Tom Goss writes that the condition of the Palestinian territories is rapidly changing, especially in Nablus. Nicer cars are being seen, more business is being created, movie theaters are opening, and the overall economic situation is improving. And it is happening, in part, due to trade with Israel:
Local Palestinian farmers have been trained by Israeli agriculture experts and Israel supplied them with irrigation equipment and pesticides.
A new Palestinian city, Ruwabi, is to be built soon north of Ramallah.
Last month, the Jewish National Fund, an Israeli charity, helped plant 3,000 tree seedlings for a forested area the Palestinian planners say they would like to develop on the edge of the new city.
Israeli experts are also helping the Palestinians plan public parks and other civic amenities….
I’ve long said that the Jewish communities in the Palestinian territories need to be seen as vehicles of mutually-beneficial interaction between the two, and that trying to create a Jew-free Palestine or Palestinian-free Israel will only increase extremism and quickly fail.
Goss also notes in the article that the Palestinian economy grew by 7% this year, but Abbas says it is really 11%, “helped along by strong economic performances in neighboring Israel.”
Palestinians need to realize that an attack on Israel’s well-being is an attack on their own well-being, and Israelis should see the Palestinians as an exciting new market that will benefit them as it grows.
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