November 25, 2008

What preoccupies young Palestinian minds

The occupation is foremost on Palestinian youth’s mind. This was made clear in the Palestinian village of Beita, near Nablus, at an event held on November 17: the opening of the youth development resource centre, funded by USAID and some private international technical companies.

The audience included US Undersecretary of State James K. Glassman, responsible for public diplomacy and public affairs, Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine, Jean Case, chief executive officer of the Case Foundation (the two are co-chair of the US Palestinian public-private partnership), senior Palestinian officials, town leaders and practically all 8,000 residents of Beita.

After the speeches of the minister of youth, the governor of Nablus and a senior USAID official, Iqab Attari the chair of the youth centre reminded donors of the larger problem facing the Palestinians.

“All your efforts and contributions in building this centre and hooking it with the latest technology, and genuinely helping our youth will all be wiped out the moment a youth from Beita tries to go to Nablus or Ramallah and is stopped and humiliated at an Israeli checkpoint,” he said.

The people of Beita should know. According to Wikipedia, 50 of the village’s residents were killed by Israelis. The village was a major news item in June 1998 when a clash between stone-throwing youth and gun-wielding Israeli civilians led to the death of one Israeli and three Palestinians. Following that incident, Rabbi Haim Druckman, of the national religious party, said that the entire village should be wiped from the face of the earth.

The town was not wiped, but the Israeli army punished the villagers quite badly. They demolished 13 houses, damaged 23, killed three Beita residents, injured dozens arrested hundreds, detained and deported six Palestinians.

Now with money from American IT companies and the cooperation of the organisers of the centre Ruwwad - the USAID-funded youth project run by Boston-based Educational Development Centre - a state-of-the-art computer lab was unfolded. Young people from Beita quickly hooked up their computers, got online and told the anticipating audience that they planned to connect with another group of young people. The connection was expected to be with teens from Australia, youth from Chicago or fellow young Muslims from Turkey, yet the youth of Beita had a different group in mind: youths from nearby East Jerusalem.

After the introductions and the greetings came yet another touching moment. The youth from the Nablus area wanted to know how fellow Palestinians in nearby Jerusalem were doing. They wanted to know how Nablusites were doing! No one talked about the wall, no one mentioned occupation, travel restrictions weren’t harped on. Their message, delivered without malice, anger or hatred, was clear. They cared about the occupation.

Soon after the event, the visiting group got into their well-protected SUVs and drove to Ramallah to meet the Palestinian prime minister and other Palestinian business and IT professionals. On the way, they passed a number of illegal (according to international law) Jewish settlements and illegal (according to Israeli law) outposts. By evening, they were back to their comfortable hotels in Jerusalem.

Driving with me to Jerusalem was another American who after seeing the settlements on the Nablus-Jerusalem road said: “I am not sure I am in favour of the two-state solution after seeing all this. Your Palestinian state will look like Swiss cheese with these settlements.”

Policeman filmed head-butting East Jerusalem residents

The Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department (PID) recently launched an investigation in efforts to locate a patrol police officer who was documented head-butting two Arab residents of East Jerusalem, a man and a woman, while evacuating homes slated for demolition.

The policeman was filmed by an activist belonging to the human rights group B'Tselem during the preparation for the demolition of several buildings in the al-Boustan neighborhood in the Silwan village in the city. The footage was recently handed over to PID.

B'Tselem issued a statement saying that the organization welcomes the PID investigation. "Now the prosecution must pursue justice for the attacking officer and send a message that police brutality is not acceptable," the statement said.

Boom Times for West Bank Economy

Palestinian businessmen concluded their one-day Palestine Investment Conference "north forum" in the West Bank city of Nablus with a package of seven investment projects with a total value of $510 million.

Five of the projects were in the infrastructure sector, one in industry, and one to finance investments. All are concentrated in the northern part of the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority (PA) has proved, over the course of this year, its ability to impose law and order.

The biggest project was the power plant planned for the northern parts of the West Bank with a capital of $300 million shared among several investors.

Second is an iron factory in the West Bank city of Jenin with a capital of $100 million, of which $15 million has been allocated to begin the first phase of the galvanized iron plant.

