Jordan Times
Thursday, May 28, 1998
Jordan demands lifting of Israeli restrictions on trade with Palestinians
GAZA (Petra) — Jordan's delegation to a four-party meeting which
started in the Palestinian city of Gaza Tuesday, has demanded that Israel lift its
restrictions on the free flow of agricultural trade between Jordan and the Palestinian
self rule areas. Mr. Ibrahim Abu Aqileh, the head of the Jordanian delegation to the
meeting, which is attended by Egypt, Israel and Palestine in addition to Jordan, said
Israel is impeding free trade among the four parties in violation of the signed agreements
and demanded that Israelis honour their commitments.
Jordan is asking that Israel implement the agreements at all levels and demands that the
Israelis remove all barriers obstructing trade among the four countries, said Mr. Abu
Aqileh.
The head of the Palestinian delegation, Mahmoud Abu Samrah, briefed the meeting on
Israel's restrictions on Palestinian trade and accused the Jewish state of imposing its
hegemony on the Palestinian economy under the pretext of security considerations.
Mr. Abu Samra, who is also director general of the Palestinian ministry of agriculture
demanded that Israel lift the blockade imposed on the Palestine self-rule areas, remove
the obstacles in the path of free trade and open the way for the Palestinians to conduct
trade exchanges with the Arab states.
The head of the Israeli delegation threatened to withdraw from the meeting should the
Palestinian side continue to put the blame on Israel for the economic hardships facing the
Palestinian people.
The Israeli delegate rejected the documents, presented to the participants, about the
difficulties facing the Palestinian agriculture and trade.
The documents blamed Israel's continued closure of Palestinian territory and Israel's
restrictions on Palestinian trade with the European Union and the Arab World for the
present difficult situation.
The four delegations presented documents giving details on the volume of agricultural
production and the import-export movements in their countries
According to the Palestinian delegation, the Palestinian-Israeli balance of trade is
heavily in favour of Israel.
The figures show that Israel annually buys $235 million worth of Palestinian goods and
exports to the Palestinians Israeli products worth more than $2 billion.