Middle East Pundit

Abu Mazen says Israeli roadblocks have caused the failure of Palestinian industry…that if only Israel removed the roadblocks, the Palestinians could become financially independent and grow their private sector.

What he fails to take into account is whenever Israel has removed the roadblocks, suicide and car bombings have increased exponentially.

If Abu Mazen truly wanted to grow the private sector in the West Bank, then he would arrest and imprison Palestinian terrorists which would do two things: Israel would recognize him as someone who is truly interested in setting the grounds for the peace process (something Arafat was for the most part incapable of) which would in turn help his people to be responsible for their own futures instead of depending upon foreign aid.

The story says, “Palestinian per capita Gross Domestic Product in 2007 was 40 percent lower than its peak in 1999, the report said, citing the last year before the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000.” One could make the causal inference that as violence within Israel goes up, Palestinian per capita GDP goes down. Such an inference would not be hard to demonstrate.

Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Finance Minister has said the solution is not business. I agree. And so should Abu Mazen.

The prosperity of the Palestinian people lies in the security of the Israelis - both Jewish and Arab.