GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Twenty-two years have passed since the Oslo Accord, or the so-called Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, was signed between the PLO and Israel in 1993. This accord led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and to the creation of a Palestinian political system with a president and ministers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinian passports were issued, and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) was established to serve as a national central bank. Moreover the flag of Palestine was recently raised in the United Nations, on Oct. 13, but one thing has yet to be achieved: an independent Palestinian currency.
Nasr Abdel Karim, an economic analyst and lecturer at the Arab American University of Jenin, told Al-Monitor, “This has been impossible as a result of the Paris Economic Protocol, annexed to the Oslo Accord and governing economic relations. This protocol imposed an Israeli approval for the issuance of a Palestinian currency.”
