On the eve of the Jewish anniversary of the Hamas atrocities of Simchat Torah 5784, I must confess feeling great satisfaction in reading Tuesday report published by the United Nations Development Program and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) titled, “Impacts of war have set back development in Gaza by as much as 69 years.”
The report estimates that poverty in the PA will rise by 74.3% in 2024, affecting 4.1 million people, including 2.61 million people who are newly impoverished. The new assessment also examines the extent and depth of deprivation, employing Multidimensional Poverty indicators and includes recovery prospects in the State of Palestine after a ceasefire is reached.
To which I, and millions of my Israeli brothers and sisters can only respond by saying, “You won’t believe how much your life would improve as soon as you stop harboring murder and rape fantasies against us.”
Fifty-seven years ago, when the IDF conquered Judea, Samaria, and Gaza from their Jordanian and Egyptian occupiers in a war of survival. This is what life was like in the three districts between Israel’s War of Independence and the Six-Day War:
JUDEA AND SAMARIA
In 1948, the population of Judea and Samaria numbered about 400,000 people, and following the annexation by Jordan, some 600,000 people were added to it. Among the refugees in this population, about 38% settled in cities, 32% in villages and about 30% in refugee camps.
During this period, there were no higher education institutions in Judea and Samaria. Infant mortality was about 160 per thousand, life expectancy was about 49 years, and the number of settlements connected to a water supply system was tiny.
The separation of the “West Bank” from the rest of Israel had a severe economic impact on Judea and Samaria. The economy during this period was mainly based on agriculture, which spread over about 2,300 square kilometers and employed about 43% of the workforce. Another important employment sector was tourism. Only about 15,000 people were employed in the industrial sector, most of them in small-scale industry.
The legal currency was The Jordanian dinar. The high number of refugees (about 300,000) who arrived without property, as well as the limited employment opportunities, led to significant immigration to eastern Jordan and other Arab countries. During the Jordanian occupation, the population growth rate was about 1% per year, this despite a high natural birthrate, due to the severe negative immigration.
The Jordanian government adopted a policy of favoring the East Bank over the West Bank, and among other things, encouraged population migration from the West Bank to the East Bank. Due to this policy, hundreds of thousands of Arabs emigrated from the West Bank to the east between 1949 and 1967.
GAZA
Until the Six-Day War, the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian rule (with a short period of Israeli military rule for about six months following the 1956 Sinai War). The area was in a state of benign neglect under Egyptian rule, and Cairo, unlike Jordan, never laid claim to the Strip. Gaza residents relied mostly on agriculture, which became progressively diminished because of the diminishing water table.
A central feature of the post-1967 period was the freedom of movement of people and vehicles in all of Gaza and great improvement in people’s civil rights. As tens of thousands of Gazans were permitted to work in Israel, mainly in construction, the quality of life rose, and Gazans became exposed for the first time to life in a Western democracy. Gazan markets attracted Israeli shoppers and the local economy became a lot more diversified and prosperous.
This is why Israelis cannot but rejoice at learning that, after having dedicated the past 18 years to ever-more sophisticated industrial murder of Jews which culminated on October 7, 2023, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner is reporting that, “Projections in this new assessment confirm that amidst the immediate suffering and horrific loss of life, a serious development crisis is also unfolding – one that jeopardizes the future of Palestinians for generations to come.”
Yes, we say, let that be a lesson to you. Stop killing Jews!
The assessment indicates that, “even if humanitarian aid is provided each year, the economy may not regain its pre-crisis level for a decade or more. As conditions on the ground allow, the PA Arabs need a robust early recovery strategy embedded in the humanitarian assistance phase, laying foundations for a sustainable recovery.”
And this time, they should make a serious effort not to follow their natural inclination to use all this investment to kill more Jews.
“Our assessments serve to sound the alarm over the millions of lives that are being shattered and the decades of development efforts that are being wiped out,” said ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti. “It is high time to end the suffering and bloodshed that have engulfed our region. We must unite to find a lasting solution where all peoples can live in peace, dignity, and reap the benefit of sustainable development, and where international law and justice are finally upheld.”
Here’s my farewell note: Dear Rola Dashti, all you have to do to end the suffering and bloodshed that have magically “engulfed our region,” is to do your best to convince your Arab constituency that by not putting the donations they will receive in trying to kill Jews – they could lead a prosperous life again, similar to the one they had when the Jews still ran things.
Please, try…