A fund to revive the economy of the northern parts of the West Bank was launched at a cost of $50 million to be funded by the PA, the private sector and donors.

Palestine Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (PIEDCO), a company affiliated to the Palestine Development and Investment Company (PADICO,) announced a grain silos project in Jalama, north of Jenin, at a cost of $18 million.

On the sidelines of the conference, the Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF) and the municipality of Nablus signed a memorandum of understanding to establish an industrial zone on an area of 120 dunams (30 acres) in Nablus to cost $25 million in the first phase, then to be expanded to 350 dunams at a total cost of $85 million.

In addition, a solid waste treatment project in the governorate of Nablus, to cost $2.1 million, was launched.

Twelve other projects were presented in the four sessions during the conference, attended by 1,200 Palestinian and Arab businessmen, according to the organizers.

Unlike the first Palestinian investment conference held in the West Bank city of Bethlehem last May, no Israeli businessmen showed up.

PA Prime Minister Salam Fayad announced that the next conference would be held in May, without mentioning the venue of the conference, but PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told the conference that he hoped to hold it in Gaza, the stronghold of the militant Islamic group Hamas.

Both Abbas and Fayad expressed the hope that one day such a conference would be held in Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of a Palestinian state.

During the four sessions of the conference, which discussed infrastructure, industry, agriculture and domestic tourism, the Palestinians tried to convince their Arab counterparts and Palestinians living in the diaspora of the opportunities available in the Palestinian territories and especially in the northern parts of the West Bank.

At a time when businessmen around the world are facing the consequences of the world financial crisis, Palestinians were guaranteeing these business people that the effects on the PA economy were marginal.

"Our national economy is not completely isolated from the developments affecting the global economy, which will result in recession and deflation that may last a long time; however, we are confident about its limited impact on us," Fayad told the conference.

"We have instructed the various specialized centers in the Palestinian Authority to work actively to reassure investors and strengthen confidence in the local investment environment, through openness and disclosure and to ensure immediate and sustained flow of information on developments of the crisis and its impact on our national economy," he added.

"We are confident that this good participation from guests of Palestine in the forum will give investors inside and outside Palestine more trust and confidence in our national economy, and stimulate some people to invest here, despite the blockades and closures imposed by Israel," Fayad said.

Fayad went further, saying, "The financial, moral and political revenues from your safe investment in Palestine are far more than any revenue you can achieve anywhere else in the world."

Abbas pointed to the various measures taken by the PA to introduce laws aimed at facilitating investment in the Palestinian territories, adding that the PA was the most transparent government in the area.

"We challenge anyone who says that now there is corruption the Palestinian Authority," he said.

Even though movement of the businessmen to and from Nablus during the day of the conference was easy and smooth, thanks to Palestinian-Israeli coordination, this is not the case on the other days of the year, especially in and out of Nablus, as a result of the Israeli checkpoints spread all over the West Bank.

Robert Danin, head of mission of the Office of the Quartet Representative, said, "Since I arrived here in April, I have had the opportunity to meet a broad range of Palestinians from the public and the private sector. I have been very impressed with the vitality, professionalism, courage and pro-activeness of both the PA and the private sector."

He added that [former British Prime Minister] Tony Blair, the Quartet representative, had been meeting regularly with members of the Palestinian business community from throughout the Palestinian territories: from Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jericho, Jenin and Gaza.

"These discussions have helped shape our understanding of the huge potential of Palestinian entrepreneurship, as well as our understanding of what needs to take place to enhance the investment climate, so that this entrepreneurship and investment potential can bear fruit," Danin said.

"And we in the Quartet get it. It requires vision, risk-taking, and a broader view of investment that includes not only revenues and profits, but also the returns of a Palestinian state built on a vibrant and sustainable private sector. It requires immediate efforts to ease movement restrictions and to increase Palestinian access to resources such as land, telecommunication, security, water and more," he added.

He concluded that, "This is precisely what the Quartet has been focused on, working on the individual ingredients necessary for economic growth, and trying to create concrete precedents across sectors that all parties can latch onto and scale up throughout the Palestinian territories."

David Craig, World Bank country director for the West Bank and Gaza, said, "The Palestinian private sector has a unique potential to exploit growth opportunities and attract international investment. The World Bank's analysis of the Palestinian business environment concluded that it compared favorably with much of the rest of the region."

