The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the economy in the West Bank and Gaza is weakening and urged Israel to lift restrictions on the Palestinians.

Rubhiya Abd al-Rahman Darwish, 75, was taken to the hospital after
Israeli forces fired Skunk water with a cannon into her home... Darwish, the 75-year-old woman who passed out after soldiers sprayed the putrid-smelling water into her window, expressed her resignation at the repeated Israeli attacks on her home.

A refugee originally from the village of Malha near Jerusalem, Darwish was forced to leave her home with her family when Zionist forces came and expelled them from the town in 1948.

"Where should we go?" she asked, sitting on the couch of her small apartment as she looked up at the roughly-patched up window broken by the water cannon.

"They kicked us out of our homeland, and what are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go?"  (MaanImages/Alex Shams) Israeli forces spray Bethlehem homes with putrid-smelling water

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]   

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=709934

IMF urges Israel to lift restrictions on Palestinian economy

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the economy in the West Bank and Gaza is weakening and urged Israel to lift restrictions on the Palestinians.

After briefing the international donor community and the Palestinian Authority, IMF mission chief Christoph Duenwald said in a statement that the authority is "doing a commendable job" managing the economy in difficult circumstances.

He said the global donor community needed to step up to help fill a "sizable" financing gap this year for the authority.

"Against the background of rising political uncertainty, the economy of the West Bank and Gaza is weakening," he said.

"Unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, currently at 43 percent, continues to rise from already high levels," he added.

"Continued donor support is vital at this time, as is a comprehensive easing of Israeli restrictions to underpin the Palestinian reform efforts."

According to a February forecast, the IMF saw the economy in the West Bank and Gaza growing 2.5 percent this year, up from 1.5 percent in 2013.