Al -Jazeera Net Correspondents
The Palestinian pound was the official currency of historic Palestine from 1927 to 1946, as the British Mandate was issued as the first official currency to be circulated in Palestine.
The Palestinian pound carried the three languages of the Mandate Government: Arabic for the Palestinians, English for the British, and the Hebrew of the Jewish minority.
Despite the Palestinians ’opposition to the Hebrew language on their currency, the British imposed it under the pretext of” uniting the various sects in Palestine, “according to the” Coral Beach “Foundation, a Palestinian institution interested in Palestinian history. The Palestinian currency appears olive branch, a symbol of peace.
The value of the Palestinian pound today is estimated at its scarcity, as it is sold at high prices in auctions. In 2022, a rare banknote of 100 pounds in England was sold for 140,000 pounds (173 thousand dollars), according to press reports reported by Wafa.
History of the Palestinian pound
- According to the documents of the “United Nations Committee for Conciliation on Palestine” issued in 1949, the Ottoman and European currencies, such as the “Napoleon Golden Currency”, were circulated in Palestine during the Ottoman era.
- With the British occupation in 1917, the Egyptian pound replaced it, as the British soldiers used it.
- In 1926, the Palestinian currency council was established to manage criticism in Palestine.
- In November 1927, the council began issuing the Palestinian pound, which fair to the pound sterling in its value and was divided into a thousand mine (1/1000 of the British pound). The trading in this currency continued until 1948, when the United Kingdom removed Palestine from the sterling region.
- After the Nakba 1948, Israel canceled the handling of the Palestinian pound, and the Israeli lira imposed instead of it, while the Gaza Strip adopted the Egyptian pound until 1951.
During the British Mandate
Until the late nineteenth century, there was no Palestinian banking system, forcing farmers to rely on lenders. Later, foreign banks began to open branches, followed by local Jewish banks to finance Zionist settlement, then credit cooperatives.
In the period between 1933 and 1936, small banks spread, prompting the British Mandate government to impose banking legislation that included strict licensing requirements and control procedures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_zuqrxfjm
This is a list of the most prominent banks operating in Palestine during the British Mandate:
- Jewish banks: The Bank of Palestine Divivation, the Limited Workers Bank, the Jacob Bank, the Gavitte Bank and Co., the Limited Bank, and the Limited Caust Bank.
- Arab banksThe Arab Bank, and the limited Arab National Bank.
- Foreign banksAnglo-Palestine Bank, Barclays Bank, Ottoman Bank, Netherlands Bank Union, and Polska Bank Casa Obiki Polish.
Can the Palestinian pound return to life?
Re -working to the Palestinian pound has always been a dream for the Palestinians, but the reality of the Palestinian economy subject to Israeli control makes its achievement difficult.
After Israel occupied the Palestinian territories in 1967, all Palestinian and Arab banks were closed, and the Israeli lira, then the Israeli shekel, was imposed.
In 1993, the Oslo Agreement was concluded between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, which was established for new financial arrangements between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, which was the subsequent Paris Protocol to the agreement.
According to the Paris Protocol signed in 1994, it was supposed to form a Palestinian criticism authority, but without the validity of the issuance of a currency, with the continued circulation of the Israeli shekel within the Palestinian territories and the granting of Israel (veto) to issue any issuance of a Palestinian currency.
Israeli domination of the economy of Palestine
The Palestinian market is the second largest market for the Israeli shekel after Israel, where 10% of the total shekel’s release is traded inside Palestine, providing the Israeli economy with profits of $ 300 million annually.
The Palestinian Authority is also forced to transfer the difficult currencies it receives into the shekel through Israeli banks, which gives Israel completely control of the flow of funds.
On the other hand, Israel refuses to transfer sufficient quantities of shekels into Palestinian banks, and sometimes refuses to replace damaged banknotes, causing liquidity crises for Palestinian banks.
There is no horizon to restore the Palestinian pound in the near future
Although the idea of the Palestinian currency is offered as a way to break the economic connection with Israel, the Paris and Israeli hegemony over resources and borders makes achieving Palestinian economic independence very difficult.
Israel controls taxes, customs and borders, which enhances Palestinian economic dependency. Because of the veto gave by the Paris Protocol to Israel over any Palestinian currency, the revival of the Palestinian pound appears to be uncomfortable in the foreseeable future.
The issuance of an independent Palestinian currency requires real sovereignty on the ground and resources, which cannot be achieved under the Israeli occupation. For this, the Palestinian pound remains a historical symbol that reminds the Palestinians of their right to economic independence, but it will not return to life except with the demise of the occupation and the achievement of full sovereignty, according to observers.
