Is A Palestinian Bitcoin On The Way?
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Naomi Zeveloff May 14, 2017
Palestinians are planning to create a Bitcoin-style currency that would help the Palestinian economy operate independently of Israeli influence.
According to a report in Reuters, the Palestine Monetary Authority is designing the currency, which would be called the Palestinian pound. It aims to have the currency in use in the next five years.
The PMA operates like a central bank, but the Palestinians have no currency of their own. The use of the Israeli shekel is enshrined in the 1994 Paris Protocol.
According to Reuters’ interview with Azzam Shawwa, the head of the PMA, a digital currency makes sense for Palestinians. Because Israel controls the Palestinian Territory’s borders, it could make it difficult for Palestinians to get printed currency into the territory.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
