza border urged Israel on Thursday to stop restricting operations there, saying disruptions only promote "extremism and terror."

Israel, citing security alerts, has kept the Rafah terminal — Gaza's main gateway to the outside world — closed for about 80 percent of the time since Palestinian militants from Gaza kidnapped an Israeli soldier in June.

The European monitors at Rafah were deployed as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement of November 2005 that was to ease movement in and out of Gaza. The agreement was reached two months after Israel withdrew from the coastal strip.

On Thursday, mission head Lt. Gen. Pietro Pistolese said it's counterproductive to deprive Gaza's 1.4 million people of access to the rest of the world.

"It is vital that there is a return to normal operations at Rafah as soon as possible," Pistolese told a conference at the Netanya Academic College. Keeping the border closed "only only encourages more people to resort to extremism and terror," said Pistolese, an Italian.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/18/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Border-Crossing.php

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. kick

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. one more kick...

[Douglas Carpenter]

10. .

[pelsar]

11. are those time lines just SOOO confusing?

l shall try not to be sarcastic because i do believe the posters here actually are aware of the dates and actions and reactions. I do find it rather pathetic that I have to write this:

so i shall be brief:

up until shalits kidnapping no israeli was near rafah....the video control room in keren shalom was useless and abandoned as the video from rafah arrived late. Its opening was an egyptian/palestinian affair.


The EU personal arrived at rafah via ashkelon, refusing to travel via gaza or staying in Egypt. So when israel closes its border for reasons that are its own, the EU personal wouldnt be able to open up the terminal, their choice of where to live.

Egypt, a country of its own right, ignores israel when its not in its interest and does cooperate when it is...that is the history of the two countries. Egypt has no real interest in opening up rafah and the palestinians for reasons that are link to politics obviously are not pressuring them, nor are the other arab states for obvious reasons.

now we come to shalits capture. When that happened israel re invaded gaza..IDF .troops were at rafah and closed it down. Though israeli troops are no longer present, the threat of the re invasion is, as long as Shalit is not returned. (and in fact is always there as long as the palestinians keep trying to kill israelis...as it is in lebanon)

Since hamas is doing the negotiation, and hamas is the govt, it makes them responsable for both shalits return and the welfare of the palestinians in gaza.....the solution is simple: return shalit, anything less is absurd.

what i dont understand, is why posters who actually do know the time line, ignore it?....

[breakaleg]

12. So, after an occupying power who has sugjucated an entire population for

almost a generation, leaves unilaterally, did you expect there would be no repercussions? If you know anything about human nature, you could surely expect a parting shot from the other side.

I think everyone is aware of the time line. But your scenario starts with Israel left and they did this this and this. You seem to ignore what went on for the previous 40 years. I think Israel needs to learn the lesson that you cannot beat a people into submission. What is it going to take for them to realize that?

[pelsar]

14. the time line

my time line was based on the previous posts that claimed israel controlled rafah before the taking of shalit.....no more than that

-----
as far as your claim that its "human nature" for the repercussions...its irrelevant:

the palestinians have a society in gaza......their destiny is now within their own control...its up to them to make the best of it.....if they want to keep on shooting, thats their choice....as always it will be the dumber of their options and no doubt their lives will get even more miserable...but its their choice.

our lesson is clear: as in lessons from lebanon: withdrawl does not mean always peace.

[breakaleg]

16. If you read the article below then you would know exactly what aspect of Palestinian life Israel

still controls. So, they are expected to make a success of Gaza given these very very severe restrictions. It's almost as if Israel WANTS them to fail. Why else would maintain a strangle hold on their daily lives?

[pelsar]

17. black and white issue...

israel left gaza...palestinains attacked....and kept on attacking....and kept on attacking, not just israel but egypt to

i would say the palestinains knowing very well that israel would respond, wanted to fail, so they wouldnt have to take responsability for their own lives....why else would they keep on attacking?

seems they keep on attacking and keep on losing...and some people think its a good strategy.....go figure.

[breakaleg]

18. pot, meet kettle. you are right in that it isn't a good strategy on the part of the Palestinians,

but Israel is equally wrong in believing their strategy is working. And is hardly in a position to throw stones.

on edit: perhaps Israel's strategy is working, assuming that land grab is it. I assumed their goal was for peace but then I could be wrong.

