Would increasing agricultural output make the economy more productive?
I don’t really want to consider this to be the only alternative open to Palestinians, but surely it will be one alternative. I’m not so sure the Palestinians can compete – given the Israeli costs that are now imposed on their economy – with the Syrians, Lebanese or Jordanians. There’s an echoing sentiment in Ramallah that Israeli produce not only tastes better but is also more nutritious. This is a case of the Palestinians legitimising their occupation and their disenfranchisement. First, the Israelis control the water; they also control and implement the prices of all the machinery and fertiliser the Palestinians can use. At the same time, the Israelis subsidise and advertise their products and create this kind of humiliating situation. How can the Palestinians resolve this situation? No economist will tell you that there is a possibility of development in the Palestinian economy while it is under occupation. There first needs to be a liberation of society in order to liberate the eco
