Israeli Arabs flood Palestinian cities to boost ailing economy
By Reuters 29 June 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096493.html

Israeli Arabs long banned from the West Bank have converged on its cities in
recent weeks to buy anything from groceries to makeup, taking advantage of
lower prices and boosting the Palestinian economy.

Under U.S. pressure to ease Palestinian hardship, Israel has recently
removed several key West Bank checkpoints, including one at the entrance to
the city of Jericho.

Since May, Israel has also allowed its Arab population to visit the West
Bank city of Nablus, though it restricts their entry by private car to
Saturdays, when an average 3,000 shoppers arrive, according to the local
Businessmen's Forum.
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Hundreds of Israeli checkpoints remain in place, limiting Palestinian travel
and trade, but the easing in restrictions is proving to be a boon for the
Palestinian
"No doubt the return of Arabs has contributed to... commercial activity in
Jenin," said Nasser Atyani, who heads the chamber of commerce in the
northern West Bank city of Jenin.

"Many sectors in the city are benefiting. The restaurants are full of them."

On a recent Saturday, about 500 Israeli Arab shoppers took buses from around
Israel to spend the day in Jenin's markets, stuffing their trolleys with
everything from toys to fruit and vegetables, attracted by lower prices
across the Green Line.

Established by a 1949 ceasefire, the Green Line divides Israel from the West
Bank. Arabs who stayed in Israel after the ceasefire received Israeli
citizenship, with living standards higher than those in the West Bank, where
taxes and prices are lower.

"I brought 500 shekels ($126) with me and I spent all of it," said Rasha
Oweida.

"Prices here are cheaper."

Before the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, of the late 1980s,
Israeli Arabs comprised 80 percent of Jenin's customers, Atyani said. But
shops that grew fat on Israeli Arab clients lost out when travel
restrictions stopped them coming.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is committed to policies
that will boost the Palestinian economy in the West Bank, which is ruled by
the Palestinian Fatah faction.

Israel and many Western countries have sought to bolster Fatah against rival
Islamist group Hamas since it took control of the Gaza Strip in mid-2007.

While an Israeli blockade against Gaza restricts imports to that territory,
relaxed Israeli security measures at the Huwara checkpoint south of Nablus
since mid-June have reduced waiting times, encouraging Arab visitors, said
Tayel al-Huwari, who is
on the board of the local Businessmen's Forum.

"On Saturday specifically, more than 50 percent of the merchants' income in
Nablus comes from Israeli Arabs. Trade is noticeably greater on Saturdays,"
Huwari said.

Israeli authorities are considering allowing Israeli Arabs entry to the city
by private car all week long, he added, arguing that prosperity could also
promote peace.

"This would improve the economy in Nablus and create political calm. When
there's a revitalized economy everyone will be preoccupied with the
economy," Huwari said.

Local news website Ekhbaryat Network said on Saturday that about 100 shops
and businesses had reopened since Israel began easing restrictions.

But Israeli Arabs attracted by cheaper prices in the West Bank are largely
ignoring the Arab shops of East Jerusalem.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967 and considers the
whole city its capital, a claim not recognized internationally. Arabs make
up some 34 percent of Jerusalem's 750,000 residents and do not recognize
Israeli rule over East Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities tax Jewish and Arab businesses alike but Arab businesses
say the taxes are more than their businesses can support, leaving them
unable to compete with West Bank prices.

Some believe Israel's aim is to turn business away from East Jerusalem to
the West Bank, so Palestinians leave the city.

An Old City shopkeeper, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he owes
nearly 100,000 shekels ($25,300) in property taxes.

Many small businesses in the Old City face the same problem.

"Business is so bad that you have a situation where people are prepared to
sell their property on a very large scale to those who are willing to pay,"
said a senior official working for an international economic organization.

"There's huge demand from the Jewish side to actually purchase land in the
Arab Old City."

Palestinians caught selling property to Israelis are seen as traitors and
face death threats. But Jewish buyers get around this risk by offering
secret buyouts to Old City shop owners, and promises to delay the actual
takeover for years.