[barb162]

19. Are there Israelis in Gaza? I thought they left well over a yr. ago

Land grab? LOL, they ceded Gaza to the Palestinians. Too bad the Palestinians are making such a mess of it. Who wants to invest there?

[breakaleg]

21. are you deliberately being obtuse? I believe I used the word Palestinians, and that

includes ALL of them.

[pelsar]

23. israels strategy is working...

since 1948, both having a similar "starting point:

one has developed in to a strong viable country.....the "other guys' having chosen the wrong strategy and wrong friends (and keep on doing that) have miserable lives and no country.

[Douglas Carpenter]

24. Israel's strategy since 1948 has had as one of its major pillars, making itself into a strong and

impregnable regional military super power. Is that what you're suggesting for the Palestinians?

My God Mr. Pelsar, even I am not going that far.

[pelsar]

28. the military power...

was a result of constant attempts and threats to destroy the country.....it was a wise strategy of its pioneers to develop such a military. They were also wise enough to develop industries and educational institutes despite the wars and constant attacks, not to mention institutions of democracy, etc.

that is my suggestion to the palestinians......start with what you have, and build from there.....and get rid of their "friends" which keep on insisting that everything is 'israels fault"...that kind of thinking and believing will only keep them down.

[breakaleg]

30. Oh. I thought they were seeking peace. If not, then I agree with you.

[barb162]

20. Yes, it is black and white, Pelsar

[Douglas Carpenter]

13. 16 Nov. 06: Gaza Humanitarian Crisis - A Joint Statement by Israel 's leading human rights organizat

link: http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/20061116_Brief_on_Gaza.asp

Nine Israeli human rights organizations issued an unprecedented joint call to the international community to ensure human rights in the Gaza Strip. The statement comes in light of the dire humanitarian situation there:

Some 80% of the population is extremely poor, living on less than $2 a day. A majority of the population is dependant on food aid from international donors.

In the past four months, the Israeli military has killed over 300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Over half of those killed were unarmed civilians who did not participate in the fighting. Among the dead, 61 were children.

About 70% of Gaza 's potential workforce is out of work or without pay.

On 28 June, Israel bombed Gaza ' s only independent power station, which produced 43% of the electricity needed by the residents in Gaza . Since then, most of the population has electricity between 6 and 8 hours each day, with disastrous consequences on water supply, sewage treatment, food storage, hospital functioning and public health.

The Gaza Strip is almost entirely sealed off from the outside world, with virtually no way for Palestinians to get in or out. Exports have been reduced to a trickle; imports are limited to essential humanitarian supplies.
Israel cannot shirk its responsibility for this growing crisis. Even after its Disengagement in 2005, Israel continues to hold decisive control over central elements of Palestinian life in the Gaza Strip:

Israel continues to maintain complete control over the air space and territorial waters.

Israel continues to control the joint Gaza Strip-West Bank population registry , preventing relocation between the West Bank and Gaza , and family unification.

Israel controls all movement in and out of Gaza , with exclusive control over all crossing points between Gaza and Israel , and the ability to shut down the Rafah crossing to Egypt .

Israeli ground troops conduct frequent military operations inside Gaza .
Israel continues to exercise almost complete control over imports and exports from the Gaza Strip.

Israel controls most elements of the taxation system of the Gaza Strip, and since February has withheld tax monies legally owed to the PA, and amounting to half of the to tal PA budget.
The broad scope of Israeli control in the Gaza Strip creates a strong case for the claim that Israel 's occupation of the Gaza Strip continues, along with an obligation to ensure the welfare of the civilian population. Regardless of the legal definition of the Gaza Strip, Israel bears legal obligations regarding those spheres that it continues to control. Israel has the right to defend itself. However, all military measures taken by Israel must respect the provisions of international humanitarian law.

The following Israeli human rights organizations call on the international community to ensure that Israel respects the basic human rights of residents of the Gaza Strip, and that all parties respect international humanitarian law:

B'Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories * Association for Civil Rights in the Israel *Amnesty International–Israel Section * Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights * HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual * Gisha: Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement * Physicians for Human Rights-Israel * Public Committee Against Torture in Israel * Rabbis for Human Rights "

link: http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/20061116_Brief_on_Gaza.asp

[pelsar]

15. your link:

and the ability to shut down the Rafah crossing to Egypt .

that makes it clear, while israel could close it down, it had nothing to do with the flow of goods and people.....look toward egypt if you want to know who helped keep the "crises going'

sooner or later, as in the hamas spokesmen, it will be realized that its up to the palestinians and no one else to fix up gaza....playing "blame israel" may play nice to the press and the "pseudo social progressive groups" but it will do nothing for ahmed palestinian, resident of gaza.

they might want to take a play out of the israeli "playbook of 1947-50...how to make a state when you have little or nothing.....i think it starts with: make the best of what you have.....

