Reuters Exclusive, March 6, 2009 - Rich states and investors have announced a record $14 billion to aid the Palestinians and their economy in a string of Western-backed meetings meant to boost President Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas.
But diplomats said many of the pledges made at five donor and investor conferences held since December 2007, including one in Egypt on Monday, were counted more than once, have yet to materialise or were too vague to rely on.
Much of the money depends on Israel fully opening border crossings with Hamas-ruled Gaza, and lifting restrictions in the occupied West Bank where Abbas's Palestinian Authority holds sway, or has been linked to progress in stalled peace talks and Palestinian reconciliation, casting doubt on future payouts.
One senior Western diplomat criticised the pledging process as "smoke and mirrors" because of double-counting. Another said the big-figure headlines from donors eager to look forthcoming, combined with a lack of transparency, were "getting ridiculous", noting that despite the cascade of pledges, the Authority was still struggling to pay full wages to its workers on time.
Conference organisers have disclosed little about individual donor pledges or disbursement schedules, making it difficult to track how much money was really in the pipeline for Abbas.
Donors also differ over how to deliver their aid, underscoring divisions over isolating Hamas, which has decried the pledging process as financial "blackmail" to marginalise the group after its 2006 election victory. Israel and the United States say they want to prevent any money from going to the Islamists, who they consider "terrorists".
Record Pledges
The large sums announced at conferences in Paris, Berlin, the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and the West Bank over the last 15 months -- $12 billion from governments and $2 billion from investors -- were unprecedented by Palestinian standards, eclipsing the amount the Authority received in the previous 14 years since the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
Combined, the pledges would be the equivalent of $3,500 for every man, woman and child in the West Bank and Gaza, more than double per capita Palestinian GDP. Half of Gaza's 1.5 million population live on less than $3 a day, by Palestinian estimates.
It is unclear how much of the $4.5 billion in "new commitments", announced at Monday's conference in Sharm to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after Israel's devastating offensive, were really new, said Western diplomats who took part.
Diplomats and analysts pointed to the large discrepancy between what the Palestinian Authority asked for at Sharm -- $2.8 billion over two years -- and what was announced as an indication that the numbers were not realistic....
Showing posts with label Reconstruction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reconstruction. Show all posts
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Opinion: Adults Acting Like Children - Rami Khouri
Middle East Online, March 6, 2009 - The international pledges of some $4.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians to rebuild the Gaza Strip and promote the development of the West Bank seem like a monumental folly in view of the surrounding political context of this gesture. The financial generosity of the donors is largely offset by their political cowardice on two fronts:
• Challenging Israel to live according to the norms of law in its treatment of Palestinian land and people under its occupation; and,
• Coming to grips with Palestinian political realities, especially the legitimacy and role of Hamas.
On both counts, generous donors seem unwilling to admit that they are perpetuating a wasteful cycle of Palestinian and international construction in Palestine that is set back by repeated Israeli destruction through war, followed by repeated rounds of reconstruction. This recurring cycle is striking for its sheer waste, but also for what it reveals about the willingness of the international community to use reconstruction aid as a political tool -- a failed tool that should be abandoned in favor of a more productive approach.
It was bad enough when the Israeli government in recent years was able to convince the United States to largely adopt its positions in the Arab-Israeli conflict; it was another step backwards two years ago when the four Quartet members (United States, European Union, United Nations, and Russia) also sided with Israel by refusing to deal with Hamas until the latter recognized Israel and stopped military resistance. This trend has now gone one step further by lining up a wide range of donors who seem to be willing to use their aid to try to bolster the government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, while denying Hamas any international legitimacy and ignoring Israeli actions on the ground that make peace-making seem so distant.
This occurs while Israel makes it clear that it plans to continue expanding its settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the expected coalition that will rule in Israel seems to represent a step backwards -- in its unwillingness to formally accept the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza as a realistic element of a permanent peace agreement. Throwing large amounts of money into Palestinian reconstruction while reinforcing a political context that only perpetuates Israel’s regular destruction of Palestinian institutions is wasteful folly at best, and complicity in criminality at worst....
Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.
Copyright © 2009 Rami G. Khouri – distributed by Agence Global.
• Challenging Israel to live according to the norms of law in its treatment of Palestinian land and people under its occupation; and,
• Coming to grips with Palestinian political realities, especially the legitimacy and role of Hamas.
On both counts, generous donors seem unwilling to admit that they are perpetuating a wasteful cycle of Palestinian and international construction in Palestine that is set back by repeated Israeli destruction through war, followed by repeated rounds of reconstruction. This recurring cycle is striking for its sheer waste, but also for what it reveals about the willingness of the international community to use reconstruction aid as a political tool -- a failed tool that should be abandoned in favor of a more productive approach.
