Blockade: Israel and the US Helped Gaza Economy Grow 16% in First Half of ’10

Anyone with even half a brain knew that the end-of-May Gaza flotilla melee was just about aiding HAMAS and hurting Israel. It wasn’t about the “economically depressed” or otherwise supposedly deprived Palestinian Muslims populating Gazastan.

Despite Palestinian Whines, Israel, US Helped HAMAS & Fatah Terrorists’ Economies Grow

And now the figures show as much, that the Palestinian economies are growing. The whole point of a blockade is to make bad people–bad countries with bad freely elected “leadership”–suffer. But apparently Gazans weren’t suffering at all. We knew this from all the pics and videos of the gorgeous shopping malls, posh hotels and clubs, and plentiful markets. And anyone familiar with Israel and what’s going on amidst its enemies knows that many of the so-called “oppressed” Palestinians living in Palestinian “refugee camps” live in palatial mansions and swank condos many Israeli Jews can only dream of (some of those palaces financed by the American tax payer through hundreds of millions dollars in Palestinian mortgage subsidies and bailouts set up by President BUSH).

Now, new figures show that the “oppressive,” “evil” Israelis actually helped the Palestinian economies in both HAMASastan (Gaza) and FATAHstan (the so-called “West Bank”) by loosening the blockade for the first six months of this year (most of it before the Gaza flotilla incident at the end of May). The figures show that Israel’s blockade is actually far too lax, and the Palestinians are flourishing, despite their whines. And remember, these figures are from the uber-liberal, anti-Israel IMF, so they are probably understated.

The Palestinian economy in the West Bank is estimated to have grown an annual 9 percent in the first half of this year, as Israel eased access restrictions, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The Gaza economy expanded about 16 percent during the same period, boosted by Israel’s relaxation of restrictions on imports, Oussama Kanaan, the organization’s chief of mission in the West Bank and Gaza, said today. The West Bank and Gaza are heading for 8 percent growth this year, up from 7.2 percent in the West Bank in 2009, and 5.4 percent in Gaza, Kanaan said. . . .

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lifted roadblocks across the West Bank in an effort to promote Palestinian economic growth. . . .

In the West Bank, growth has been bolstered by improvements in government management by the Palestinian Authority, which have been supported by donor aid, according to the findings of the mission, Kanaan said. Its conclusions will be included in a report scheduled to be presented to donor countries on Sept. 21.

“Donor aid”? That’s you–the American taxpayers, who are footing a large portion of the bill for the Palestinian welfare state, to the tune of several billion dollars.

The Israeli government said on June 20 it will loosen its blockade on Gaza so that all food will be let in and only weapons and items that have a military use are kept out.

Yeah, good luck with that. They will continue to sneak in weapons and bomb components inside food shipments. That’s what they do. That’s what they’ll keep on doing.