[Violet_Crumble]

22. Israel HAS shut down the Rafah crossing....

that makes it clear, while israel could close it down, it had nothing to do with the flow of goods and people.....

From the OP:

'Since the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June, Pistolese said, the crossing has been open only 39 days. During that time 80,000 people have passed through it, he said, though 550,000 could have used it if it had been open the entire period.

Israel, citing security alerts, has kept the Rafah terminal - Gaza's main gateway to the outside world - closed for about 80 percent of the time since Shalit's capture.'


Yet some in this forum have gone on and on and on and on and on that Israel no longer had the ability to shut down the Rafah crossing...

[newyorican]

25. You gonna believe me, or your lying eyes?

:rofl:

[pelsar]

33. so?

whats your point?...after shalit was taken israel invaded and shut rafah down. Previous to that israel didnt.

Previous to Hizballa taking the two soldiers Israel didnt invade Lebanon and didnt shut down their airport

____

[newyorican]

27. So...

are you saying the Israelis are controlling the Egyptians?

Hmm..perhaps Hosni should issue tin-foil hats to the citizenry...

[pelsar]

32. no.

i'm saying the Egyptians decided upon themselves to keep the rafah closed during the "humanitarian crises" that started before shalit was taken...imagine that?...and no arab countries sent in aid, no massive truck lines, waiting to enter rafah.. (Egypt sent in 400+ trucks donated by the egyptians....thats it)

[newyorican]

35. What a conundrum...

Multiple press reports (by real journalists) say Israel has kept the crossing closed, and an anonymous poster on the Internet (who could be anybody or nobody in particular) says just the opposite...who to believe, hmmm.

On Edit: You appear to have a problem with journalism at Ha'aretz, what we are all missing is when they laugh you out of the room.

[Douglas Carpenter]

26. "The Gaza Economy" By Sara Roy

"Dr. Sara Roy is a Professor at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. Dr. Roy has worked in the Gaza Strip and West Bank since 1985 conducting research primarily on the economic, social, and political development of the Gaza Strip and on U.S. foreign aid to the region. Dr. Roy has written extensively on the Palestinian economy, particularly in Gaza, and has documented its development over the last three decades.

This information brief was written exclusively for The Palestine Center. The text may be used without permission but with proper attribution to The Palestine Center. This information brief does not necessarily reflect the views of The Jerusalem Fund." So with proper thanks to the Palestine Center and the Jerusalem Fund, here is Dr. Roy's article in full:

"Overview: In one of many reports and accounts of economic life in the Gaza Strip that I have recently read, I was struck by a description of an old man standing on the beach in Gaza throwing his oranges into the sea. The description leapt out at me because it was this very same scene I myself witnessed some 21 years ago during my very first visit to the territory. It was the summer of 1985 and I was taken on a tour of Gaza by a friend named Alya. As we drove along Gaza's coastal road I saw an elderly Palestinian man standing at the shoreline with some boxes of oranges next to him. I was puzzled by this and asked Alya to stop the car. One by one, the elderly Palestinian took an orange and threw it into the water. His was not an action of playfulness but of pain and regret. His movements were slow and labored as if the weight of each orange was more than he could bear. I asked my friend why he was doing this and she explained that he was prevented from exporting his oranges to Israel and rather than watch them rot in his orchards, the old man chose to cast them into the sea. I have never forgotten this scene and the impact it had on me.

Politics and Economics

Over two decades later, after peace agreements, economic protocols, road maps and disengagements, Gazans are still casting their oranges into the sea. Yet Gaza is no longer where I found it so long ago but someplace far worse and more dangerous. One year after Israel’s 2005 “disengagement” from the Strip, which was hailed by President Bush as a great opportunity for “the Palestinian people to build a modern economy that will lift millions out of poverty create the institutions and habits of liberty,”i a “Dubai on the Mediterranean”ii according to Thomas Friedman, Gaza is undergoing acute and debilitating economic declines marked by unprecedented levels of poverty, unemployment, loss of trade, and social deterioration especially with regard to the delivery of health and educational services.