It was bad enough when the Israeli government in recent years was able to convince the United States to largely adopt its positions in the Arab-Israeli conflict; it was another step backwards two years ago when the four Quartet members (United States, European Union, United Nations, and Russia) also sided with Israel by refusing to deal with Hamas until the latter recognized Israel and stopped military resistance. This trend has now gone one step further by lining up a wide range of donors who seem to be willing to use their aid to try to bolster the government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, while denying Hamas any international legitimacy and ignoring Israeli actions on the ground that make peace-making seem so distant.
This occurs while Israel makes it clear that it plans to continue expanding its settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the expected coalition that will rule in Israel seems to represent a step backwards -- in its unwillingness to formally accept the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza as a realistic element of a permanent peace agreement. Throwing large amounts of money into Palestinian reconstruction while reinforcing a political context that only perpetuates Israel’s regular destruction of Palestinian institutions is wasteful folly at best, and complicity in criminality at worst....
Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.
Copyright © 2009 Rami G. Khouri – distributed by Agence Global.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Aid as a Weapon [in Gaza] - Ben White
The Guardian (UK), March 4, 2009 - Ever since the beginning of the second intifada in 2000, there has been a familiar pattern in the Occupied Territories: Israel destroys Palestinian civilian infrastructure, and the international community foots the bill.
This has been reproduced once more, on a grand scale, as billions of dollars were promised this week at the Egypt-hosted donor conference for devastated Gaza, far exceeding the Palestinian Authority's initial target.
It remains to be seen how much of this aid will actually get through to the Palestinians imprisoned in Gaza, who continue to live in the rubble of thousands of homes, and hundreds of businesses, factories and schools. Two-thirds of the US contribution of $900 million, for example, is not even earmarked for Gaza.....
Unfortunately, the donor conference is another sign that as yet there still has been no fundamental shift in policy, three years on from Hamas's success in the Palestinian elections. You shouldn't have to live in Gaza to work out that "open borders, not handouts" are the way forward. Whether subsiding the heavily colonised West Bank, or paying for what Israel destroyed in Gaza, the international community in its approach to the Palestinian people continues to display a lack of consistency, courage, and plain common sense.
Ben White is a writer living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has spent several summers in Palestine/Israel based in the West Bank and written extensively on the Middle East.
Did Clinton Sabotage a Palestinian Reconciliation?
Electronic Intifada, March 4, 2009 - On Friday 27 February, the leaders of 13 Palestinian factions, principal among them Hamas and Fatah, announced they had set out a framework for reconciliation. In talks chaired by Egypt's powerful intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, the Palestinians established committees to discuss forming a "national unity government," reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to include all factions, legislative and presidential elections, reorganizing security forces on a nonpolitical basis, and a steering group comprised of all faction leaders. Amid a jubilant mood, the talks were adjourned until 10 March.
Then the blows began to strike the fragile Palestinian body politic. The first came from Clinton just before she boarded her plane to attend a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh ostensibly about pledging billions in aid to rebuild Gaza....
Was the Sharm al-Sheikh summit then really about helping the people of Gaza or was it about exploiting their suffering to continue the long war against Hamas by other means? Indeed, Clinton had already confirmed the politicization of reconstruction aid when she told VOA, "We want to strengthen a Palestinian partner willing to accept the conditions outlined by the Quartet," and, "our aid dollars will flow based on these principles."....
Then the blows began to strike the fragile Palestinian body politic. The first came from Clinton just before she boarded her plane to attend a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh ostensibly about pledging billions in aid to rebuild Gaza....
Was the Sharm al-Sheikh summit then really about helping the people of Gaza or was it about exploiting their suffering to continue the long war against Hamas by other means? Indeed, Clinton had already confirmed the politicization of reconstruction aid when she told VOA, "We want to strengthen a Palestinian partner willing to accept the conditions outlined by the Quartet," and, "our aid dollars will flow based on these principles."....
US Offers $0 for Gaza Reconstruction - Paul Woodward
The National, March 2, 2009 - ....In the aftermath of the war on Gaza, little long-term reconstruction has taken place and aid received has barely been enough to keep residents fed and temporarily housed.
The Financial Times said: "both the Palestinian Authority and international experts agree the money will make little difference in Gaza unless Israel agrees to open its border crossings into the strip.
"Fearing that Hamas will benefit from an increased flow of goods into the territory, Israel has so far only allowed a small quantity of humanitarian supplies into the strip.
"The crucial problem at the moment is not related to funding but to access," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner the European Union external affairs commissioner. "In the aftermath of the crisis, a clear priority remains the immediate and unconditional reopening of all Gaza crossings on a regular and predicable basis."....
Daoud Kuttab, blogging with the US secretary of state's press corps in Sharm el-Sheikh, said: "In a press briefing on the eve of the 'International conference in support of the Palestinian economy of the reconstruction of Gaza' Robert Wood, the acting US state department spokesman failed to convince the US traveling press corps and a Palestinian blogger that America is indeed coming to help the people of Gaza.
