UN: Without ‘occupation’ Palestinian economy could double

[Little Tich]

Source: Times of Israel

New report says limited movement, destruction of assets, settlement expansion and seizing of resources are human rights violations

GENEVA (AFP) — The Palestinian economy could easily double, while sky-high unemployment and poverty would plummet if the Israeli occupation were lifted, the United Nations development agency said Tuesday.

In a new report, UNCTAD pointed to a long list of ways the Israeli occupation stifled the economies of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the confiscation of Palestinian land, water and other natural resources.

The widespread restrictions on the movement of people and goods, destruction of homes, trees and other assets, and the expansion of Israeli settlements were also damaging, it said.

“Without occupation, the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory could produce twice the GDP (gross domestic product) it currently generates,” the report said.

Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-without-occupation-palestinian-economy-could-double/

[Little Tich]

1. The staggering economic cost of occupation: The Palestinian economy would be at least twice as large

without Israeli occupation, UNCTAD report says

Source: UNCTAD, 06 September 2016

The economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory could easily produce twice the gross domestic product (GDP) it generates now, while unemployment and poverty could recede significantly, according to this year's report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people.

Surveying a number of studies, the report reveals the channels through which occupation deprives the Palestinian people of their human right to development and hollows out the Palestinian economy.

Chief among these are the confiscation of Palestinian land, water and other natural resources; loss of policy space; restrictions on the movement of people and goods; destruction of assets and the productive base; expansion of Israeli settlements; fragmentation of domestic markets; separation from international markets and forced dependence on the Israeli economy.
Moreover, a continuous process of de-agriculturalization and de-industrialization has deformed the structure of the Palestinian economy, the report maintains.

From 1975-2014, the share of the tradable goods sector (agriculture and industry) in GDP dropped by half, from 37 per cent to 18 per cent, while its contribution to employment decreased from 47 per cent to 23 per cent.

Read more: http://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=1317

The report here: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/app2016d1_en.pdf

[shira]

2. So the Palestinian Leadership should've agreed to....

....any one of the multiple peace offers Israel has made that would grant Palestinians their own land.

Duh.

But let's face it, a Palestine under PA/Hamas control would be yet another failed state in that region. Let's not pretend it would be the next Singapore. It would be closer to another Jordan, Syria, Egypt, or Lebanon.

[TubbersUK]

3. Thanks for posting n/t