Ramallah: Two researchers in planning and economics said that the existence of settlements on territories occupied in 1967 is causing catastrophic losses on all levels; a major obstacle facing all opportunities to realize any sustainable development and utilization of the available geographical space to absorb the population growth and to meet the basic life necessities.
Those statements were presented in a symposium on “The Israeli Settlement Activity and its Geographical and Economic Impacts” organized by The Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies – MADAR, in Ramallah, yesterday.
Spatial planning specialist Dr. Ahmad Al-Atrash presented a paper on “The Geography of Settlement Activity and its Impact Palestinian Geographical Jurisdiction”, while the economic component was presented by the specialist in economics Dr. A’as Atrash.
Dr. Ahmad Al-Atrash illustrated that the issue of settlements has to be approached in a comprehensive manner as an occupation tool that falls along a large variety of physical obstacles that aim at achieving Israeli strategic goals. Those goals can be summarized by the creation a new demographic reality that would impede the Palestinian people’s ability of establishing their own state. Physical obstacles such as the wall, bypass roads and the settlements have turned the Palestinian communities into isolated cantons, he said.
Al-Atrash also said that thorough a geopolitical analysis of the settlements unravels how the West Bank’s ability to absorb new populations has dwindled under the current reality, in terms of availability of land and its suitability for spatial development.
According to Al-Atrash, even if it was possible to gain access to the land that is currently inaccessible due to the policies of the Israeli occupation, or if agricultural land was used for future spatial development, the current spatial development patterns in the West Bank are not sustainable. At the same time, he called for developing a Palestinian plan for the future for spatial development.
Al-Atrash recalled what happened in 2005 when Israel dismantled its settlements and withdrew unilaterally from Gaza Strip, where the Palestinians dealt with this step in a semi-improvised way, which lead to negative environmental, economic and social implications.
Al-Atrash concluded that the facts and numbers show the importance of not giving up the areas of the settlements, especially the areas currently isolated behind the Separation Wall, for its significant importance for a more sustainable future.
Regarding the economic impact, Dr. A’as Atrash illustrated that it is difficult to separate the settlements from the occupation as a whole, as the settlement activity is a tool of the Israeli occupation, and that it is difficult to separate the policies of the occupation authorities’ from what is happening within the Israeli community. Yet, it is clear, according to Atrash, that negative impacts of the settlements affect all Palestinians in the West Bank on all aspects including production, commerce and services. This is reflected on the level of welfare, income distribution and quality of life.
Atrash elaborated that the losses are caused by the existence of settlements, the restrictions that are imposed on the Palestinians in their daily commutes and confiscation of their natural resources. In effort to list the detailed losses, Atrash said that the losses are split into direct and indirect costs, which in the agricultural sector reached 153 million USD annually in losses of agricultural products.
While the Palestinian industries suffer annual losses of 212.7 million USD, the tourism sector suffers annual losses of 63 million USD and the construction sector incurs annual losses of 60 million USD. Thus, the total direct costs are around 488.7 million USD, while the indirect losses are around 385.3 million USD in current day prices.
Atrash added that those losses represent at least 10.2% of the Gross Domestic Product in the West Bank, given that the calculation of losses doesn’t include the costs and economic value of natural resources, as it only includes the value added of the domestic products, and what it produces in terms of income for the labour force, which in turn is detrimental for the economy.
Atrash said that those estimations are in fact lower than in reality, because it doesn’t take into consideration many of the services, commercial and industrial sectors due to the complications in computing the losses due to the lack of information, and that some of the losses have to be undertaken by the occupation authorities as they’re caused by both the settlements and all other occupation practices.
Its worth mentioning that MADAR has recently published a study entitled “The Geography of Settlements: How was the West Bank Turned into Cantons?” prepared by Dr. Ahmad Al-Atrash, in addition to a study entitled “Settlements: Catastrophic Implications on the Palestinian Economy” prepared by Dr. A’as Atrash.