"Wood tried to describe how the 'over $900 million' that will be pledged in the conference to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh Monday will be spent. But it was clear that most of this money will not make it to Gaza. The spokesman was also not sure how much of the 900 million dollars are old money (already pledged by previous administration) or new money.
"Apparently only one third of the monies to be pledged by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make it to Gaza. Wood told the press corps that $300 million will go for urgent humanitarian needs in response to the UN Gaza appeal. He indicated that this money will be channeled through UN agencies, and through USAID. A further $200 will be pledged to help cover basic budget support of the Palestinian Authority. The PA is expecting a $1.6 billion deficit in 2009. A further $400 million will be provided to support the Palestinian Authority's Reform and Development Plan. These funds will go into institutional building as well as in support of the public security efforts of General Dayton. Dayton, a senior US military officer has been leading an effort to revamp and rebuild the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.
"Wood and the US secretary of state appear to be camouflaging their plans to bolster the Palestinian Authority's grip of power in the West Bank with the waving of a hefty pledge, the majority of which will never make it to help the people of Gaza."
Paul Woodward is the Editor of War in Context and Managing Editor of Conflicts Forum.
The Financial Times said: "both the Palestinian Authority and international experts agree the money will make little difference in Gaza unless Israel agrees to open its border crossings into the strip.
"Fearing that Hamas will benefit from an increased flow of goods into the territory, Israel has so far only allowed a small quantity of humanitarian supplies into the strip.
"The crucial problem at the moment is not related to funding but to access," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner the European Union external affairs commissioner. "In the aftermath of the crisis, a clear priority remains the immediate and unconditional reopening of all Gaza crossings on a regular and predicable basis."....
Daoud Kuttab, blogging with the US secretary of state's press corps in Sharm el-Sheikh, said: "In a press briefing on the eve of the 'International conference in support of the Palestinian economy of the reconstruction of Gaza' Robert Wood, the acting US state department spokesman failed to convince the US traveling press corps and a Palestinian blogger that America is indeed coming to help the people of Gaza.
"Wood tried to describe how the 'over $900 million' that will be pledged in the conference to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh Monday will be spent. But it was clear that most of this money will not make it to Gaza. The spokesman was also not sure how much of the 900 million dollars are old money (already pledged by previous administration) or new money.
"Apparently only one third of the monies to be pledged by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make it to Gaza. Wood told the press corps that $300 million will go for urgent humanitarian needs in response to the UN Gaza appeal. He indicated that this money will be channeled through UN agencies, and through USAID. A further $200 will be pledged to help cover basic budget support of the Palestinian Authority. The PA is expecting a $1.6 billion deficit in 2009. A further $400 million will be provided to support the Palestinian Authority's Reform and Development Plan. These funds will go into institutional building as well as in support of the public security efforts of General Dayton. Dayton, a senior US military officer has been leading an effort to revamp and rebuild the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.
"Wood and the US secretary of state appear to be camouflaging their plans to bolster the Palestinian Authority's grip of power in the West Bank with the waving of a hefty pledge, the majority of which will never make it to help the people of Gaza."
Paul Woodward is the Editor of War in Context and Managing Editor of Conflicts Forum.
The Israel Donors Conference - Amira Hass
Haaretz, March 4, 2009 - The extent of the funding pledged to the Palestinian Authority by donor countries reflects the extent of their support for Israel and its policies. The American taxpayers' contribution to the Ramallah government's bank account is dwarfed by the large sums the U.S. government donates to Israel every year. It's impossible to get excited over the American pledge of $900 million (two-thirds of it for strengthening Salam Fayyad's government and the rest for Gaza's recovery) and forget the $30 billion the United States has promised Israel in defense aid by the end of 2017, as last week's Amnesty International report noted.
The $900 million pledged to the Palestinians in Sharm el-Sheikh should be seen as part of the regular American aid to Israel. As an occupying power, Israel is obligated to assure the well-being of the population under its control. But Israel is harming it instead, after which the United States (like other countries) rushes to compensate for the damage.
The Clinton and Bush administrations - and Barack Obama appears to be following in their footsteps - erased the phrase "Israeli occupation" from their dictionaries and collaborated with Israel in ignoring its commitments as enshrined in international law. The billions of dollars that Israel receives from the United States for weapons and defense development - which played a significant role in the destruction in the Gaza Strip - are part of Israel's successful propaganda, which presents the Rafah tunnels and Grad rockets as a strategic threat and part of the Islamic terror offensive against enlightened countries. he West has blown the Hamas movement out of proportion, exaggerating its military might to the point of mendacity; this allowed for an extended siege and three weeks of Israeli military intractability. In the Palestinian and larger Arab world, this embellishment helps Hamas depict itself as the real patriotic force.
