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Doing Business in Palestine |
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Written by Kent Humphreys
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We in the USA have faced some difficult economic conditions the last two years. However, these are pretty minor compared to what it takes to do business from the West Bank or Gaza in Palestine. Our small group of business leaders and pastors was able to sit down with a number of local business leaders, farmers, and pastors to find out about the challenges that face and how we could possibly help in trying to bring more business to the region. What would be a short eight to ten miles can take you hours traveling over a 50 or 60 mile route because of check points, walls, military roads, Israeli roads, and other physical barriers. Most of these barriers were established for “security” reasons, yet they retard commerce for the Palestinians. And, instead of making Israel more secure, she is just stirring up the pot into an impossible situation. Most of these Palestinians will not leave their land, so the greater the adversity, the greater the unrest. An Israeli can get his tomatoes to market in 18 hours, but it may take up to four days for a Palestinian. At the border you have to repack the products and transfer them to an Israeli truck. The time, expense, and damage in handling make commerce nearly impossible.
Bethlehem tourism was once a great force in the local economy, but now is minimal. The tour buses come across the border and go to the main site for 90 minutes. They use the roads and the rest rooms and the tourist spend little money on souvenirs, and little or none on restaurants and hotels. So, it may actually be a drain on the local economy. Without adequate reasonable distribution routes for products, local businesses can not compete. And where there are no jobs, then any country will gradually decline.
That is why unemployment is so high and some long time families are leaving the region if they can. In Gaza the unemployment rate runs 20% to 60% and 78% of the people live below the poverty line of $1 a day. That leads to massive unrest and demonstrations, both peaceful ones and those bringing danger. The Israeli government currently allows Gaza to bring in only 50 basic products from the outside. But, they need 9,000. This leads to very high prices. Ten years ago the youth of Gaza were some of the best educated in the region. Yet, today with unemployment and unrest, the educational results have plummeted. The population is growing rapidly as 50% of the population is under 16 years of age. The birth rate in the refuge camp near our hotel is 5.5 births which is huge. So, these problems will not go away.
A farmer spoke to us under the fig tree on his farm. His village was one of 400 to 500 that were destroyed in the 1967 war. Only 2 or 3 of those were rebuilt. This one was rebuilt three times. There are 1400 people living there. They have a school with 300 children and 17 teachers, but the Israelis put their construction debris right next to the school. Just above the village is an Israeli settlement which has plenty of water and electricity and other services. Yet, the village is being surrounded by settlements and other barriers. This makes it difficult to get their products to market. Before they had 4,000 acres to farm, now the figure is only 1,000. They can only build on 60 acres. They have eleven natural springs and do organic farming, but the springs are polluted and now can not be used for their drinking water. All of the run off water from the settlement on the hill above will make this even worst. So, they continue to farm their olive trees, fig trees, vegetables, and raise their sheep and goats and try to keep their way of life.
As a business leader I am amazed at the courage that these Palestinians have in the midst of such challenging circumstances. Long term the situation is getting worst every day. As one expert said, Israel may not have the wisdom to do what is for their very best interest in the long run. A few hard liners on both sides want to continue to fight in this war of nerves. However, most of those of BOTH sides want to end this situation. The international community is in favor of getting a legitimate peace. As an outsider living far away I was very skeptical. However, now I believe that this time there is a real chance for a workable solution. The pain and suffering goes back on both sides for centuries. This is not a time for blame, illegal moves, or legal moves that have no moral credibility. It is not a time for rockets or violence. It is a time for peaceful compromise.
Our president and the USA must weigh in and not just continue to give money to both sides and hope that the issue goes away. Of the 2.3 million living in the West Bank, over 500,000 are Israelis and the number and settlements are growing daily. This is a powder keg that both sides keep adding fuel to daily. We in the west can offer assistance, but they really need viable jobs in commerce. They need to be able to be completive and not have these childish barriers. Until the leaders on both sides come together, we in the rest of the world must pray, encourage peaceful reconciliation, and try to help to provide jobs and dignity for those in the land. So, Pray that God will use us as business leaders to bring a light into this world of darkness, hope to the discouraged, peace to the down trodden.
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