Ramallah, which means "Mountain of God" or more properly "House of God", is a Palestinian town of about 37,000 inhabitants, situated in the heart of the West Bank, 18 km north of Jerusalem. The Palestinians regard as their capital alQuds (literally "the Holy", that is, Jerusalem), and the president Abu Mazen has not failed to remind George Bush in their meeting, however friendly, last Thursday. Nevertheless, the continuing precarious situation and conflict with Israel, together with the substantial absence of a real Palestinian state, has made the virtual capital of Ramallah, tacitly or provisional the Palestinian administration. In Ramallah, in fact, there is the Palestinian parliament, the seat of government ministries, foreign diplomatic missions (consulates as well as embassies), as well as the so-called Muqaa (the "Separate Account") which is the complex of buildings which houses the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority with the Office of the President and the Mausoleum of Arafat (November 10, 2007 officially inaugurated on the eve of the third anniversary of his death).
Ramallah is also the economic capital of Palestine, and are springing up all around solid software industry, textile factories Pepsicola, mineral water and even beer distilleries. The 90% of their business is with Israel, and is forming a ruling class in every respect, with the corollary of luxury cars that are seen with increasing frequency in circulation, as are several restaurants and luxury hotels. In short, the hope expressed by Bush himself, who in the Territories to develop "a modern economy that will lift millions out of poverty" seems far from unfounded. Not even the rise to power of Hamas in June 2007 has interrupted the small economic boom of Palestine, which now is outstretched in an effort to integrate and enhance its quality of being a land divided into two: on the one hand, the West Bank (" Fatahland ") and other Gaza Strip ("Hamastan"). For the latter, where they are today are more acute unemployment and deterioration of services, the economist Thomas Friedman predicts a future of "Dubai on the Mediterranean."
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