Topic: Does Palestine have an independent economy? (Read 189 times)

These are good ideas and certainly can help in building an independent fiscal policy. But do not forget that we are talking about a country without resources and its entire economy is based on foreign aid that is provided in US dollars.
I recently read about project ideas that help support the Palestinian people by providing crypto aid or by issuing NFT products. The main problem remains with the party that will organize the process and receive this aid and distribute it to those who deserve it. The idea is currently being implemented by the UNHCR to help Ukrainians in conflict areas, to help them with housing, heating and supplies expenses.

The answer to the question for me is that Palestine used to have an independent economy, but now it is completely hostage to Israeli aggression.
Although they have grown a little in owned businesses and exporting some goods, but under constant pressure from Israel, it is now at the edge of the threat. Because at present their land border to the air border is completely controlled by Israel. And since they are currently more dependent on foreign aid and donations. Therefore, their economy can no longer be called an independent economy.

I agree with you on this but how are they going to go about it or create a stable economy if they don't have any physical assets or goods to transact?  I think their economy is currently in such a condition that it is difficult for them to adapt these technologies.

In general, any country that depends mainly on foreign aid cannot be considered to have an independent economy. But this does not apply to the Palestinian example only. There are independent countries (not at war) and they have great resources, but all their needs are met by foreign aid.
Occupied Palestine, and despite the bad situation under occupation, the figures indicate that this aid achieves a very respectable national income per capita compared to many countries, including some of its neighbors.
The important question imo is, if Palestine had an independent currency, would this help in removing the dependence of its economy on the economies of its neighbors and the rest of the supporting countries?

Yes, there are many advantages in Palestine, especially its fertile land. one of the consequences of the prolonged war More than 97% of the water in Gaza, Palestine has been contaminated with hazardous substances and is no longer suitable for consumption.
again from international assistance to make many clean wells so that it helps a lot in the Palestinian agricultural sector so that it brings significant progress to the Palestinian people.

Moreover, the Gaza Region is not as big as other countries, but with the facilities for the community, garden products that can be harvested, transportation and people passing by, it feels as if you are in a big country.

They have their own economy that's for sure, but not robust enough to be a contender in the world stage. The little nation has been struggling for years to achieve full independence against Israel and is continuously trying to make ends meet with what little resources that they have. They have no capability to produce anything that will help their economic conditions to be better. A state that is almost fully reliant to donations and outside aid won't have anything great going for them in the long run, and will surely succumb to outside forces. Its citizens will also want to break free from the reins of poverty, and maybe even help colonizers in the end to 'free' them from such.

It would have been better if they were not colonized at all. The pre-colonial African states were doing way better before the Europeans took over the continent. Western history has painted pre-colonial Africa as savages who needed saving. They had their own economic, political and social structure and it worked. They had very rich cities that were trade centers. The Europeans ruined that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those that blame the underdevelopment in Africa on Europe (not like they don't play their part in it) but I believe Africa would be better than it is today if the Europeans never colonized it. The Europeans never went to Africa to save it, they went there to exploit it, and oh boy, they did not disappoint.  

I don't think if Palestine can even have a true independent economy because they don't even have a government to truly oversee their country and from what we can see every day, they are being pushed to have more restrictions as a result. Due to this restriction from Israel, they are unable to conduct international trade, and in order to have an independent economy one needs certain things that I am not sure if Palestinians can ever achieve these factors with the current situation.

They have an independent economy in the sense that a store in a shopping mall can do what it likes within the terms of it's lease. If they want to make soap out of olive oil, sure, cobble together a ramshackle industry to employ a few people. If they want to make weaponry or even formulate military training facilities? Israel has a tendency to obliterate them at the first opportune moment they get. They also have no real control of the seas which might be their only means to export and import goods that they want. This means they are extremely limited in what they can do and it stifles their economy. Unfortunately they are also stifled in some ways by their own religion, so it's hard to find sympathy.

The first obstacle to economic development experienced by Palestine is war or conflict as you say. Because without war or conflict with its neighboring countries, the Palestinian side can still build the economic sector better even though the increase is slow because Palestine is not a rich country like other countries in this world. So it is only natural that Palestine can only hope for assistance to develop the economic sector in other donor countries.

This also naturally happens to Palestine because the most abundant crops there are dates so that Palestine does this in order not to depend too much on aid from other countries every year. And it also really helps the country to stand up like other countries that look so independent, even though the conditions of Palestine are very different from other countries that have already advanced in the economic field.

if we talk about the economy, maybe Palestine is one of the countries whose economy is quite unstable,, but even so they can be said to be independent in terms of the economy because even though they are in a state of war they can still export various goods,, the biggest being dates, to many Islamic countries globally and it will continue to be improved in the next few years

I think Palestine is a country that has been in conflict with Israel for decades. Palestine can be said to have an economy that is almost never stable.

It's true, as you said, Palestine can be said to rely heavily on international assistance to drive its economic cycle. so if the lack of aid/donations from donor countries is also getting worse and it will jam the Palestinian economy.

A country that relies on another country to survive is not economically independent because these donor nations would influence the economy. The most challenging aspect of the Palestinian economy is the goods and service restrictions placed by the Israeli government. Goods and services cannot flow to the nations unless it is approved by the government of Isreal. The economy of Palestine is still breathing today because they have a government that is not very corrupt. If Palestine was an African country, people would have been dying of starvation because one politician would loot these aids or grant and use the money for luxury.

Everybody wants to control their destiny. I am sure Palestinians want to be free from economic colonialism because they might manage their economy better. But I have heard from some Africans that it would have been better if they didn't get independence from their colonial masters because life currently is more terrible than when the Europeans were handling their economy.

I think they still do have independent economy but like you said is not much since the land area itself keep declining. but according Wikipedia "Currently, the Palestinian economy lives on foreign aid and customs revenue between Israel and Palestine. However, Israeli restrictions continue to hamper and fragment the Palestinian economy. By 2008, 71% of the Gaza Strip's population was unemployed." maybe the data is outdated but i think is not pretty much change

Many of us know that Palestine is an occupied state, while many international official bodies do not recognize it as a state in the first place. On the map, ancient Palestine has only less than 30 percent left of the original area of the land before the occupation, and it is divided into two separate spots.
The Gaza Strip enjoys a semi-autonomous economy since it enjoys self-rule led by a conservative authority. The sector depends mainly on marine fishing and some agricultural activities in its economy.
On the other hand, in the West Bank, which is governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization, there is almost no independent economy, as the residents of the West Bank produce almost nothing, and all their products are barely sufficient for local consumption. This is what made them dependent on Israel to secure its various needs. The PLO relies mainly on international aid, which represents more than 80 percent of its annual income, but even that revenue passes through Israeli banks and is disbursed in the Israeli local currency because Palestine does not have its own currency and trades in shekels, Jordanian dinars, and Egyptian pounds in addition to To the rest of the major currencies dollars and euros.

The interesting thing is that despite all the restrictions that this small economy suffers from, the average wage per capita in the West Bank can reach $2,000 on average, a percentage that far exceeds the rates in stable economies compared to occupied Palestine. Is it true that Israel is strangling that economy, or is this situation better than being left in the hands of the Palestinians in reality of occupation and internal divisions?