The World Bank issued a report today that effectively states the Israeli blockade of Hamas is working, but that Israel should lift the blockade, because it’s working.
Billions of aid dollars pledged to the Palestinians to bolster peace talks with Israel are having a muted economic impact because of Israeli restrictions on travel and trade, the World Bank said on Sunday.
The lending agency told donor nations in a report that per capita income in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 2008 would be static, if not lower, despite the $7.7 billion in aid pledged to the Palestinians in December.
Notice where the aid is actually working:
The World Bank said modest gains in economic growth in the occupied West Bank, where western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas’ government holds sway, were not sufficient to offset the “severe contraction” seen in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Okay, so let’s parse this information. Fire rockets into Israel, launch terrorist attacks, murder Israelis, and your income level goes down. (Bear with me, we’re going to pretend that Fatah and the PA aren’t actively working for Israel’s demise, which is partly true because they’re rather weak at the moment). Don’t do the above, and your income level does not go down. Of course, that isn’t good enough for the World bank. They want Israel to let the Fatah terrorists have as free a hand to kill Israelis as Hamas lets the ones in Gaza.
“While the PA (Palestinian Authority) has moved ahead with its economic reforms, albeit slowly, there has been little progress on relaxing movement and access constraints,” the bank said in the report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
The World Bank said the impact of these restrictions, including hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank, “cannot be overestimated.”
Yes, it can. Because the world thinks that if Israel removes the roadblocks, peace will suddenly spring up, in spite of the constant spate of attacks in and from the West Bank. The opposite has proven true: When Israel removes checkpoints, Israelis die.
To recap: The Gaza blockade, which everyone from Jimmy Carter to most media services to most (anti-)Israel pundits say cannot possibly work is … working. And it’s working well enough that Hamas is suing for a “truce” so they can regroup, re-arm, and attack Israel with greater strength later on.
The only conclusion I can take from this report is that the World Bank simply does not give a damn about Israeli deaths. No matter what, they are working for the Palestinian interests, even if those interests harm Israeli. Because really, what other conclusion can you reach when the IMF complains that a blockade that was put into effect to starve out a terrorist government is doing its job?