Bani Hassan, West Bank: Palestinians will be ready for statehood by August, as promised in a two-year action plan, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in an interview on Tuesday, dismissing a host of steep obstacles to independence.
The former World Bank economist visited rural West Bank road destroyed by Israel to demonstrate his belief that independence is inevitable as long as Palestinians do not lose faith.
The road was torn up by Israeli troops last week, on grounds that it was paved in a nature reserve in an area under full Israeli rule. Fayyad pledged to repair it immediately as part of his new campaign to challenge exclusive Israeli control over large tracts of the West Bank.
"This is where the struggle is, in the rural areas," Fayyad said during the ride back to his Ramallah office.
Despite Fayyad's optimism, signs abound that independence is still a long way off: his motorcade was led by an Israeli police cruiser, and Israeli colonies and unauthorised hilltop outposts on either side of a main West Bank highway.
Concerns over safety
Fayyad acknowledged the limitations to his authority.
The Israeli police escort is "basically a way of saying, we are in control here", Fayyad said. Israel cites concerns for his safety as the reason for insisting on sending a patrol car whenever he leaves his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, he said.
Fayyad's Palestinian Authority operates with limited autonomy in 40 per cent of the West Bank, where most of the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians live. Another 60 per cent, home to more than 120 Israeli colonies, remains under full Israeli control.
In August 2009, Fayyad presented a two-year plan for building state institutions, including schools, courts and infrastructure.