The optimism that surrounded the disengagement was also reflected in the Palestinian Authority’s plan for reviving Gaza’s economy known as the Gaza Strip Economic Development Strategy, published soon after the disengagement was completed.iii This document, less a development plan than an articulation of objectives, had, among its primary goals “chieving stability, contiguity and control over land to support the Palestinian economy,” and “dopting effective economic policies to enable the rehabilitation of the Palestinian economy to achieve comprehensive development.”iv

Needless to say the Authority has not been able to realize its objectives given the exigencies imposed. However, it is important to point out that even in the absence of many constraints, rational planning of the sort described in the Authority’s plan is simply futile in an environment that is itself so irrational, typified by increasingly acute unpredictability, vulnerability and dependency, themselves resulting from a continued and unchanged occupation. This is not a new problem but an old one that requires a new approach that argues that as long as the political environment remains unchanged (or worsened), economic development is precluded and economic planning should focus on areas less vulnerable to external pressure (e.g. labor force training, institutional development). Otherwise, planning becomes nothing more than a theoretical and increasingly abstract exercise that promises few if any meaningful results. In this context, international aid can play a critical role in helping people survive but with little if any structural impact on the economy.

The pauperization of Gaza’s economy is not accidental but deliberate, the result of continuous restrictive Israeli policies (primarily closure), particularly since the start of the current uprising six years ago, and more recently of the international aid embargo imposed on Palestinians after the election and installation of the democratically elected Hamas-led government earlier this year. However, one need only look at the economy of Gaza, for example, on the eve of the uprising to realize that the devastation is not recent. By the time the second intifada broke out, Israel's closure policy had been in force for seven years, leading to by then unprecedented levels of unemployment and poverty (which would soon be surpassed). Yet the closure policy proved so destructive only because the 30 year process of integrating Gaza's economy into Israel's had made the local economy deeply dependent. As a result, when the border was closed in 1993, self-sustainment was no longer possible—the means were simply not there. Decades of expropriation and deinstitutionalization had long ago robbed Palestine of its potential for development, ensuring that no viable economic (and hence political) structure could emerge.v

International Agencies: Realties and Forecasts

According to the World Bank, Palestinians are currently experiencing the worst economic depression in modern history. The opprobrious imposition of international sanctions has had a devastating impact on an already severely comprised economy given its extreme dependence on external sources of finance. For example, the Palestinian Authority is highly dependent on two sources of income. The first is annual aid package from Western donors of about $1 billion per year (in 2005, according to the World Bank, donors gave $1.3 billion in humanitarian and emergency <$500m/38%>, developmental <$450m/35%> and budgetary <$350m/27%>) assistance, much of it now suspended. The second is a monthly transfer by Israel of $55 million in customs and tax revenues that it collects for the PA, a source of revenue that is absolutely critical to the Palestinian budget and totally suspended.vi In fact, Israel is now withholding close to half a billion dollars in Palestinian revenue that is desperately needed in Gaza.

The combined impact of restrictions, notably the almost unabated closure and the ongoing economic boycott, has resulted in unprecedented levels of unemployment that currently approach 40 percent in Gaza (compared to less than 12 percent in 1999). In fact, Palestinian workers from Gaza have not been allowed into Israel since 12 March 2006, Gaza’s primary market and all entry and exit points have been virtually sealed since June 25, 2006 when Israel’s current military campaign in Gaza began.vii In the next five years, furthermore, 135,000 new jobs will be needed just to keep unemployment at 10 percent.viii Trade levels have been similarly affected. By early May 2006, for example, the Karni crossing, through which commercial supplies enter Gaza, had been closed for 47 percent of the year with estimated daily losses of $500,000-$600,000.ix Compounding this are agricultural losses amounting to an estimated $1.2 billion for both Gaza and the West Bank over the last six years.

By April 2006 79 percent of Gazan households were living in povertyx (compared to less than 30 percent in 2000), a figure that has likely increased; many are hungry. Furthermore, in Gaza, adding one dependent member to the family increases the household's probability of being poor by 3.5 percent. The dependency burden found in Gaza is second only to that of Africa.xi Hence, the number of adults in a household who are employed is a strong factor in poverty alleviation. Not surprisingly, individuals living in the Gaza Strip are 23 percent more likely to be poor than individuals living in the West Bank.

