West Bank Economic Development | The American Task Force on Palestine

REFILE-Palestinian Authority, Battling Debt Crisis, Raises Taxes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Sawafta - February 15, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority approved income tax rises on Tuesday, pushing the top rate to 20 percent, as it seeks to tackle a debt crisis aggravated by lower-than-expected foreign aid revenues including the freezing of U.S. aid last year. The top tax rate will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent, a cabinet statement said, effective from this year. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was last month forced to back down on doubling the rate to 30 percent after a public outcry.

Hard Times in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Jackie Spinner - (Opinion) January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

HEBRON, West Bank – This flashpoint city, nestled in the West Bank's Judean Mountains, is rarely noted for its bustling economy, neatly paved roads, or sparkling performance center. It is far better known for the nets shopkeepers have stretched above the market streets to keep Jewish settlers from throwing rocks on Palestinian pedestrians, its "apartheid sidewalks," the disputed Ibrahimi Mosque (both a Muslim and Jewish holy site), and the recurring street clashes between Jewish and Arab residents.

Fayyad calls for national debate on PA financial crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 19, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Wednesday called for a national debate on the financial situation facing the West Bank-based government. "We want to help everyone. We do not want theories, we want practical solutions, our people need social and economic security and we are working hard to get rid of the occupation and everyone should help us to obtain our goal," Fayyad told Ma'an TV.

PA seized 517 merchants for barred goods in 2011
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Maan) -- The consumer protection department of the Palestinian Authority referred 517 merchants to the general prosecution during 2011 for breaking laws regulating goods in the West Bank, officials said in a statement Tuesday. The unit confiscated 3 million shekels ($787,857) worth of products during the year, undersecretary in the ministry of national economy Abdul-Hafizh Nofal said. Officials are tasked with blocking products not fit for consumption, and those smuggled from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as well as regulating prices of basic food items.

This Holy Land battle focuses on tourists' wallets
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - December 20, 2011 - 1:00am

Reporting from Bethlehem, West Bank— A 45-foot-high artificial Christmas tree towers over Manger Square, and downtown Bethlehem is festooned with sparkling decorations. There's even a picture of a saxophone-playing Santa Claus. But Nabil Giacaman, co-owner of a souvenir shop called Christmas House, isn't feeling the holiday spirit. The third-generation woodcarver, who sells handmade likenesses of baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary, sees as many as 200 tour buses arrive every day from Israel to visit the Church of the Nativity, just a few steps from his store.

Israel releases frozen Palestinian tax funds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 30, 2011 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Israel announced on Wednesday it was releasing millions of dollars in tax revenues it owes the Palestinian Authority, lifting a month-old freeze that had threatened to undermine the West Bank government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had come under international pressure to hand over the funds, about $100 million a month that includes import duties Israel collects on behalf of the PA. The money is vital for paying civil servants employed by the PA.

Report: Israel to reconsider PA tax freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 28, 2011 - 1:00am

TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel was considering the release of Palestinian tax revenues, which it has frozen for over a month. Netanyahu is expected to announce the proposal during a Monday discussion in the Knesset's foreign affairs and defense committee, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. Netanyahu's aide said that the change in policy would be in the interest of preventing the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian PM: Israeli sanctions starting to bite
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - November 27, 2011 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli economic sanctions against the Palestinians, in retaliation for their bid to win world recognition of a state of Palestine, have started to bite: officials said Sunday that they won't be able to pay the next round of public sector salaries that support nearly one-third of Palestinians, and that the damage to a fragile economy is devastating.

Israel to continue freeze on Palestinian tax money, says senior official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 21, 2011 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his forum of eight senior ministers decided Sunday to continue Israel's freeze on the transfer of the Palestinian Authority's tax money, a senior Israeli official said, due to the latest moves by Fatah and Hamas aimed at establishing a unity government. Israel has been withholding $100 million of the PA's money, which Israel collects for it under the Oslo Accords.

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