If money could buy peace, this would be a golden era for Middle East peacemaking. Notwithstanding activists' much-hyped "boycott, divestment and sanctions" campaign, Israel's economy is booming: Growth last year was 4.5% (despite a maximum marginal tax rate of 60% - please explain that, AIPAC/ Tea-Party supply-siders). And growth in the Palestinian West Bank (which, unlike Gaza, is ruled by Fatah, not Hamas) is even higher. Here in Ramallah, construction seems to be taking place on every block - not the slapdash Arab McMansions you can see from Israeli highways, but proper office buildings, stores and apartments. The downtown sidewalks are so thronged that shoppers have to dodge cars on the street to get from store to store. Arab Jerusalemites and British Arabs come here for parties and fancy weddings. At a local museum, a major Picasso exhibition has opened up.

Money is pouring in from NGOs and relatives in the West, with a healthy dose of local grassroots private investment as well. The Westerntrained police strut about with polish and confidence. Scarred by the example of Gaza, where Fatah activists were rounded up and killed by Hamas, Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces have made common cause with Israel (whose military presence here is non-existent - at least during the day) in eradicating Hamas from public life.

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