sister herb
Official TTI Chef
Date: 09 / 05 / 2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's policy of closure and movement restrictions has "stymied" Palestinian economic revival, the World Bank says in a harshly critical 18-page report, issued 9 May.
The report accuses Israel of using its closure system to "expand and protect settlement activity."
"It is often difficult to reconcile the use of closure for security purposes from its use to expand and protect settlement activity and the relatively unhindered movement of settlers in and out of the West Bank," the report states. The report points out that there is currently double the number of Israeli settlers residing in the occupied West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, than at the time of the Oslo Accords.
The World Bank notes that, in December 2004, the government of Israel agreed with the Palestinian Authority that Palestinian economic revival was essential.
However, "freedom of movement and access for Palestinians within the West Bank is the exception rather than the norm," the report states, noting that this is "contrary to the commitments" made between Israel and the PA. For example, the Oslo Accords said that the movement of people and vehicles in the West Bank “will be free and normal, and shall not need to be effected through checkpoints or roadblocks,” the World Bank recalls.
"disconnected cantons"
Currently, however, closure in the West Bank, is "implemented through an agglomeration of policies, practices and physical impediments which have fragmented the territory into ever smaller and more disconnected cantons," the World Bank notes.
The report also outlines the range of impediments and obstacles to freedom of movement and access in the occupied West Bank, highlighting "the ease by which physical impediments can be removed in one form and reinstated in another."
"This was underlined by the admission by the IDF in January 2007 that forty-four impediments it claimed to have removed as part of a plan to ease movement did not actually exist," the World Bank report recalls.
The report criticizes Israel for limiting its relaxation of movement restrictions to "incremental steps," which the World Bank says "are not likely to lead to any sustainable improvement" because they "lack permanence and certainty and can be easily withdrawn or replaced by other restrictions."
The World Bank also questions why the system of separate roads for Israeli settlers in the West Bank and the Palestinian population, which "ensures that settlers can travel between the West Bank and Israel and between settlements with relative ease, but at the same time has forced Palestinians on to an inferior set of roadways which often involve a slow and circuitous route," means "the overwhelming onus of control and restriction falls on the Palestinian population." There are 700km of roads in the occupied West Bank that Palestinians are restricted from using, the report states.
"draconian permit policies"
The World Bank describes the government of Israel's control of the Palestinian population registry, as "the core of the system of administrative obstacles," noting that this control supports the extensive permit regime which, as the report states, "can be used to control nearly all facets of Palestinian movement outside of an individual’s immediate village or municipal area."
In addition to Israel's "increasingly draconian permit policies," further ad hoc measures, communicated verbally to Palestinians, "create a system of movement restrictions which is non-transparent and highly unpredictable," the report finds.
"Holding a valid permit does not necessarily guarantee the ability to cross a checkpoint," the report continues. "Requirements can be changed without notice at particular checkpoints and comprehensive closures, banning all movement, can be imposed at any time."
The report also criticizes Israel for its policy of denying (re-)entry to foreign passport-holders, particularly those of Palestinian background, wishing to enter the occupied Palestinian territory, either for work or family reasons. "Given that the vast majority of new investment in WB&G [West Bank and Gaza] since the signing of the Oslo Accords [1993] has been through overseas Palestinians, such practices and the high degree of uncertainty connected to them will inevitably lead to a loss of foreign investment and knowledge transfer and a further contraction of the Palestinian economy," the World Bank warns.
Conclusion: "restoration of the presumption of movement" needed
The World Bank concludes that "sustainable economic recovery will remain elusive if large areas of the West Bank remain inaccessible for economic purposes and restricted movement remains the norm for the vast majority of Palestinians and expatriate Palestinian investors."
The report mentions not just the Israeli settlements and their municipal jurisdiction as contributing to the "highly fragmented Palestinian economy." The “seam zone” (the territory trapped between the Separation Wall and the Green Line, in which some 50,000 Palestinians live), the Jordan Valley and other so-called “closed areas”, which are unpredictable, make economic recovery currently almost impossible.
The World Bank recommends that, "Economic recovery and sustainable growth will require a fundamental reassessment of closure practices, a restoration of the presumption of movement, and review of Israeli control of the population registry and other means of dictating the residency of Palestinians within WB&G [West Bank and Gaza] as embodied in the existing agreements between GOI [Government of Israel] and the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization]."
Israel: closures due to terrorism
According to Associated Press, Israel is insisting that the closures are driven by security concerns alone.
"We have no interest whatsoever in seeing a failed Palestinian economy," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AP. "Many of the current problems are a direct result of terrorism, violence and political instability inside the Palestinian territories ... And the overall anarchy that exists."