The hundreds of millions of euros that have been donated or pledged to help Gaza, as though it were beset by natural disasters, are overshadowing the trade ties between Europe and Israel. The Western countries concerned about humanitarian aid for the Palestinians also buy from Israel arms and defense knowledge developed under the laboratory conditions of the occupation, that serial creator of humanitarian crises.
And the 1 billion petrodollars? First of all, they were generated from a natural resource that logic dictates should benefit the Arab peoples. Second, they were pledged at a conference that boycotted Gaza (neither Hamas nor business people or social activists from the Strip participated in the donors conference). This is how Saudi Arabia lends its hand to the American and Israeli veto of inter-Palestinian reconciliation....
Amira Hass is a correspondent for Haaretz.
The $900 million pledged to the Palestinians in Sharm el-Sheikh should be seen as part of the regular American aid to Israel. As an occupying power, Israel is obligated to assure the well-being of the population under its control. But Israel is harming it instead, after which the United States (like other countries) rushes to compensate for the damage.
The Clinton and Bush administrations - and Barack Obama appears to be following in their footsteps - erased the phrase "Israeli occupation" from their dictionaries and collaborated with Israel in ignoring its commitments as enshrined in international law. The billions of dollars that Israel receives from the United States for weapons and defense development - which played a significant role in the destruction in the Gaza Strip - are part of Israel's successful propaganda, which presents the Rafah tunnels and Grad rockets as a strategic threat and part of the Islamic terror offensive against enlightened countries. he West has blown the Hamas movement out of proportion, exaggerating its military might to the point of mendacity; this allowed for an extended siege and three weeks of Israeli military intractability. In the Palestinian and larger Arab world, this embellishment helps Hamas depict itself as the real patriotic force.
The hundreds of millions of euros that have been donated or pledged to help Gaza, as though it were beset by natural disasters, are overshadowing the trade ties between Europe and Israel. The Western countries concerned about humanitarian aid for the Palestinians also buy from Israel arms and defense knowledge developed under the laboratory conditions of the occupation, that serial creator of humanitarian crises.
And the 1 billion petrodollars? First of all, they were generated from a natural resource that logic dictates should benefit the Arab peoples. Second, they were pledged at a conference that boycotted Gaza (neither Hamas nor business people or social activists from the Strip participated in the donors conference). This is how Saudi Arabia lends its hand to the American and Israeli veto of inter-Palestinian reconciliation....
Amira Hass is a correspondent for Haaretz.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
What Gets Into the Gaza Strip
BBC News, March 2, 2009 - Basic food and medical items are allowed in. Very few people and virtually no raw materials and building materials are allowed in.
Apart from a core list of humanitarian basics - fruit, dairy, flour, oil, sugar, meat, rice - items have to be approved on a case-by-case basis.
The list of items allowed in changes over time. During the six-month ceasefire in 2008, items such as clothes, shoes, car parts and agricultural supplies entered the Gaza Strip at times.
This has not been the case since the Israeli assault on Gaza started in late December 2008.
Since the conflict, shipments have mainly been limited to food, medical supplies, plastic sheeting, blankets, mattresses and hygiene and cooking kits.
The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees says macaroni, lentils, fruit juice, sweets and paper for school books have been rejected in recent weeks. Israel says pasta, lentils and paper are now being allowed in....
Apart from a core list of humanitarian basics - fruit, dairy, flour, oil, sugar, meat, rice - items have to be approved on a case-by-case basis.
The list of items allowed in changes over time. During the six-month ceasefire in 2008, items such as clothes, shoes, car parts and agricultural supplies entered the Gaza Strip at times.
This has not been the case since the Israeli assault on Gaza started in late December 2008.
Since the conflict, shipments have mainly been limited to food, medical supplies, plastic sheeting, blankets, mattresses and hygiene and cooking kits.
The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees says macaroni, lentils, fruit juice, sweets and paper for school books have been rejected in recent weeks. Israel says pasta, lentils and paper are now being allowed in....
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Gazans Fear Reconstruction "Empty Promise"
Middle East Online, March 3, 2009 - ....On Monday, international donors meeting in Egypt pledged some 4.5 billion dollars to the Palestinians, much of it for the reconstruction of Gaza, but the money will make little difference if Israel does not allow the import of building materials.
Donors have vowed to keep aid out of the hands of democratically elected Hamas. "Everything we hear is empty. I don't think they will rebuild a single house because Israel won't allow it," Dam said. If they don't open the crossings and allow building materials in, then the aid is pointless." Since his home was destroyed, Dam has lived in a rented storage room with his wife, five children, and mother and father. "They destroyed my spice shop too. So I have no house and no work," he said.....
