Palestinians — the people of paradox.
They simultaneously drive one towards sympathy and disgust. They have been manipulated on the world stage by the whole of the Arab world for over a half-century but have continuously chosen to dance to the tune of the martyrdom. One feels pity for generations raised upon the rock of hatred, only to have said pity wiped out in a moment by their jubilation after hearing of 9/11. One marvels at a people that held in such beloved regard a terrorist-in-chief that stole billions at their own expense but, by their own actions, continue to subject themselves to worsening poverty.
Despite a slowdown in fighting, the Palestinian economy remains crippled by four years of violence with Israel, with nearly half the population living in poverty on less than $2 a day, the World Bank said in a report released Tuesday.
The international development bank paints a dire picture in its first assessment of the Palestinian economy since May 2003. Economic activity has plummeted, while poverty and unemployment climbed sharply since the current wave of violence began in September 2000, the report said.
The report was issued ahead of next month’s meeting of international donors, including the United States and European countries, whose money sustains the Palestinian economy.
The report cites Israel’s “closure” policies — a series of restrictions on the movement of Palestinian people and products meant to boost Israeli security — as the main cause of economic hardship in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It also calls on the Palestinians to carry out further economic reforms.
An Israeli official replied that the Palestinian violence is responsible for the downturn in the Palestinian economy. “The Palestinian economy was growing in the years leading up to the terrorist uprising,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
According to the report, the Palestinian economy recovered slightly in 2003 after two years of sharp decline. It cited a slowdown in violence and drop in Israeli curfews in Palestinian areas as well as a modest rebound in the Israeli economy for the improvement.
Economic activity has stagnated in 2004, and remains well below the pre-uprising levels, the report says.
Per capita gross domestic product has fallen to about $930 this year from $1,490 in 1999, according to the bank. Unemployment shot up to 27 percent from 12 percent during the same period, while the poverty rate has more than doubled to 48 percent from 20 percent.
Those figures translate into 1.7 million Palestinians living below the poverty line, set by the World Bank at $2.10 a day. Nearly one-third of those people, or 600,000 Palestinians, live below the “subsistence” level of $1.50 a day — the amount necessary to meet basic nutritional needs, according to the bank.
The hope for these people is that Arafat is now gone. The choice to move forward is theirs to make.