Seth Mandel
THE JEWISH STATE
August 7, 2009
American students get a fairly comprehensive education on the Revolutionary War, and how the founders created a nation out of the colonies. Yet, what is striking about our national genesis is not just how successful it turned out to be in the long run, but how antithetical it is to the way we seek to create a Palestinian state.
Our nation sought to avoid creating the conditions for a reconstituted monarchy, which is why George Washington was our first president, and not our first king. Strangely, however, our attempts at forging a Middle East peace -- centered on an independent Palestine -- all rely on handing the Palestinian people over to an autocrat at the top of a military-industrial complex.
It is often said, "freedom isn't free". But take a look at what we've been proposing for the Palestinian people, and it's more like: "freedom isn't freedom".
But there's a better way -- and we invented it. It's called federalism. Economically, it's the only option right now that makes sense. Let's take a look at the figures.
According to the International Monetary Fund, first-quarter unemployment in 2008 was 30 percent in Gaza, 19 percent in the West Bank. Well, where was financing for the Palestinian Authority's budget coming from? According to the IMF: "About $1.2 billion in donor support was disbursed during January-August 2008.... Of the $650 million needed during the remainder of the year, about $330 million has been identified, leaving a gap of about $320 million."
Catch that? The budget was $1.85 billion. The first $1.2 billion (about 65 percent) came from foreign donors, and the report was essentially asking for an additional $320 million in donations to round out the budget. That leaves the Palestinian economy having provided $330 million of its own $1.85 billion budget -- about 18 percent.
Without strong leadership, why should the Palestinians rely on a non-functioning government to fill a budget and then disperse government services as it sees fit? The private sector, to the extent there is one, doesn't see much of that money anyway. But what would happen if we let each municipality control their economic fates, instead of waiting for a united Palestinian state to move forward? Luckily, we don't have to guess. Here, from the first quarter of 2009, are those numbers, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
The average daily wage in new Israeli shekels (NIS) for the West Bank municipalities of Salfeet, Bethlehem, and Ramallah/al-Bireh (92.2, 96.5, and 99.5 respectively) are much higher than places like Tubas (76.7) and Jericho and al-Aghwar (71.4). And the highest daily wage in any municipality in Gaza is in Gaza City, at 65.8. Additionally, Bethlehem, Ramallah/al-Bireh, and Hebron have the highest percentage of workers who live and work in that municipality -- 84.2, 92.4, and 85.5 percent, respectively, making them good candidates for self-sufficiency.
Bethlehem and Ramallah/al-Bireh are also among the municipalities with the lowest percentage of self-employed workers. So most of the residents of those municipalities not only work within those districts, but they work for other people in those locations, meaning there is some semblance of a functioning economy there. (In the West Bank, municipalities are more like districts, so empowering Bethlehem, for example, would dramatically improve life for Palestinians in an area roughly one-tenth of the West Bank.) In fact, a look at the industry breakdown shows that Bethlehem is the second-largest mining and manufacturing center in the Palestinian territories, and the municipality of Ramallah/al-Bireh is a commercial, transportation, communication, construction, and service center in the West Bank.
According to the same statistics, Palestinians who work in Israel often make twice the daily West Bank wage and up to four times the daily Gazan wage, showing Israel's value as a customer and employer to Palestinians.
These are just a few examples of the promise lurking -- in some cases smothered -- beneath the surface of the Palestinian world. To take advantage of it, Israel should open up trade with these municipalities and others like them, relaxing checkpoints not arbitrarily, but as part of a business plan to connect independent Palestinian enclaves with the outside world. It will empower Palestinians and forge collaboration better than any "road map."
After all, "Interest," as George Washington wrote, is "the only cement that will bind."
Seth Mandel is the managing editor of The Jewish State.