Japan just agreed to help solve the environmental problems of the Palestinian territories. Now they have a frightening environmental catastrophy themselves. That is irony. I quote from the article:
The Palestinian territories cover a land area of 6,020 square kilometers and has a population of approximately 3.76 million people (2005). Its Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is about 1,230 USD (2006).That means that the Palestinians have a GDP of over 4 billion dollars, which is agreement with World Bank estimates. Most of that is donation, not true production. Note that, as there are far less than 3.76 million Palestinians, each of them gets a nice yearly donation.
We know why all this money is given. It is not given because the world loves the Palestinians, or even cares about them. It is given to thwart Israel. But the result is opposite. A substantial part of the donor money streams into the Israeli economy, the only real economy around. It has been a good stimulus - one of the secrets of the resilience of Israel's economy. That is irony also.
It seems that soon the donors will run out of money. I trust that Israel's economy has been stimulated enough, but Abbas has what to worry about. Even more so, the donors.