Donors have vowed to keep aid out of the hands of democratically elected Hamas. "Everything we hear is empty. I don't think they will rebuild a single house because Israel won't allow it," Dam said. If they don't open the crossings and allow building materials in, then the aid is pointless." Since his home was destroyed, Dam has lived in a rented storage room with his wife, five children, and mother and father. "They destroyed my spice shop too. So I have no house and no work," he said.....
Rebuilding Gaza - Video Report from the ICRC
ICRC, February 2009 - Industries in the Gaza Strip are struggling to re-establish after January's conflict. In this brief interview, Amr Hamad from the Palestinian Federation of Industries describes the devastation and subsequent rise in the numbers of unemployed. [From the web site of the International Committee of the Red Cross].
Monday, March 2, 2009
Reconstruction Efforts in Gaza Face Huge Obstacles
Al Jazeera English TV, March 2, 2009 - Rebuilding is an enormous project, now being done with little money, a few tools and no organization. But as billions of dollars are being pledged to fund the reconstruction efforts, the Israeli blockade is still in effect. Al Jazeera's Todd Baer reports from Gaza City.
Billions Pledged for Gaza at Donors' Conference, But How Will It Get There?
Relief Web, March 2, 2009 - As the sun set over the mountains ringing the Egyptian resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh on Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had reason to feel gratified.
Delegates from 75 donor countries pledged some 4.48 billion dollars over the course of a conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after Israel's 22-day offensive in late December and January.
World leaders praised Abbas and Acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as "responsible partners." They stressed that they would take pains not to deliver the aid to Abbas' Palestinian rivals in Hamas, who have controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Persian Gulf states said that the collective 1.6 billion dollars they were contributing would go to a fund they would administer directly, but otherwise, the Palestinian president would remain the world's main contact for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, beginning her first trip to the region as US secretary of state, on Monday said the United States had "worked with the Palestinian Authority to install safeguards that will ensure that our funding is only used where, and for whom, it is intended, and does not end up in the wrong hands," in a pointed reference to Hamas.
Perhaps Abbas might have taken comfort too from the singular criticism donors levelled at Israel. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, presenting the conference's conclusions, said that "participants stressed the crucial need to break the cycle of construction and destruction in Gaza, and demanded that Israel fully respect its obligations under international law."
It was a recurring theme from the donors.
"As a friend of the Palestinians and a friend of Israel, and as a donor, I can say that donors are faced with a dilemma," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who co-chaired the conference, told reporters. "Will we again rebuild what ... we built just a few years ago?"
And German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, "We hope that what will now be built will not be destroyed again."
But while the conference was surely good news for Abbas, for the Palestinian people, and for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip in particular, as the day closed it was unclear how all the billions of dollars in aid would actually reach the people of Gaza...
See also: For Gaza's Sake This Can't Be Just Another Summit (Opinion, The National, March 2, 2009)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Rebuilding Gaza: World Faces Daunting Challenges
Egypt News (reporting from Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip), March 1, 2009 - The seven foul-smelling lagoons of sewage near Gaza's coast were supposed to be replaced by a globally funded waste treatment plant. Instead, they epitomize the nightmare faced by foreign donors as they seek to rebuild the territory and open a pathway to peace.
The multimillion dollar project has been delayed by violence and a 20-month-old border closure that have made it difficult to bring supplies into Gaza. Now, after Israel's devastating military offensive, clearing the lagoons is just one part of a much bigger challenge.
On Monday, some 80 donor countries meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh will be asked to pledge at least $2.8 billion in aid to Gaza.
There's plenty of good will — Saudi Arabia has already promised $1 billion and the US $900 million — and the level of representation will be stellar, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
But for reconstruction to move forward smoothly, toward pacifying Gaza and opening new horizons for Mideast peace efforts, a series of improbable events would need to happen....
On Eve of Monday's Donors Conference, Series of High-Level Visitors Come to Gaza to Assess Damages, War Crimes
Arab League Jurists Complete Fact-finding Mission (Haaretz, March 1, 2009)
Tony Blair on First Visit to Gaza Since Being Appointed ME Envoy (Euronews, March 1, 2009)
Blair Calls for Lifting Gaza Blockade (Syrian Arab News Agency, March 1, 2009)
Blair Calls for New Gaza Strategy (al-Jazeera English, March 1, 2009)
Douglas Alexander, UK International Development Minister, Visits Gaza and Pledges 30 million pounds in aid (ReliefWeb, March 1, 2009)
Javier Solana, EU Foreign Minister, Pays Unprecedented Visit to Gaza (Middle East Online, February 27, 2009)
Norway's Foreign Minister Visits Gaza (Middle East Online, February 27, 2009)
Tony Blair on First Visit to Gaza Since Being Appointed ME Envoy (Euronews, March 1, 2009)
Blair Calls for Lifting Gaza Blockade (Syrian Arab News Agency, March 1, 2009)
Blair Calls for New Gaza Strategy (al-Jazeera English, March 1, 2009)
Douglas Alexander, UK International Development Minister, Visits Gaza and Pledges 30 million pounds in aid (ReliefWeb, March 1, 2009)
Javier Solana, EU Foreign Minister, Pays Unprecedented Visit to Gaza (Middle East Online, February 27, 2009)
Norway's Foreign Minister Visits Gaza (Middle East Online, February 27, 2009)
Abbas Insists on Leading Gaza Rebuilding
Middle East Online, February 28, 2009 - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday insisted his government should spearhead postwar reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip days before a major international donors' conference. But although his Fatah party has relaunched reconciliation talks with the democratically elected Hamas movement in Gaza, the region's political standoffs could leave such efforts stillborn regardless of how much money is pledged.
