Palestinian village welcomes Israeli shoppers

Reuters ^ | 4-26-09 | Mohammed Assadi

[SJackson]

NABI ELYAS, West Bank, April 26 (Reuters) - Linoy, a five-year-old Israeli girl, happily nibbled some chocolate as she accompanied her parents on a shopping spree on a busy street with storefront signs written in Hebrew.

Nabi Elyas, a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank catering to the Israeli consumer, has raised hopes on both sides of a divide that peaceful co-existence is possible.

Just a short drive from central Israel, the community of 1,500 residents is profiting from an influx of Jewish shoppers drawn by cheap prices and still kept out of the main Palestinian cities by Israeli security regulations.

"Here I even feel safer than I do shopping in Tel Aviv," said Hanan Troitsa, Linoy's father. "We come here two to three times a week," added the girl's mother.

Groceries, furniture and even dental treatment are on offer in Nabi Elyas, which is packed with cars from Israel, especially during weekends. It's not a two-way street: villagers, like most other Palestinians, cannot get Israeli permits to visit Israel.

Security concerns during a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000 kept Israeli shoppers away for years and optimism about the chances for peace has long been in short supply.

But with attacks by militants on Israelis now rare in the West Bank, consumers are venturing back to an area once known as a bargain-hunter's paradise.

"This shows that we can live together. For those who do not believe it they should come here and see," said Jalal Khleif, the mayor of Nabi Elyas.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

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[decimon]

"We, the Palestinians and the Israelis can deal with each other in a friendly way. I personally have many friends here. If the politicians leave us alone we can run our affairs," said the 70-year-old pensioner.

How about that.

[Alouette]

These shopping excursions were very common prior to Oslo.

[patriot preacher]

It’s awesome to see what a little common sense and Capitalism can accomplish — if the politicians just get out of the way. This is the exception, not the rule, but it doesn’t HAVE to be that way.

[ml/nj]

And there used to be a casino in Jericho that catered to the Israelis. In a sane world this is how things should be. But the casino is long gone, and this village and its shopping opportunities will disappear too.

ML/NJ

[ml/nj]

in the occupied West Bank

And let's cut the "occupied" cr@p.

It's so "occupied" that the schoolchilren there learn about bombs and destroying Israel. (Unless they mean occupied by fanatics.)

ML/NJ

[rbg81]

Yeah, now that the word is out, it will be a mecca for terrorist nutjobs. [Pun intended]

[gogogodzilla]

Note the lack of Palestinian suicide bombers and rabid lunatics calling for the extermination of all Jews...

Now, what would be interesting is a story of what had to be done in order to remove those staples of Palestinian society from that area...

[SunkenCiv]

Nabi Elyas, a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank catering to the Israeli consumer, has raised hopes on both sides of a divide that peaceful co-existence is possible.

Of course, while Israeli shoppers are enjoying chocolates, they may wind up a terrorism statistic.

[Eleutheria5]

Now that it’s in the news, the “politicians” will probably plan a major strike on Israeli shoppers, one that might teach a few of these “collaborators” a lesson. Do we have a betting pool?