Thursday, December 03, 2009

The West Bank Palestinians doing pretty well

This article details how the Palestinians in the West Bank are doing very well now and have no real interest in having their own state. Right now they have the best of both worlds.

...As I sat in the plush office of Ahmad Aweidah, the suave British-educated banker who heads the Palestinian Securities Exchange, he told me that the Nablus stock market was the second best-performing in the world so far in 2009, after Shanghai. (Aweidah's office looks directly across from the palatial residence of Palestinian billionaire Munib al-Masri, the wealthiest man in the West Bank.)

Later I met Bashir al-Shakah, director of Nablus's gleaming new cinema, where four of the latest Hollywood hits were playing that day. Most movies were sold out, he noted, proudly adding that the venue had already hosted a film festival since it opened in June.
...
Palestinian economic growth so far this year—in a year dominated by economic crisis elsewhere—has been an impressive 7% according to the IMF, though Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad, himself a former World Bank and IMF employee, says it is in fact 11%, partly helped along by strong economic performances in neighboring Israel.
...
Nablus stock exchange head Ahmad Aweidah went further in explaining to me why there is no rush to declare statehood, saying ordinary Palestinians need the IDF to help protect them from Hamas, as their own security forces aren't ready to do so by themselves yet.

2 comments:

dprosenthal said...

This is the second article I've read recently on how well the people in the West Bank are fairing, but it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere except on these blogs. This is the only circumstance that could possibly lead to peace, a two state solution, or a separate statehood. Why is it kept a secret from the general public? Better yet, why aren't the West Bank people talking to and trying to help the Gazans instead of letting Sharia law engulf them? The only way the Palestinians will ever rid themselves of Hamas is to band together and throw them out. As long as Hamas can keep the Gazans stirred up, no peace is possible. I've even wondered why hundreds of Gazans have not fled to the West Bank for a better life.

bluke said...

This was printed in the Wall Street Journal.