Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics lies

The Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics came out with its statistics on the 62nd anniversary of Israel's birth. As I mentioned last week, they say that the Palestinian Arab population has increased by a factor of eight in those years.

Ma'an's more extensive quotation of their statistics says something that is clearly not true:

The PCBS wrote that as a direct result of the expulsion of Palestinians from their ancestral homelands in 1948, Gaza has become the most densely populated place on earth.

According to their statistics, the population density at end of 2009 was 663 individuals per km2 of which 439 individuals per km2 live in the West Bank and 4,140 individuals per km2 in Gaza Strip. In Israel, the population density reached 350 individuals per km2.

This is a baldfaced lie.

The latest numbers of population density for territories and nations show that Gaza, if it is reckoned as a separate entity, would be in sixth place, way behind Macau (18,500/km2), Monaco (16,900/km2), Singapore, Hong Kong and Gilbraltar.

(I had exposed this oft-stated lie years ago, and even created a video about it:
)

Now, the PCBS is an official agency of the PA. Its population statistics are used worldwide because they are considered to be a reliable organization. People make decisions based on their reports.

If they are lying about something so easily disproven, how can we trust them when they publicize statistics about anything else?