Palestinian economy is path to peace: Brown

Published: July 21, 2008

Brown told them that increasing prosperity would “make the costs of ever returning to violence so high and so unacceptable that the vast majority will not want to have anything to do with those who preach violence.”
He added: “There is an economic prize before us.
“But there is also a double dividend: there is a real chance to build up not just the peace process but the ingenuity and skills and the commitment of the Palestinians to build prosperity right across the region.
“It is a challenge that if taken up can secure the greatest results of all: both prosperity and peace.
“It is a prize we have long dreamt of - it is a prize within our grasp.”
Fayyad said the Palestinian economy had been “ravaged for many, many years” and was performing “way below potential.”
“If it were not for those conditions of the past eight years, our economy could easily have been twice the size it is today.”
Abbas thanked Brown for his support as he called on Israel to ease closures of the Palestinian territories and halt the growth of Jewish settlements.
“What is required for these investments is to assure the freedom of movement of goods and of people,” Abbas said at the joint news conference, referring to Brown’s economic plans.
Meanwhile, an Israeli soldier is seen shooting an arrested and bound Palestinian in the leg with a plastic bullet, in a video released by an Israeli human rights group on Sunday.
B’Tselem’s footage shows the Palestinian demonstrator - identified as Ashraf Abu Rahman, 27 - with handcuffs and a blindfold, as a lieutenant colonel holds him by the arm.

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