A "Palestinian Economy" may be an "oxymoron"
Reader comment on item: The Palestinian Economy in Shambles

Submitted by A Bissel (United States), Jan 3, 2008 at 21:22

Using the term "Palestinian Economy" seems more like an oxymoron than an assumption. An "economy" is an organized system for running a society which includes productive sources of income and the intelligent use of resources to keep that society intact and developing. Personally, I see none of those.

The so called "Palestinian territories" seems to be a good example of an artificially-created dependency that relies almost totally on aid from outside for its very existence. It eagerly accepts handouts from those worldwide groups like the E.U., UN, and Arab neighbors whose primary purpose is not goodwill toward Palestinian life but ill will toward a Jewish state. The simple proof of this is the proportion of aid those organizations give to Palestinians verses aid to other equally impoverished nations and groups(And Palestine is not a state and is not even a "nation" by most definitions. ) The Palestinians are their willing proxies.

They have few productive sources of income and are unlikely to get them. A good example of why would be the way they have managed Israel's valuable agricultural developments in Gaza after they withdrew: they destroyed and looted them like simple barbarians living for the moment only. Everything of value was carried off as pieces of scrap. When one hears about "work accidents" in Gaza it is usually an explosion in a home-made missile workshop or early detonation of a suicide belt - not the kind of "work" accidents that a body like OSHA could be used for.

They have not exhibited any ability to manage or use their "donations" in any productive way for the betterment of their society. Some simple examples of this would be the proportion of their revenue, manpower, and technological development that they devote to expanding and maximizing their war against Israel as opposed to their population and infrastructure. When one thinks about Palestinian development and progress, the only things that come to mind are their creative methods of digging longer, deeper, and more well-hidden tunnels along with their ability to produce weapons and missile factories anywhere space is available.

An artificially created pseudo-nation whose main contributions to mankind are the suicide bomber, terrorist warfare, intifada, jihad, and the worship of martyrdom is unlikely to join any future "civilization" where the concept of an "economy" has any meaning. Hence, a "Palestinian Economy" may be a prime example of an "oxymoron."

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