The West Bank’s economic improvements contrast with the lack of diplomatic progress on the creation of a Palestinian state. Negotiators focus on the “top down” issues, grappling with legal and territorial problems. But the West Bank’s population is building sovereignty from the bottom-up, forging the law-enforcement, civil, and financial institutions that form the underpinnings of any modern polity. The seeds of what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called “economic peace” are, in fact, already blossoming in the commercial skyline of Ramallah.
via Michael Oren: The West Bank Serves as Model of Prosperity – WSJ.com.
(since we’ve featured such negative Middle East posts… thought I’d try out some balance)
Comments 4
Colin, this is remarkable. I didn’t know these things. Thanks for posting this.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I know of no society built from the top down, though I can think of many that have decomposed from the top down.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
The most optimistic take on it, Peter, would be I think that an extended dose of benign neglect and decent security might enable the Palestinians to advance despite themselves. As I recall, one of the main reasons people had hope for the Oslo process was a similar period of economic and social development in the West Bank. This time, they have Hamas exposing itself as a Hellish dead end, and the Fatah leadership is much less powerful than it was when Arafat was still around.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Colin, I agree that Israelis may have been willing to accept the Oslo agreement in part because of all the development that had taken place in the West Bank before Oslo. Apparently it didn’t occur to them that letting a gang of terrorists back into the West Bank might reverse this development. So yes, benign neglect and a weakened Fatah may have been the missing ingredients in the Oslo “process.”
August 14th, 2009 at 10:03 pm