The United Nations currently feeds approximately 830,000 of Gaza’s 1.4 million population (or 59 percent of the total population who would go hungry without UN assistance)—100,000 of whom were added since March of this year. UNRWA primarily supports 610,000 (all of whom are refugees) and the World Food Program supports 220,000 (60,000 were added in September 2006 alone) non-refugees. The latter include 136,000 “chronic poor” who previously received welfare assistance from the PA.xii

Exacerbating Gaza’s socioeconomic decline was Israel’s attack on Gaza’s only power station last June. The plant, which was destroyed, supplied 45 percent of the electricity in the Gaza Strip. The cuts in power have been extremely harmful to healthcare delivery, food and water supplies, and the treatment of sewage among other problems. Recently, the Israeli human rights group, B’tselem said the attack on the power plant constituted a war crime under international law since it targeted a civilian population.

Furthermore, since Israel’s military invasion of the Gaza Strip known as “Operation Summer Rains,” 237 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF (out of 382 since January 2006 and 2137 since September 2000, the majority civilians) and 821 wounded. The Israeli military has also fired at least 260 air-to-surface missiles and hundreds of artillery shells at mostly civilian targets including government buildings and educational institutions, dozens of private homes, six bridges and a number of roads, and hundreds of acres of agricultural land, destroying them.xiii xiv

According to the United Nations, in 2007, absent of any meaningful improvement, the Palestinian economy as a whole will be 35 percent smaller than it was in 2005, falling to its level in 1991, and over half the labor force will be unemployed.xv The UN recently published projections on the impact of reduced international aid on the Palestinian economy. Using 2005 as its basis of comparison, the projections assume a 30-50 percent reduction in aid (and with it public expenditures), a 50-100 percent increase in restrictions on trade, and a 10-20 percent increase in restrictions on labor flows to Israel. Under the worst-case scenario, which is not unlikely, the losses in GDP between 2006 and 2008 could reach $5.4 billion, which exceeds the Palestinian GDP in 2005. Eighty-four percent of total jobs available in 2005 could be lost.xvi Even under a better case scenario, writes Raja Khalidi, an economist at UNCTAD, “the Palestinian economy will implode to levels not witnessed for a generation.”xvii

The Population Factor

Gaza's problem is not only one of occupation but of population and this vital to understand. Today, there are more than 1.4 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip: by 2010 the figure will be close to two million. Gaza has the highest birthrate in the region – 5.5 to 6.0 children per woman – and the population grows by 3 to 5 percent annually. Eighty percent of the population is under 50 and 50 percent is 15 years old or younger. The half of the territory in which the population is concentrated has one of the highest densities in the world. In the Jabalya refugee camp alone, there are 74,000 people per square kilometer, compared with 25,000 in Manhattan.

According to the latest data produced by Harvard University’s 2010 Project, with an annual growth rate of between 3.45 and 3.5 percent, Gaza's population of 1,330,000 people will reach 1,590,000 by 2010 and 2,660,000 by 2028, doubling its current size. By 2010, furthermore, the adult population, relative to that of youth, will grow by 24 percent, placing added pressures on the job and housing markets.xviii If growing numbers of people are unable to secure work or housing, both of which are key to marriage and family structure, the resulting and widening gap between supply and demand will lead to greater violence and with it the continued militarization of society. Hence, population trends will be a major factor determining the socioeconomic wellbeing, or lack thereof, of the Gaza Strip. And even with an immediate decline in fertility, Gaza's young population will grow for at least a generation (because of the size of the upcoming cohorts).xix

The combination of a growing population and shifting age structure places enormous pressures on public services, especially education and health. In education, for example, population growth alone—without any improvement in the quality of services—will require 1,517 more teachers and 984 new classrooms over the next four years. Similarly, if Gaza's educational system is to reach current standards in the West Bank, it needs at least 7,500 additional teachers and 4,700 new classrooms. And if the Gaza Strip is to just maintain current levels of access to health services in 2010, it will need 425 more physicians, 520 additional nurses and 465 new hospital beds.xx

An Economic Forecast

The resulting damage—both present and future—cannot be undone simply by 'returning' Gaza's lands, removing 9,000 Israeli settlers, and allowing Palestinians freedom of movement and the right to build factories within an enlarged but isolated and encircled Gaza. Gaza's many problems cannot be addressed when its burgeoning population is confined within a physically constrained territory of limited resources. Density is not just a problem of people but of access to resources, especially labor markets. Without external access to jobs and the right to emigrate, something the Gaza Disengagement Plan and Olmert's realignment plan effectively deny, the Strip will remain a prison unable to engage in any form of economic development.