"We expect rapid international aid from all parties to completely rebuild Gaza," Abbas told reporters after meeting the European Union's top diplomat Javier Solana in the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Ramallah.
"We also expect that as in the past there will be one mechanism, the Palestinian Authority," he said, referring to his government, which was ousted from Gaza when Hamas seized power there in June 2007.
The Palestinian Authority and the Hamas have each insisted on leading the rebuilding effort, but Western countries have said they will work only with Abbas.
"I would like to insist in agreement with the president that the mechanism used to deploy the money is the one that represents the Palestinian Authority," Solana said. "I don't think there is a need for new mechanisms."
The Palestinian Authority has said it will request 2.8 billion dollars at a meeting on Monday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, which is expected to draw representatives from more than 70 countries....
"We expect rapid international aid from all parties to completely rebuild Gaza," Abbas told reporters after meeting the European Union's top diplomat Javier Solana in the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Ramallah.
"We also expect that as in the past there will be one mechanism, the Palestinian Authority," he said, referring to his government, which was ousted from Gaza when Hamas seized power there in June 2007.
The Palestinian Authority and the Hamas have each insisted on leading the rebuilding effort, but Western countries have said they will work only with Abbas.
"I would like to insist in agreement with the president that the mechanism used to deploy the money is the one that represents the Palestinian Authority," Solana said. "I don't think there is a need for new mechanisms."
The Palestinian Authority has said it will request 2.8 billion dollars at a meeting on Monday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, which is expected to draw representatives from more than 70 countries....
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Industrial Wastelands - Amira Hass
Haaretz, February 28, 2009 - ....Abu E'ida's [concrete and construction materials] company produced and supplied 35% to 40% of all concrete used in the Strip before the crossings between Israel and Gaza were hermetically sealed that summer. The family, which has been in the concrete business since the mid-1980s, has ties with the Israeli firm Nesher, which also manufactures and sells cement, with the Shapir and Reichman quarries, and with companies in the metal works industry, such as Elkayam.
Abu E'ida stood a good chance of being awarded rebuilding contracts. The only problem is that his company's plants were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces tanks and bulldozers sometime between January 5 and January 18. The pumps and the conveyor belts were demolished, along with the silo and the laboratory, the control rooms and the cement scale, the ventilation, electricity and water systems, the cement mixers and the trucks and cars. His four factories (two family-owned, two in partnership) were located in the northeast part of the Gaza Strip, in an industrial zone that sprang up on both sides of the eastern road, on the slopes of the hill on which stands I'zbet Abed Rabbo, the easternmost neighborhood in the city of Jabalya.
Over the years, about 60 workshops, industries and packing houses were built along this road, manufacturing a wide array of products: concrete, iron, cinderblocks, tiles and electrical appliances. Interspersed among the industries were cowsheds, sheep and goat pens as well as chicken coops. The whole area was greened by orchards, groves and fields. Some of the industries, such as the plant that produced biscuits and ice cream, owned by the al-Wadeya family - who are also the exclusive distributor in Gaza for Tnuva, the giant Israeli food company - date back to the late 1950s and early '60s.
Now, both sides of the eastern road are littered with ruins: piles of smashed concrete, mangled steel, broken planks. Protruding from beneath the wreckage are crushed trucks, cement mixers and shattered pumps, lacerated rolls of sheet metal, overturned power generators, scorched cars, torn pipes and puddles. There is a lingering smell of death emanating from the carcasses of animals crushed to death here....
No ordinary destruction
According to Ali al-Hayek, head of the Palestinian Union of Businessmen and the owner of factories that manufacture cinderblocks, "It was not an ordinary soldier that blew up and destroyed all these buildings." Hayek, who has taken dozens of photographs of the different arenas of destruction, added: "Only an engineer knows how and where to attack a building made of concrete so that it will collapse completely, and not fall on the destroyers. A simple soldier will be afraid. This is an army that spent about three hours in every factory and demolished it or blew it up without coming under attack. It's not a five-minute wrecking job."
