Palestine Economy Portal

In a research paper prepared by the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute-MAS, on "Confronting the Economic Effects of the Israeli Decision to Include Areas of the Occupied West Bank," researcher Masif Jamil said that annexation is nothing but a legislation for settler colonialism, while the plan is not surprising and comes within historically systematic Israeli plans. The annexation policy began since the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, through the annexation of East Jerusalem, the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 1980, and the annexation of the Syrian Golan in 1981, not to mention the continuation of the confiscation of lands and the building of settlements and the building of the apartheid wall that actually annexed 9.4% of the Palestinian lands, and Palestinian villages and cities.

Jamil also stressed that the annexation is a new violation of international laws and treaties, in addition to the numerous violations committed by the Israeli occupation, which led to a widespread political and diplomatic uproar.

"Annexation" is the destruction of development and the economy

With regard to the effects of annexation in the Jordan Valley and Areas “C” in particular, the researcher emphasized that the total direct economic negative effects of the annexation process are the loss of all operating and investment components, and thus the development process retreat due to the inability to establish infrastructure for urban and investment expansion.

The researcher explained that the annexation is sufficient to destroy the viability of the Palestinian economy by consolidating Israeli control over the crossings with Jordan, forcing the Palestinians to use Israeli ports, and denying the establishment of a port and airport.

What can be done?

During the review of the research paper that was presented and discussed in "MAS", Director General of the Institute, Raja Khalidi, reviewed what could be done to confront this plan, noting the importance of humanitarian relief. Despite the recent increase in the projects and interventions of many international institutions operating within the limited development space available in these occupied areas, they are not sufficient to have any lasting effect in addressing the state of poverty, the weakness of the economy and the suffering of the population in these areas, preserving rights, property and lands and preventing colonial expansion and annexation.

Al-Khalidi stressed the need to undertake several immediate, complementary and possible interventions, including activating planning and urban expansion in a way that serves the embodiment of the Palestinian national identity, and expanding work in these areas as a national priority, based on the development needs of the Palestinian community.