"If a Palestinian day in not 24 hours long, but 23 hours and 20 minutes long because of the [wait at the] roadblocks, that`s the price of Israeli citizens` safety."
In fact, the ILO, the World Bank and others have made clear that the roadblocks are the primary cause of the disastrous state of the Palestinian economy, which has left 19% of the population of the West Bank dependent on international food aid for mere survival. According to the World Bank, the impact of the roadblocks on the Palestinian economy "cannot be overestimated."
Barak claims the roadblocks and other movement restrictions exist only to protect Israeli citizens. Not so, says the World Bank, which reports that "they primarily serve to expand and protect settlement activity and the movement of settlers and other Israelis in and out of the West Bank."
(source: http://tinyurl.com/6nufs) |
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