What hath the so-called Aqsa intifada wrought?

Elder of Zion writes

The Palestinian Arab economy is very interesting. It is wholly dependent on the one nation that it wants to destroy. According to the CIA World Factbook, when the second intifada started 100,000 Palestinian Arabs lost their jobs.

And this is consistent with a press release from the Netanyahu government in November 1998

The number of Palestinians working in Israel is steadily growing. Lawfully employed Palestinians in Israel today number about 60,000, of whom some 13,000 work in industrial zones and in the settlements. All told, more than 100,000 Palestinians are estimated to be employed in Israel approaching the record number employed in 1992.

Naturally Netanyahu was hailed as a great success in enabling Palesitnian independence. Not only was he good for the Palestinian economy; he ceded control of most of Hebron to the Palestinians.

Well actually he wasn't view as very good as Jim Hoagland wrote

Ross does not hold blameless the Israelis, who "acted as if all decisions should be informed by their needs, not by possible Palestinian needs or reactions." He is particularly scathing about former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's own subversion of the Oslo agreements and the resulting Palestinian frustrations, which exploded in the September 2000 intifada.

When the Palestinian economy was going well, then Israel was blamed for failing to engage the (corrupt and terror supporting) Palestinian Authority. When the PA collapsed and couldn't (or wouldn't) control terror and Israel understandably closed its borders and got blamed for killing the Palestinian economy.

One thing that the Palestinians have been able to count on is that there have always been plenty of others happy to promote their grievances against Israel. Perverse, but true.

Technorati Tags: PLO, corruption.

Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.