The full report may be downloaded at http://www.worldbank.org/we
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=21905
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's policy of closure and movement restrictions has "stymied" Palestinian economic revival, the World Bank says in a harshly critical 18-page report, issued 9 May.
The report accuses Israel of using its closure system to "expand and protect settlement activity."
"It is often difficult to reconcile the use of closure for security purposes from its use to expand and protect settlement activity and the relatively unhindered movement of settlers in and out of the West Bank," the report states. The report points out that there is currently double the number of Israeli settlers residing in the occupied West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, than at the time of the Oslo Accords.
The World Bank notes that, in December 2004, the government of Israel agreed with the Palestinian Authority that Palestinian economic revival was essential.
However, "freedom of movement and access for Palestinians within the West Bank is the exception rather than the norm," the report states, noting that this is "contrary to the commitments" made between Israel and the PA. For example, the Oslo Accords said that the movement of people and vehicles in the West Bank “will be free and normal, and shall not need to be effected through checkpoints or roadblocks,” the World Bank recalls.
"disconnected cantons"
Currently, however, closure in the West Bank, is "implemented through an agglomeration of policies, practices and physical impediments which have fragmented the territory into ever smaller and more disconnected cantons," the World Bank notes.
The report also outlines the range of impediments and obstacles to freedom of movement and access in the occupied West Bank, highlighting "the ease by which physical impediments can be removed in one form and reinstated in another."
"This was underlined by the admission by the IDF in January 2007 that forty-four impediments it claimed to have removed as part of a plan to ease movement did not actually exist," the World Bank report recalls.
The report criticizes Israel for limiting its relaxation of movement restrictions to "incremental steps," which the World Bank says "are not likely to lead to any sustainable improvement" because they "lack permanence and certainty and can be easily withdrawn or replaced by other restrictions."
The World Bank also questions why the system of separate roads for Israeli settlers in the West Bank and the Palestinian population, which "ensures that settlers can travel between the West Bank and Israel and between settlements with relative ease, but at the same time has forced Palestinians on to an inferior set of roadways which often involve a slow and circuitous route," means "the overwhelming onus of control and restriction falls on the Palestinian population." There are 700km of roads in the occupied West Bank that Palestinians are restricted from using, the report states.
"draconian permit policies"
The World Bank describes the government of Israel's control of the Palestinian population registry, as "the core of the system of administrative obstacles," noting that this control supports the extensive permit regime which, as the report states, "can be used to control nearly all facets of Palestinian movement outside of an individual’s immediate village or municipal area."
In addition to Israel's "increasingly draconian permit policies," further ad hoc measures, communicated verbally to Palestinians, "create a system of movement restrictions which is non-transparent and highly unpredictable," the report finds.
"Holding a valid permit does not necessarily guarantee the ability to cross a checkpoint," the report continues. "Requirements can be changed without notice at particular checkpoints and comprehensive closures, banning all movement, can be imposed at any time."
The report also criticizes Israel for its policy of denying (re-)entry to foreign passport-holders, particularly those of Palestinian background, wishing to enter the occupied Palestinian territory, either for work or family reasons. "Given that the vast majority of new investment in WB&G [West Bank and Gaza] since the signing of the Oslo Accords [1993] has been through overseas Palestinians, such practices and the high degree of uncertainty connected to them will inevitably lead to a loss of foreign investment and knowledge transfer and a further contraction of the Palestinian economy," the World Bank warns.
Conclusion: "restoration of the presumption of movement" needed
The World Bank concludes that "sustainable economic recovery will remain elusive if large areas of the West Bank remain inaccessible for economic purposes and restricted movement remains the norm for the vast majority of Palestinians and expatriate Palestinian investors."
The report mentions not just the Israeli settlements and their municipal jurisdiction as contributing to the "highly fragmented Palestinian economy." The “seam zone” (the territory trapped between the Separation Wall and the Green Line, in which some 50,000 Palestinians live), the Jordan Valley and other so-called “closed areas”, which are unpredictable, make economic recovery currently almost impossible.
The World Bank recommends that, "Economic recovery and sustainable growth will require a fundamental reassessment of closure practices, a restoration of the presumption of movement, and review of Israeli control of the population registry and other means of dictating the residency of Palestinians within WB&G [West Bank and Gaza] as embodied in the existing agreements between GOI [Government of Israel] and the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization]."
Israel: closures due to terrorism
According to Associated Press, Israel is insisting that the closures are driven by security concerns alone.
"We have no interest whatsoever in seeing a failed Palestinian economy," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AP. "Many of the current problems are a direct result of terrorism, violence and political instability inside the Palestinian territories ... And the overall anarchy that exists."
The full report may be downloaded at http://www.worldbank.org/we
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=21905
