WEST BANK: Building the airport before the state

In its "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State" program presented in August 2009, the Palestinian Authority said that one of its objectives is the construction of Palestine International Airport in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in the forward to the document that this program "centers around the objective of building strong state institutions capable of providing, equitably and effectively, for the needs of our citizens, despite the [Israeli] occupation." He gave his program two years to be implemented.

The Ministry of Transportation, delegated the task of following up on building the airport, said Wednesday that it had completed all necessary feasibility studies and that groundbreaking will take place in the first half of next year.

Minister of Transportation Saadi Kurunz said that the planned international airport will be built on a 5-square-mile plot in an open area of the West Bank between Jerusalem and the ancient city of Jericho.

The area is considered Area C, according to the Oslo peace accords' breakdown of the West Bank. Area C means it is a sparsely populated area that falls under full Israeli control. About two-thirds of the West Bank falls into this category.

The Palestinian Authority cannot be present, let alone carry out any kind of work, in Area C, which Palestinians hope will one day be part of their independent state.

But this is not supposed to deter the Palestinians because the building program is set to specifically challenge Israel's control of Area C.

"An airport means sovereignty, freedom, progress and economic development," Kurunz said.

He said the Palestinian Authority "did not and will not ask permission from Israel" to build the airport. It wants to do it "despite the occupation," he added.

"Even though Israel says it does not oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, it nevertheless does not want it to have what would make it viable. Israel wants to keep military presence in the Jordan Valley, which is predominantly Area C, and it wants control over the borders, airspace and sea." he said.

Kurunz stressed that the Oslo accords specifically give the Palestinians the right to build two airports -– one in the West Bank and the other in the Gaza Strip.

An airport was built in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border, in the late 1990s and was briefly used by the Palestinians before Israel destroyed it in several air strikes since 2000.

Fayyad's state-building plan has been endorsed by foreign governments, including the U.S. and the European Union, which have praised it and expressed willingness to help finance the projects.

The new airport is estimated to cost $340 million, which means the Palestinian Authority will not be able to finance it alone. It is therefore going to ask the international community for help.

Kurunz said the feasibility studies were prepared according to International Civil Aviation Organization requirements and that the airport is planned to accommodate cargo and passenger planes of all sizes.

The Palestinian Authority is already training staff to run the airport once it is built.

-- Maher Abukhater in Ramallah, West Bank

Comments

[Yisrael Medad]

Is this what is called "high-flying" or cloud-cuckoo-land?

Last time I looked, that land area is not very flat.

[Jehudah Ben-Israel]

P.S. And as for the merit of the matter.

There was a reason Israel's former prime minister, the late Mr. Yitzhaq Rabin, also chairman of Israel's Labour Party and considered by many around the world as the Prince of Peace stated in his last speech at the Knesset, Israel's parliament:

A future Palestinian state will not be a "regular" state, e.g. it will have to be demilitarized, its airspace will have to be controlled by Israel and its border passes - land, sea and air - will have to be under Israel's supervision.

Rabin would not have allowed for such an airport to come about without prior agreements about its location and the way it would operate, nor will the present Netanjahu will. Both, Rabin and Netanjahu have been Israeli Jewish patriots who are first and foremost concern about Israel's national and security vital interests. Attempting by the PA to carry out such a project without receiving prior consent from Israel appears to be designed to provoke matters instead of allowing for a peaceful coexistence between Arab and Jew, between the Muslim-Arab world and the nation-state of the Jewish people, Israel.

[Jehudah Ben-Israel]

Constructing an airport at the site talked about will of course violate written agreements between the PLO/PA and Israel and signed by the parties.

If the PLO/PA's intent is to break agreements in such a way, there is no reason of course why Israel should be obligated to hold on to its side of such agreements...

But even more important, if this is the sate of mind that prevails in the PLO/PA, one of reaching agreements, signing on them and then breaking them, why should Israel or any other international superpower, e.g. US, trust the PLO/PA and take risks towards an achieving an accommodation of peaceful coexistence knowing full well that such agreements may be broken...????

[Jim]

This will just be a new way for Hamas to bring in weapons.

[Harashaw]

Personally, I'm all in favour of a Palestinian airport. Obviously, the security will have to be even tighter than usual to deter some Hamas halfwit from ruining everything, but apart from that I can't see a problem with it.

[Dean Blake]

You in Gaza want to see 'Mom' on the WB? Take Greyhound, its cheaper and faster. Its only 34 miles.

[Joe]

Who we're kidding here! Last time I checked, Palestinian Authority term in office expired years ago with no election in sight, PA present government is legitimate as French Vichy or Afghanistan Karzai governments are, it's nice to dictate terms to a foreign government which one does own but it will not fool peoples who see this talks as a scam designed to benefit a one side only since even referee (US) is not neutral!

[cb]

What's wrong with visiting Mom? The airport is for freedom of movement, a capital idea. Dean you have a getto mentality.

[Dean Blake]

The more I think about this, its a re-play of CCC's role in Lebanon. PM Hariri deceased and his Christian pals came to riches and power on the top of a construction pyramid funded by the West to develop Lebanon's infrastructure; roads and highway overpasses - cement.

Fatah and Arafat were also big in the cement business (its just oil for heat and limestone which are both pleantiful in ME, plus equipment). It would appear that this is a 'play' by Fatah to gain support among people in Gazas loayal to Hamas in Gaza by giving them jobs and money; a counter to Hamas's monetary influcne.

The ultimate goal would be reunification, which is against Isrel's interests; hence to proposal for an airpoart construction project which has no valid economic purpose whatsoever, funded by Fatah in Hamas territory.

[Dean Blake]

Where will Gaza get the aviation fuel to refuel anything that lands? You need a pipeline to a refinery. The nearest refinery is in Israel, not Egypt.

[Dean Blake]

Airport to knowhere. It's got to be jobs project, because there is no reason for a Gaza airport otherwise. To transport who to go to Gaza? From the WB to see Mom? To transport what? Off-season strawberries and roses to EU? They destroyed all the greenhouses, what little long stem roses crop there is sent economically only with surplus air cargo space, but not enough even at its peak of productoin to justify an entire airport. Jobs project.
With peace they could compete with Ben Gurion Airport with lower landing fees for tourists to Israel, but that requires a broder crossing. With peace, Ben Gurion could be closed and converted to a higher and better use.
With war, it would allow enemy pilots to land, re-arm and refuel.
Great, direct flights to and from Iran.