Nov 1, 2013

A report released by the World Bank … Oct. 8, states that the development of Area C, which includes the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area and which, under the Oslo Accords, belongs to Israel, is a necessary condition to the recovery of the Palestinian economy. However, the only Palestinian [economic] presence in the region is that of the small salt plant of Uthman Halak, which is located near an abandoned Jordanian hotel, and which has been operating for nearly 50 years now on the northern shore of the Dead Sea.

The plant seems to be something out of place in the region, which is populated by Israeli settlements, and strewn with date groves — the region where the archaeological site of the Qumran Caves is located [famous for the Dead Sea Scrolls found there], as well as the Ein-Fasha resort, and the AHAVA cosmetics factory. Amid all these, Halak, even now, at the age of 78, keeps on producing his salt and selling it in 25-kilogram (55-pound) bags to the West Bank and Gaza.

The royalties are transferred to the Israeli administrator general

In recent months, the Palestinians have been exerting growing pressure on the international community with regard to Area C. Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Abu Mazen and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah request permission to build in the area and develop it, and present to the world a series of grandiose development projects — including a Palestinian resort city on the Dead Sea shore and a plan for the establishment of chemical plants. The Israeli government, for its part, refrains from referring to the issue.

The Palestinian salt plant thus peculiarly stands out in the region. Halak, a chemical engineer by profession, was granted the franchise to produce salt from the Jordanian government in 1964. Since 1967, he has been transferring the royalties to the Israeli administrator general, who inherited the Jordanian government assets in the West Bank.