A delegation of Turkish economic officials is set to hold talks this week with their Israeli counterparts to discuss establishing a new industrial zone for Palestinians in the West Bank, in the first visit after the deadly Mavi Marmara incident in 2010 which caused serious tension between Turkey and Israel.Besides the main story of Turkey wanting to warm relations with Israel, there is another angle.
“The main focus is the new industrial zone in collaboration with the U.S., emphasizing the Turks’ obligation to the Palestinian economy. We believe it is one of the keys to strengthening the area and this kind of collaboration,” Israeli diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 31.
The delegation is certainly an official economic delegation, sources said, adding customs-free export to the U.S. from the industrial zone is planned.
The news was first reported by the Israeli [sic] Ma’an News Agency late Aug. 30, citing an Israeli news website, nrg.co.il. According to the reports, the delegation will meet with Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation Ayoob Kara to discuss establishing a new industrial zone near the al-Jalaboa military checkpoint in the Jenin district of the occupied West Bank.
The development came nearly two months after senior diplomats from the two sides had a secret meeting in Rome to explore ways to normalize strained relations since May 2010. Turkey had issued three conditions to Israel for the normalization of ties but talks over a compensation package were yet to be finalized.
Notice that the quote about the importance of helping the PA economy comes from an Israeli official, not a Turkish official.
This sort of demolishes the constant libels that Israel is trying to stifle the Palestinian Arab economy. The truth is quite the opposite - Israel wants to strengthen the PA economically, and the BDSers are the ones who want to weaken it by stopping all cooperation with Israel without a single viable alternative.