On September 22, the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) convened in New York for the third time since the establishment of the PA Caretaker Government in June 2007. As in the previous two meetings, the World Bank presented an Economic Monitoring Report assessing progress on the three parallel conditions required for Palestinian economic revival: (1) Palestinian Authority (PA) reforms; (2) donor aid; and (3) Israeli resolution of movement and access restrictions. The analysis provided in this latest report, however, expanded its scope, examining, for the first time, economic restrictions as a comprehensive set of barriers -- not only physical, but also institutional and administrative -- that combine to prevent Palestinian realization of the full economic potential of the West Bank and Gaza, in both domestic and international spheres.

The current approach prevalent in the international community reflects a consensus on the paralytic effects of movement and access restrictions. However, this view currently extends only to the network of physical barriers riddling the West Bank, and partitioning the West Bank from Gaza, Israel and the rest of the world. In reality, these restrictions go beyond concrete and earth-mounds, and extend to a system of physical, institutional and administrative restrictions that form an impermeable barrier against the realization of Palestinian economic potential. Thus, tackling checkpoints alone, while potentially having a massive impact on economic revival, must be complemented with a broader address of the institutional and administrative barriers retarding Palestinian economic growth.

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