For all its failings, the latest report from the World Bank on the Palestinian economy makes for grim reading; Low growth, high unemployment and little hope for significant immediate change.

So I was encouraged when several items came my way, which showed just how an entrepreneurial spirit can thrive within different parts of Palestinian society.

The Tunnel Economy in Gaza

The New York Times wrote an excellent summary of the “tunnel millionaires” – those people in Gaza who made a fortune from building the tunnels or being part of the teams that sold luxury merchandise smuggled in afterwards. It is often unreported that tens of children died in building the tunnels. And this new trade was forcibly ended when Egypt clamped down on Hamas, ending a commerce worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

However, from and academic perspective, this enterprise, which lasted around a decade and then mutated into an offensive plan against Israel, showed just how creative Palestinians society can be.

The Banking System

Hiding monies from suspicious governments in Gaza and in Ramallah has often been a problem for those Palestinians who can afford to save money. What I find absurd is that submerged amongst all the huge sums of avoidance in the HSBC, there are details of 55 Palestinians, scuppering away around US$150 million. Given the squalor detailed by the World Bank, that achievement is impressive.

I would love to know who this people are and how they managed to secure such holdings. It would make for a fascinating case study.

Mohammed Dahlan

Mohammed Dahlan has led an interesting life. He rose to fame via the street gangs of Gaza, originally opposing the established leadership. Later on he made his peace with Chairman Arafat, and was to make a fortune through various ‘business deals’ in Gaza. He was violently ejected by Hamas in 2007, yet Dahlan now plays the role of “Hilary Clinton” in Abu Dhabi. According to Newsweek and Bloomberg, he is amassing tens of millions of dollars in order to launch a presidential-style comeback.

What I do find a little uneasy here is how such vast sums of money end up in the control of Dahlan, yet the leaders of Hamas and Fatah argue that the average man in the street lives in poverty. It would seem that there is a certain lack of proportion to their arguments, a hypocrisy which comes to the fore when they demand more aid from the UN et al.

Gaza – the double hit

It is now a decade since Israel withdrew from Gaza. And while Israel and Hamas continue to lob weaponry at each other and while the international media is replete with stories about the endemic poverty in this fertile strip of land, it does seem that some progress has been made.

First, one has to be amazed at how Hamas has found plentiful resources to convert some of the former Israeli towns into training grounds for their militias. There is also at least one known rocket manufacturing facility. You could argue that this is a wonderful piece of economic energy, as it creates jobs for those who otherwise would have found themselves on the streets.

In parallel, other Israeli townlets, that had been noted for producing  fruits and vegetables, are now the sites of funfairs, university hospital, schools, etc. 

And it is these very last subjects that make the rest of the facts presented here so sad. Economics is the allocation of resources. If only more of these vast sums had been devoted to helping Palestinians rather than fighting Israel (or each other) or smuggled away for private greed, than the millions of Palestinians could be living lives of comfort and joy.