Hayek and his counterpart in the Palestinian Federation of Industries, A'mer Hamad, are convinced that the destruction was directed against Gaza's economy and also against the prospects of reconstruction. "The army knew the location of every plant, every workshop, every cowshed, and with all its soul set out to destroy them," Hayek said.
Hayek and A'mer Hamad are among 17 Gaza businessmen who will attend Monday's conference of donor countries for the reconstruction of Gaza, as part of the delegation put together by the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah. With the conference in mind, they are busy making final calculations of the extent of the destruction. They will report that the IDF destroyed 600-700 factories, small industries, workshops and business enterprises throughout the Gaza Strip. Some were destroyed completely, others seriously damaged.
Of the 255 Gaza plants connected to the construction industry (concrete, tiles and sidewalk stones, asphalt, marble, cinderblocks), 63 were hit directly - 29 were reduced to rubble and 34 partially damaged. "Partial" damage ranges from $6,000 to $1.5 million. Total damage ranges from $300,000 to $12 million (the latter sum was sustained by Abu Jiba's cement factory). The total damage done to the 63 enterprises is estimated at $36 million. Hayek and Hamad will tell the conference that even if all political obstacles are removed, the fact that the leading plants of the construction industry were destroyed will in itself delay the rebuilding process....
Abu E'ida stood a good chance of being awarded rebuilding contracts. The only problem is that his company's plants were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces tanks and bulldozers sometime between January 5 and January 18. The pumps and the conveyor belts were demolished, along with the silo and the laboratory, the control rooms and the cement scale, the ventilation, electricity and water systems, the cement mixers and the trucks and cars. His four factories (two family-owned, two in partnership) were located in the northeast part of the Gaza Strip, in an industrial zone that sprang up on both sides of the eastern road, on the slopes of the hill on which stands I'zbet Abed Rabbo, the easternmost neighborhood in the city of Jabalya.
Over the years, about 60 workshops, industries and packing houses were built along this road, manufacturing a wide array of products: concrete, iron, cinderblocks, tiles and electrical appliances. Interspersed among the industries were cowsheds, sheep and goat pens as well as chicken coops. The whole area was greened by orchards, groves and fields. Some of the industries, such as the plant that produced biscuits and ice cream, owned by the al-Wadeya family - who are also the exclusive distributor in Gaza for Tnuva, the giant Israeli food company - date back to the late 1950s and early '60s.
Now, both sides of the eastern road are littered with ruins: piles of smashed concrete, mangled steel, broken planks. Protruding from beneath the wreckage are crushed trucks, cement mixers and shattered pumps, lacerated rolls of sheet metal, overturned power generators, scorched cars, torn pipes and puddles. There is a lingering smell of death emanating from the carcasses of animals crushed to death here....
No ordinary destruction
According to Ali al-Hayek, head of the Palestinian Union of Businessmen and the owner of factories that manufacture cinderblocks, "It was not an ordinary soldier that blew up and destroyed all these buildings." Hayek, who has taken dozens of photographs of the different arenas of destruction, added: "Only an engineer knows how and where to attack a building made of concrete so that it will collapse completely, and not fall on the destroyers. A simple soldier will be afraid. This is an army that spent about three hours in every factory and demolished it or blew it up without coming under attack. It's not a five-minute wrecking job."
Hayek and his counterpart in the Palestinian Federation of Industries, A'mer Hamad, are convinced that the destruction was directed against Gaza's economy and also against the prospects of reconstruction. "The army knew the location of every plant, every workshop, every cowshed, and with all its soul set out to destroy them," Hayek said.
Hayek and A'mer Hamad are among 17 Gaza businessmen who will attend Monday's conference of donor countries for the reconstruction of Gaza, as part of the delegation put together by the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah. With the conference in mind, they are busy making final calculations of the extent of the destruction. They will report that the IDF destroyed 600-700 factories, small industries, workshops and business enterprises throughout the Gaza Strip. Some were destroyed completely, others seriously damaged.
Of the 255 Gaza plants connected to the construction industry (concrete, tiles and sidewalk stones, asphalt, marble, cinderblocks), 63 were hit directly - 29 were reduced to rubble and 34 partially damaged. "Partial" damage ranges from $6,000 to $1.5 million. Total damage ranges from $300,000 to $12 million (the latter sum was sustained by Abu Jiba's cement factory). The total damage done to the 63 enterprises is estimated at $36 million. Hayek and Hamad will tell the conference that even if all political obstacles are removed, the fact that the leading plants of the construction industry were destroyed will in itself delay the rebuilding process....
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Report: US to Offer $900 million in Gaza Aid at Next Week's Donor Conference
Al Jazeera English News, February 24, 2009 - The US is set to offer more than $900m to help rebuild Gaza following Israel's military assault on the Palestinian territory, officials say.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, is to formally announce the funding at a donor conference in Egypt next week, one US official told the Reuters news agency on Monday.
