Democratic Palestine : 19 (ص 14)
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- Democratic Palestine : 19 (ص 14)
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members of the group, including the Arab members. And for
this reason we need the approval of the Israeli government, and
we will work with the government to achieve all plans.»G) On
October 25, 1984, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported one
of the group’s members as saying, «The group works to add an
economic base to serve as a bridge for a political process.»(
Israeli journalist Yehuda Litani wrote in Haaretz that the
initiators had explained that the present economic structure in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip was not healthy for the Palesti-
nians or the Israelis, since unemployment among the former
will worsen tlie security of ‘Israel’ .(5)
Israeli journalist Odeed Thamrnout wrote: «The main idea
was that by creating economic stability in the West Bank, it is
possible to encourage the development of a local leadership...
to weaken the influence of the PLO and strengthen the circles
that support Jordan.»(6) Haaretz noted that the US
businessmen’s group sees that a political solution for the
occupied territories could be achieved by transforming the
West Bank and Gaza Strip into demilitarized zones, supervised
by multinational forces. The newspaper said that such a solu-
tion had the official approval of the US and Jordan, while the
Israelis are still silent on the subject.)
PRESTIGIOUS PALESTINIANS’ REACTIONS
The US businessmen consulted many Palestinian notables in
the occupied territories to promote their plan, and invited some
of them to the US. The opinions of these Palestinians varied.
Some clearly defined the nature of the plan and rejected it out
of hand. Others saw it as a chance for solving some of the
economic problems in the occupied territories.
Dr. Salah Al Bustami, member of the doctors’ association,
said: «I was shocked to discover that the political aims of these
American businessmen were not in the interests of the people
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. If they invite me again, I
won’t go, and if they come, I won’t receive them, because I
know they have suspicious political aims.»(8) Mr. Ibrahim
Abdul Hadi said, «Of course, we look forward to establishing
a Palestinian state,but these plans do not consider this point.(9)
Based on participation in the consultations with the US
businessmen, Dr. Hashem Ortani wrote: «We tried to make it
clear to the other parties, especially some of the Jewish
American leaders, that we will not be the only side that will
suffer from the hatred that is building up in the hearts of the
thousands of youngsters, those who had hopes of a future they
have worked hard for, and were left with nothing but begging
before closed doors. Do the US, Israel and the Arab oil states
need to have a creative imagination to realize that unemploy-
ment of college graduates will become a time bomb whose
splinters will fly in every direction. »(9)
When we examine what has been said about the plan both by
its initiators and those who studied it, we notice two main
points:(1) Worry about the security of ‘Israel’ due to the
deteriorating economic conditions in the occupied territories:
and(2) the discrepancy between the political tendency in the
occupied territories,and the US solution. Therefore,the goal of-
the plan has two interrelated dimensions: first, to avoid esca-
lation of Palestinian resistance in the occupied territories; and
second, to create a political tendency that supports the US solu-
tion.
THE SECRET BEHIND THE ISRAELIS’
APPROVAL
A. The strategic aspect of the occupation policy
From its inception, the Zionist plan in Palestine was based
on the policy of conquering the land and labor, which means
depriving the Palestinian people of independent and stable
conditions of life. This policy has been consistently practiced,
despite the variation of forms and means in different areas, at
different times. However, changing conditions, and the local
and international balance of power, are no longer conducive to
continuing this policy so bluntly and directly.
From this, we can conclude that the Zionist plan continues to
collide with all the classes and groups of the Palestinian people.
In practice, this has caused the widening of the front rejecting
occupation. This is very clearly seen in the occupation authori-
ties’ inability to split the unity of the Palestinian people. In
12
most countries that were colonized, the colonizers were able to
gain to their side certain social classes and strata that formed a
social base to help the colonizers achieve their goals. With the
help of the colonizers, these strata were able to form armies
that fought alongside the colonizers against the nationalist
orces.
The Zionist occupation authorities have tried to exploit reli-
gious sectarianism and tribalism to find a way out of their
crisis. Although they succeeded in some cases, such efforts
failed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The authorities tried
through the villages leagues, installed under the pretext of
developing the villages and rendering public services, but they
failed. The village leagues remained small and isolated, and
thus unable to constitute a social base for helping the authori-
ties achieve their aims. On the contrary, the leagues became a
burden on the Zionists, which caused them to stop their sup-
port. The experience of the village leagues confirms the nature
of the position that is allowed for any Palestinian class or
strata. This position definitely does not meet the demands of
any class or strata that is seeking an independent and respec-
table economic and social position.
Since the Zionist plan contradicts the development of the
Palestinian people’s economic base on their land, no Palesti-
nian class, group or strata is allotted an independent economic
position. What then is the secret behind the enthusiasm of
Israeli politicians, especially the Labor Party leaders, about the
US businessmen’s plan? What do they want to gain by the plan
for «improving the quality of life» in the occupied territories?
B. The occupied territories as a milk cow - tactical
aspects of the economic policy
The Israeli economy prcfits greatly from the occupied terri-
tories, as specified below:
1. The occupied territories are the largest importer of Israeli
goods. US statistics show that the trade balance surplus bet-
ween ‘Israel’ and the occupied territories is $800 million a
year.(11)
2. The occupied territories provide over one million hours of
labor power daily to the various sectors of the Israeli economy
at only 40-60% of Jewish laborers’ wages. In addition, Pales-
tinians do the manual and menial work.
3. An important part of the national income of the occupied
territories is siphoned into the Israeli budget, as follows:
15% of the gross local product in VAT (valued added tax);
10% of the gross per capita income as income tax;
- a large percentage of the wages of Palestinians working in
‘Israel’ as various deductions, valued at $30 million yearly in
the eighties; (12)
- different fees; construction licenses; court fees, traffic fines
and the many high fines imposed by the military courts.
4. Income from the open bridges amounts to $1 million
daily, from permit fees, customs duties and airport fees alone.
5. The occupied territories are an entry point for hard cur-
rencies, mainly coming from Palestinians working abroad.
6. The occupied territories constitute an important bridge
for exporting Israeli products to the Arab world, whether
through smuggled Israeli products or products of the occupied
territories. It is known that there are Israeli elements in every
agricultural and industrial product.
In his opening speech at the seminar on unemployment
among graduates, Anwar AI Khatib did not exaggerate when
he said that ‘Israel’ has a net income of $1 billion annually
from the occupied territories. On the other hand, the authori-
ties’ expenditures in the occupied territories are very low, as
shown by official Israeli statistics. The total expenditures of
the Zionist authorities and the local administrations together in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip was estimated at $240 million
between 1977 and 1983, meaning $34.3 million a year.(3)
In practice, it sometimes seems that there is a contradiction
between the authorities’ strategic endeavor to deprive the
Palestinians of the conditions of life on the one hand, and their
efforts to exploit the occupied territories to serve the Israeli
economy on: the other. Observers of the Zionist occupation
policies wil] discover the red line that cannot be crossed by the
Palestinians in their economic practices. The authorities have
hindered any project that strengthens the material base of the
occupied territories’ economy, or competes with Israeli - هو جزء من
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