In 1991, Israel's per capita GDP was $14,000. Three years later, after the ending of the secondary boycott and Madrid and Oslo, Israel's per capita GDP had risen to almost $16,000. Palestinians did not fare as well. In 1991, their per capita GDP was $900. Three years later, new Israeli restrictions on Palestinian labor and continued control over all access to and egress from the territories, resulted in the Palestinian per capita GDP only increasing to $1,100.He uses this as evidence that the ending of the secondary Arab boycott of Israel helped Israel far more than it helped Palestinian Arabs, and therefore for Arab nations to be more careful about how they treat Israel.
The logical fallacies here are breathtaking, and cannot be anything but purposeful.
Firstly, let's look at his numbers themselves. From what he is saying, in the same time period that Israeli per-capita GDP increased by 14%, those of Palestinan Arabs rose by - 22%! So even by his own numbers he proves the exact opposite of what he is trying to say.
Now let's look at the bigger picture. He is implying that Israel's GDP increased because the Arab boycott had been removed. But Israel's per-capita GDP had been increasing steadily before, during and after this time period, showing no causality at all:
| Israel | 2007 | 23,383 |
| Israel | 2006 | 20,863 |
| Israel | 2005 | 19,612 |
| Israel | 2004 | 18,804 |
| Israel | 2003 | 17,926 |
| Israel | 2002 | 17,259 |
| Israel | 2001 | 19,143 |
| Israel | 2000 | 19,871 |
| Israel | 1999 | 18,085 |
| Israel | 1998 | 18,418 |
| Israel | 1997 | 18,627 |
| Israel | 1996 | 18,579 |
| Israel | 1995 | 17,601 |
| Israel | 1994 | 15,689 |
| Israel | 1993 | 14,424 |
| Israel | 1992 | 14,939 |
| Israel | 1991 | 13,905 |
| Israel | 1990 | 12,611 |
| Israel | 1989 | 10,973 |
| Israel | 1988 | 11,266 |
| Israel | 1987 | 9,402 |
| Israel | 1986 | 7,944 |
The only dip that Israel experienced in its growth of GDP was during the depths of the second intifada.
If one wants to see what drives the Palestinian Arab GDP, look at the same time period:
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2007 | 1,359 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2006 | 1,261 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2005 | 1,288 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2004 | 1,213 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2003 | 1,117 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2002 | 1,029 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2001 | 1,168 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 2000 | 1,307 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1999 | 1,376 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1998 | 1,348 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1997 | 1,312 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1996 | 1,238 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1995 | 1,230 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1994 | 1,123 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1993 | 936 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1992 | 1,105 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1991 | 932 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1990 | 899 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1989 | 860 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1988 | 940 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1987 | 925 |
| Occupied Palestinian Territory | 1986 | 871 |
There are two major dips in the Palestinian Arab per-capita GDP - in 1989 and in 2000-2001. They both coincide perfectly with the first and second intifadas!
So if you want to draw conclusions from the statistics, the inescapable conclusion is that Palestinian Arab terror is the major driver for a reduction in Palestinian Arab standards of living. Conversely, relatively peaceful periods show that the Palestinian Arab GDP steadily increases when they aren't as focused on killing Jews.
If Zogby wants to help his Palestinian Arab friends, he should be encouraging them to stop their obsession with violence.
The fact that he isn't doing that speaks volumes.