Palestinians grow by a million in decade

Census: 3.76 million Palestinians live in W. Bank, Gaza, east Jerusalem; PA official: Figures inaccurate.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Palestinian 224.88 (photo credit: AHMAD GHARABLI [file])
Palestinian 224.88
(photo credit: AHMAD GHARABLI [file])
The Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem has reached 3.76 million, up from 2.89 million a decade ago, according to census results released Saturday. Only 208,000 Palestinians were counted in east Jerusalem, which is sought by the Palestinians as a future capital, said Luay Shabaneh, head of the Palestinian Central Statistics Bureau. The unexpectedly low figure for east Jerusalem - it fell even below an estimate of 210,000 in the 1997 census - was immediately challenged by Palestinian politicians. In 1997, census-takers were barred by Israel from going door-to-door and based their result on projections. This time, census volunteers conducted an actual count, working discretely to avoid confrontations with Israeli authorities, Shabaneh said. However, Hatem Abdel Kader, an adviser on Jerusalem affairs to Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayad, said he didn't believe the Jerusalem figures were reliable. "We doubt these numbers," he said, adding that he believes many Jerusalem homes were not visited by census-takers. In early December, some 6,200 census-takers fanned out across the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem, going house to house to collect information. Palestinians have one of the highest birth rates in the world. In September 2007, Israel's population included 5.45 million Jews, 1.4 million Arabs and 310,000 others, according to Israeli government figures. Presenting the census results at a news conference, Shabaneh said that Palestinian population growth remains high, but as leveled off somewhat. Pre-census projections had predicted a population of 3.9 million. According to actual results, 3.76 Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories the Palestinians want for a future state. That includes 2.345 million in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and 1.416 million in Gaza, Shabaneh said.