PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to resign and disband the Palestinian Authority if negotiations with Israel fail.
Elected in 2005 to negotiate the emergence of a Palestinian state, Mr Abbas told Arab rulers, meeting in Libya, to seek alternatives to talks, including asking the US and UN Security Council to recognise an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967.
Mr Abbas said he did not expect Israel to renew its partial curb on settlement construction in the West Bank, his demand for re- turning to talks suspended at the end of September. On Friday, the Arab League supported Mr Abbas and, at the request of President Barack Obama, gave the US a month to secure an extension of the curb.
Sixty-six per cent of Palestinians living in the occupied territories oppose talks. One commentator remarked that during negotiations Israel normally steps up settlement construction, raids and killings. Instead of improving living conditions for Palestinians, 19 years of negotiations have brought about political, social and economic deterioration, he said.
Palestinian business consultant Sam Bahour said Israel does not abide by agreements concluded since the Oslo accord was signed in September 1993. The Paris protocol, the main economic instrument, provided, in theory, for free movement of people and goods between Israel and the occupied territories. “Through the customs envelope, Israel remains in control of [Palestinian external] borders. Palestinians should have free access to products and people in the outside world. Instead Palestinians and their goods are restricted and Israelis and Israeli products have free access” to Palestinian markets he said.
The Palestinian economy is captive, he added, dependent on Israel, and dismissed the assessment of the Palestinian Authority and World Bank that the economy is growing at 7-8 per cent per annum. Such growth is “non-sustainable,” as it is based on the injection of funds from foreign donors, not private investment.
“Growth is in consumerism,” he said. “Palestinians want a normal personal life . . . but consumerism is not a platform for a national economy.”
Mr Bahour criticised Israeli prohibitions on items regarded as “dual use,” for civil and military application. “A ban on the import of one part of a photocopy machine renders it useless.”
A Ramallah agent for imported cars said Palestinians buying vehicles are taxed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “A car that sells for $10,000 (€7,200) costs $20,000. Cars often take a long time to clear customs and come without hubcaps or other things which we have to replace.”
George Rishmawi, a Palestinian peace activist in the Bethlehem district, pointed out that Taybeh beer, made in a West Bank Chris- tian village near Ramallah, must be trucked to the Israeli customs clearing area at Tarqumiya in the south of the West Bank and then to East Jerusalem, where it competes with Israeli beers in hotels frequented by tourists. This means a trip of four hours rather than 20 minutes.