Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 172)

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Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 172)

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CHAPTER X AN INTRODUCTION
RE -
THE DEVELOPMANT OF_RAINFED AGRICULTU!
; increasing interest
is gaining incr
‘ed agriculture
Deve! f rainf .
lopment o: a wide range of international
; in
in most developing countries and i
erted by participants in a major
agencies. It was repeatedly ass|
rainfed patterns of agricul
seminar on development of
cits in Jordan and
one of the main means of alleviating food defi:
his conviction
other countries of the Middle East. In response to t
iti in thi
many of these countries have initiated ambitious programmes 8
sisted by technical and financial support of specialized
Sector, as:
institutions with considerable expertise and resources.
Unfortunately, most of the international aid institutions have
refrained from extending any support to the West Bank, on the
Premise of not dealing with the occupied territories as long as
they are under occupation. This policy has helped weaken the
"conomic base of these territories, facilitating their economic
&ploitation by Israel, and making the establishment of a reasonably
“lable Palestinian state increasingly difficult. What has made
things worse, is that local service institutionshave fallen under
direct Israel control and, as argued earlier, have tended to be run
‘own Over the past 14 years. Consequently there are no national
{nfrastructure Groups engaged in such conventional assignments as
Producing in-depth sectoral studies and formilating detailed
“trategies and blueprints which would help guide interested
Svernments and’ international institutions. Whatever the Military
Mdtini stration is doing along those lines appears orientated in the
tiret Place towards fulfilling Israeli interests, often at the
“pense of the occupied territories themselves.
ture that it could be
332
As was stated earlier under Objectives, this study is meant to
Provide guidelines to those interested in developing one of the
West Bank's most important sectors, namely, rainfed agriculture.
It is not intended to be a substitute for detailed plans and
feasibility studies for individual projects. Such an assignment
has been well beyond the technical and financial resources available
to the researcher in the present study.
What political scenario?
Unlike the situation in most other countries, development of the
West Bank economy carries profound political implications which
©ften over-ride conventional economic and social criteria, This is
Tre true in the case of agriculture, because of its heavy bearing
on fundamental issues underlying the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,
SUch as land, water and population changes. So before articulating
4 developmental strategy for such a highly politically charged
S€ctor, one should first outline the political setting within which
development is to take place. This was the crucial but somewhat
*Peculative issue which overshadowed economic forcasts envisioned
for the occupied territories by such economists as Vivian Bull (The
8nd Elias Tuma and H. Drabkin (The Economic Case For Palestine).
Ever since June 1967, the question has remained the same: what is
the political scenario to be assumed by the development economist?
Many economists were attracted to explore the economic viability
and development potential following Israeli withdrawal and the
“Stablishment of an independent Palestinian State. Such economic
Scenarios, however, proved of little practical value because of one
fundamental impediment - continued occupation. Even now, 15 years
“fter the onset of Israeli occupation, it remains unduly optimistic

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Agricultural Development in the West Bank

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المنشئ

Hisham Masoud Awartani

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