An opportunity lies waiting
Despite the tremendous challenges facing them, the Palestinians are capable of achieving tremendous development and still long for a "normal life". Timothy Rothermel* posits an alternative perspective
Trends in development policy and diplomacy are influenced by contemporary global challenges. Some of these challenges fall into two distinct categories: prevention and recovery. Good examples of the two might be Kashmir, on one hand, and the Balkans, on the other. University courses and lectures abound on such subjects as crisis prevention, preventive diplomacy, reintegration, etc. The literature is also filled with phrases such as natural disaster reduction, post-war reconstruction, peace-keeping and peace-building, post- conflict governance, and the like. These areas of specialisation form the basis of important development interventions designed to prevent both natural and man-made tragedies and conflict, and once these events have occurred, to recover and rebuild in their aftermath. Indeed for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) crisis prevention and recovery has become an increasingly significant part of its work.
But an aspect of the development continuum that falls between the cracks of prevention and recovery is development during an actual period of crisis. And it is precisely in this area that UNDP must by necessity focus its efforts in the occupied Palestinian territory. Unfortunately, for several years and in spite of courageous -- and some not- so-courageous -- efforts to halt it, the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian crisis persists with particularly disastrous implications for the Palestinian people. It is also premature to begin the traditional task of post-conflict recovery. Rather, the international community must face the unique task in this part of the world of carrying out sustainable development efforts in the very midst of an all too- long lasting man-made crisis.
The statistics of the past more than three years of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict reflect the immense problems faced by both sides: 4,224 deaths and 42,761 injured an Israeli economy that must support the costs of a massive military establishment, a diminishing tourism industry and a population that is fearful for its daily security. On the Palestinian side, not only are the losses -- casualties and fatalities -- almost 300 per cent greater, but in literally hundreds of aspects and in every city and village aspirations have been shattered, livelihoods denied, movement restricted and psyches -- especially those of the young -- shattered. And here numbers alone, which cannot reflect the subjective toll are staggering for the Palestinians: currently the rate of unemployment is 46 per cent, the percentage of population living below the poverty line of $2 per day is 60 per cent (57 per cent in West Bank and 84 per cent in Gaza), and direct damage to the economy estimated at US$11.7 billion.
Yet, the all too common public perceptions of the situation in the area are mostly fuelled by news photos of burning Israeli busses and body fragments or Palestinian orchards and structures destroyed by bombs and the ever expanding separation wall.
Scratch the surface just a little deeper and something quite phenomenal is taking place in Palestinian society in spite of photos and statistics. There is a vibrant, talented, peaceful and very resolute society that is determined, in spite of suffering, to forge a peaceful, democratic and pluralistic state with institutions that are fully prepared for Palestinians to take their rightful place among the society of nations.
Since the inception of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994 governmental institutions that are second to none in the Middle East have emerged including:
A very competent Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics; a diligent Palestinian Water Authority that is helping manage the meagre resources against tough odds; a Ministry of Finance that, under the leadership of a former IMF Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory Dr Salaam Fayyed is managing very scarce financial resources comparably to similar institutions in developed nations; a Central Elections Commission that is staffed and prepared, should circumstances and in particular closures be rescinded, to oversee in a highly professional manner the country's second Presidential and Legislative election, as well as its first election of municipal and local officials; an indigenously initiated governmental reform process that has undertaken significant improvements in the functioning of the judiciary system, even including state-of-the-art courthouses; modern procedures for effective local governance; training for a cadre of professional diplomats; detailed mapping of many cultural and archaeological treasures; a sophisticated investment promotion organisation, ready to go into high gear as soon as the crisis passes. And the list could go on.
Likewise, in civil society and in the private sector Palestinians have in recent years developed or improved highly respectable organisations dealing with human rights; transparency in governance; and institutions dealing with youth, public health and community participation. For example, two relatively new institutions, MIFTAH (The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy) and AMAN (The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity), have received international recognition for their accomplishments. In the field of information technology five independent providers are competing for cell phone customers, e-business is thriving and e-government is starting; not to mention an innovative activity called SchoolNet which soon will have all school classrooms equipped with computers and trained computer teachers.
What is truly remarkable about these accomplishments is that first, they have been for the most part initiated and carried out entirely by Palestinians themselves, including several hundred Palestinians from the Diaspora; and second, they continue to flourish in spite of daily setbacks and tragedies. The international community, including UNDP and other UN organisations, has been on hand to be a partner and to lend a nurturing hand whenever possible, but the intellectual spark and the drive for institutional excellence has come from within this remarkable society.
Have there been mistakes? Yes. Has there been some corruption? Undeniably! Will more young Palestinians in desperation and seeking retribution strap themselves with bombs? Not to be excluded. Is there a long way to go? Definitely! Is it imperative that donors continue to provide support to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory? Absolutely. But the accomplishments that have been achieved in that lacuna between pre- and post-conflict is an example of how viable development can progress in the face of adversity. In a world where there is now a search for a democratic, secular and progressive state in the Middle East, the seeds have already been sown and are ready to blossom in the occupied Palestinian territory -- if only given the opportunity -- and not at the price of tens of billions of dollars. In a world seeking to eliminate what is considered the most persistent irritant leading to terrorism, here is a conflict that, above all others, yearns for a just and rational resolution. And here is where those with the power do so should not falter, be deterred or be misled in the achievement of peace.
* The writer is special representative of the UNDP in Jerusalem and one of the founders of its Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, 25 years ago.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 11 - 17 December 2003 (Issue No. 668)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/668/op19.htm