Israel Matzav: Life for 'Palestinians' 'intolerable'?

Life for 'Palestinians' 'intolerable'?

In his June 4 speech in Cairo, President Obama described the life of 'Palestinians' as 'intolerable.' But like so many other claims that the President makes, that one is a demonstrable lie, at least if you compare the 'Palestinian' situation to that of other people in the Arab world. To put it simply, the 'Palestinians' in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are much better off than their counterparts in Arab countries.

The standard tables of gross domestic product (GDP) per capital show the West Bank and Gaza at US$1,700, just below Egypt's $1,900 and significantly below Syria's $2,250 and Jordan's $3,000. GDP does not include foreign aid, however, which adds
roughly 30% to spendable funds in the Palestinian territories. Most important, the denominator of the GDP per capita equation - the number of people - is far lower than official data indicate. According to an authoritative study by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies [1], the West Bank and Gaza population in 2004 was only 2.5 million, rather than the 3.8 million claimed by the Palestinian authorities. The numbers are inflated to increase foreign aid.

Adjusting for the Begin-Sadat Center population count and adding in foreign aid, GDP per capita in the West Bank and Gaza comes to $3,380, much higher than in Egypt and significantly higher than in Syria or Jordan. Why should any Palestinian refugee resettle in a neighboring Arab country?

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Israel Matzav: Life for 'Palestinians' 'intolerable'?