The World Bank's Doing Business report in June 2007 ranked the West Bank and Gaza as comparable with countries such as India, Indonesia and the Honduras. In particular, West Bank and Gaza ranked 22nd in the world the PA's tax regime for business, and 33rd in the world in terms of the legal framework to protect investors.

"In terms of the PA's policy framework, the Palestinian economy ranks among the top half of all economies in regard to import and export costs and procedures. Indeed, export potential is enormous. The PA enjoys generous trade arrangements with the European Union and with countries in the region. In addition, there is a readymade market among the 5 million-strong Palestinian diaspora worldwide," Craig added.

"In addition to its work on development projects and in support of the PA budget, the World Bank is focused on tackling the hurdles facing Palestinian businesses, particularly the comprehensive system of movement and access restrictions currently in place inside the West Bank and on the Gaza Strip's borders.

"The World Bank remains firmly committed to advocating for the removal of these obstacles to trade and industrialization and is cooperating closely with the Quartet representative, Tony Blair, in this effort. Recently, some progress has been made. However, if a virtuous cycle of growth is to be initiated and sustained, these improvements must be scaled-up and expanded upon," he added.

Abbas insisted that the biggest obstacle to economic growth was the network of some 600 Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank.

"There can be no real sustained development under occupation despite all our best efforts. We must make clear to the whole world that the occupation, the settlements and the roadblocks are obstacles that must go," Abbas said.

West Bank alone could go to polls

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could hold elections in the occupied West Bank alone if Hamas prevents the ballot from taking place in Gaza, an Abbas aide said on Monday.

"If Hamas forcibly prevents them from preparing for elections in Gaza, this is not going to stop the elections from being held. We will hold the elections in the West Bank and Hamas will be responsible for preventing the elections in Gaza," senior Abbas adviser Nimer Hammad said.

The election of Abbas as President of the state of Palestine by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) late on Sunday demonstrates serious concerns over Hamas' threats to stop recognising his authority after his term ends early next year, independent Palestinian analysts said on Monday.

Abbas's election as President aims to "boost his legitimacy in the face of Hamas threats... this shows they [Fatah and the PLO] are concerned about Hamas' threats. Otherwise, why would such a move come now?" Hami Al Masri, head of the West Bank-based Al Badael Centre for Studies and Research told Gulf News.

"The significance of the move is limited," Al Masri, said of Abbas's election by PLO Central Council. "It was a symbolic move, because there is no Palestinian state on the ground," he added.

Hamas was swift in challenging the election, saying the Central Council does not have the right, constitutionally, to elect the state president. "It is an illusion," Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, told Gulf News.

Fatah and the PLO wanted to "create the perception that they have achieved something."

While many politicians describe the election of Abbas to fill the position that has been vacant since the death of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian icon, more than four years ago, as symbolic, they noted that what is more important - and maybe more dangerous, is if Abbas' threats to hold early elections if talks with Hamas fail, go through.

Abbas gave Hamas an end-of-year deadline yesterday to resume dialogue with his leadership or face snap elections.

Crucial days

"The next 45 days are crucial to the future of the Palestinian cause," Al Masri said. "If Abbas' threats are a kind of tactic, it is fine. If not, it is going to be a catastrophe," he told Gulf News.

Politicians and analysts describe the current crisis between Hamas and Fatah as the worst in the history of the Palestinian question.

Hamas and Fatah are locked in a deep political dispute that has exploded militarily more than once since Hamas won the last elections in 2006. By mid-2007, Hamas took control of Gaza, while the Palestinian National Authority kept its control over the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmad Al Teibi described the leaked Israeli military document published on Sunday in Haaretz daily that calls for contingency plans to prevent Palestinian elections as "Satanic leaking".

The assessment to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet next month, urges to avoid fresh elections at all costs because of the risks of a new Hamas victory. It also warned of the possibility of Abbas's "disappearance" after his term ends.

"The elections should be held and all the Palestinians should be given the chance to participate," Teibi said. "Israel should stay out of the Palestinian democracy."

The Israeli report is "a media fabrication and a new lie," Barhoum said.