Indeed, in 2005, the international community (through the Ad Hoc Liason Committee) concluded that the most important factor in Palestine's economic decline is not reduced aid levels but movement and access restrictions and the suspension of revenue transfers. In fact, they concluded that in the continued absence of a political settlement (that would allow greater movement into Israel and beyond), international aid can only help Palestinians survive and nothing else.

The urgency of Gaza’s plight is considerable for as Raja Khalidi writes, “Even assuming a full return of donor support and the relaxation of mobility restrictions by 2008, GDP and employment losses would continue to accumulate. This suggests that today’s declines will have harmful, long-lasting effects on the economy that will persist even if adverse conditions are alleviated later on.”xxi "

------------------------------------------------------------------------i The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “President Bush Commends Israeli Prime Minister Sharon’s Plan,” 14 April 2004, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040414-4.html.
ii See my analysis of the disengagement agreement, in Sara Roy, “A Dubai on the Mediterranean,” The London Review of Books, November 2005.
iii Ministry of National Economy and Ministry of Planning, Gaza Strip Economic Development Strategy, The Palestinian National Authority, September 2005.
iv Ibid.
v Roy, “A Dubai on the Mediterranean.”
vi Samar Assad, “Forecast for Palestinian Economic Survival,” Palestine Center Information Brief No. 135, 18 April 2006.
vii United Nations, The Humanitarian Monitor—occupied Palestinian territory, Number 4, August 2006, p. 1.
viii Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, Harvard University, Gaza 2010: human security needs in the Gaza Strip, Population Projections for Socioeconomic Development in the Gaza Strip, Working Paper #1, May 2006, Cambridge, MA, p. 18.
ix OCHA, Situation Report: The Gaza Strip, 3 May 2006
x United Nations, The Humanitarian Monitor, p. 7.
xi Harvard University, Population Projections for Socioeconomic Development in the Gaza Strip, p. 15.
xii Steven Erlanger, “As Parents Go Unpaid, Gaza Children Go Hungry,” The New York Times, 14 September 2006, p. A11.
xiii Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Weekly Report: A Special Issue on the 6th Anniversary of the al-Aqsa Intifada, No. 38/2006, 21-27 September 2006, p. 2.
xiv Palestinian National Initiative, The Forgotten People: The Despair of Gaza One Year After the ‘Disengagement’, 14 September 2006. http://www.amin.org.
xv Raja Khalidi, “Palestinian collapse hurts all,” Ha’aretz, 17 September 2006.
xvi Ibid.
xvii Ibid.
xviii Harvard University, Population Projections for Socioeconomic Development in the Gaza Strip, pp. 13-16, 20.
xix Ibid, p. 13.
xx Ibid, p. 21.
xxi Raja Khalidi, “Palestinian collapse hurts all.”

[UndertheOcean]

29. thanks , very frustrating this is.

n/t

[pelsar]

31. whats missing...

the report forgot to add that internal civil war might be a mitigating factor for the inability of the local govt to govern.......and export and improve the economy.

what is interesting is the fact that as the attacks on israelis increased (starting with intifada I) their economy took a nose dive....i guess there might be a connection there as well.

[Douglas Carpenter]

34. Imagine if you will.....

if one took any other society about the same size as Gaza (about 28 miles long and about 3-4 miles wide) with a very large population (now at 1.4 million) that was already fairly poor to begin with and subjected such a place to the ever increasing desperate conditions that the Gaza has been subjected to for the past 39 years after a war.

This is less than a perfect analogy.. But imagine if the greater New Orleans area; if after the flood had settled, New Orleans had been subjected to the same conditions for 39 years that Gaza has been subjected to for the past 39 years with conditions growing ever worse.

Does it take a sociologist to figure out that there would come a time when the people would rebel. And there would come a time when all chaos and confusion would break loose? But I am sure that even then there would be those who would only blame the victims.

But I would agree that if the Palestinians of Gaza were some sort of supper human race with qualities and talents never held before by any other people in the history of the world, then things would be just fine and dandy in Khan Younis.

.