The money, which would need to be approved by the US congress, is to be distributed through the UN and other bodies and not via Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs Gaza, said one of the officials, who asked to remain anonymous.
The same official said the pledge was a mix of money already earmarked for the Palestinians and some new funding.
Rob Reynolds, Al Jazeera's senior Washington correspondent, said the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, had not moved towards engaging directly with Hamas but had modified some of its language towards dealing with Palestinians in Gaza.
It was prepared to mention Palestinian suffering without directly linking it to the actions of Hamas, our correspondent said.
The US has repeatedly said it will not hold talks with Hamas unless it recognises Israel, renounces violence and recognises previous Palestinian peace agreements.
In December, the administration of George Bush, Obama's predecessor, said it would give $85m to the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria....
Friday, February 20, 2009
European Parliament Adopts Resolution Calling for Gaza Rehabilitation
EuropeanVoice.com, February 19, 2009 - EU's foreign-policy chief wants “more strategic and long-term” approach to Gaza.
Hans-Gert Pöttering, the president of the European Parliament, will lead a delegation from the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly on a fact-finding trip to Gaza this weekend (22 February). MEPs will also visit Cairo, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Amman.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution yesterday (18 February) calling for the “financial, economic and social rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip”.
The resolution – which was passed with 488 in favour, five against and 19 abstentions – aims to turn attention to the long-term needs of Gaza, which has been devastated by internal rifts between Palestinian factions, Israeli incursions last month and Israel's stranglehold on its borders.
Briefing
The vote took place after Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, had briefed MEPs on the EU's role in the Middle East.
Solana said that the EU needed to take “a more strategic and long-term view” on Gaza.
“Gaza needs to become politically and economically viable,” he said.
The Parliament's resolution “stresses again that the EU's financial support... should not be undermined by continuous destruction” and asks the European Commission for an assessment of the long-term prospects for successful reconstruction efforts.
See also: European parliament to Israel: "Enough is enough."
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Rubble Removal Urgently Needed to Restore Services in Gaza
United Nations Development Program, Jerusalem (via Palestine Chronicle), February 6, 2009 - The 22 days of intense military operations in Gaza resulted in massive destruction to public as well as private buildings and housing units. An initial survey, conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that over 14,000 homes, 68 government buildings and 31 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been totally or partially damaged. As a result, UNDP estimates that 600,000 tons of concrete rubble will need to be removed.
“This is a top priority,” said Jens Toyberg-Frandzen, UNDP Special Representative in the Occupied Palestinian territory. “The rubble is mixed with poisonous harmful materials and may include unexploded ordnances. It needs to be urgently removed to protect the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and to facilitate immediate access to basic humanitarian and social services.”
Rubble removal was included in the UN Flash Appeal, launched on Monday. Once funding is secured, UNDP will clear rubble, demolish and clean-up sites of damaged buildings, and identify and remove unexploded ordnances. The project will also generate 200,000 workdays for unemployed Gazans.
The UN Flash Appeal outlines the needs arising from the recent fighting in Gaza and requests urgent funds to allow the UN and partners to restore basic social services and public utilities such as water, health, education, food and emergency repairs of critical infrastructure.
Out of US$613 million requested in the Flash Appeal, UNDP funding needs total $49.3 million, more than half of which is allocated for rubble removal. Other projects focus on reviving the agriculture sector and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the water reservoirs in the Gaza Strip....
In order for UN agencies to meet the formidable challenges, essential items must be allowed into Gaza, including construction materials, pipes, electrical wires and transformers, in addition to other key equipment and spare parts. Removing Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods into Gaza will help rebuild the lives and livelihoods of the Palestinians living in the area.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Tale of Two Summits: Divisions in Arab World Played Out in Response to Gaza
Inter Press Service, January 27, 2009 - Despite declarations of Arab unity at a recent economic summit, Egyptian commentators say that fundamental differences between rival Arab camps - especially over the issue of Palestine - are far from over.
"The deep divisions currently plaguing the Arab world cannot be solved over the course of an official state luncheon," Mohamed Abu Al-Hadid, political analyst and chairman of the board of the state-owned Dar Al-Tahrir publishing house wrote in official daily Al-Gomhouriya Thursday (Jan. 22).
On Jan. 16, leaders and representatives of 12 Arab League (AL) member states attended a meeting in Doha, Qatar to discuss the carnage then taking place in the Gaza Strip through Israel's military campaign. The meeting followed repeated calls by Qatar for an emergency AL summit in hope of forging a common Arab stance against ongoing Israeli aggression.
Regional heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia, however, declined to attend. Instead, they announced their intention to discuss the crisis at a scheduled Arab economic summit in Kuwait three days later.
The move highlighted the longstanding divide among AL members, which pits Washington's "moderate" Arab allies - including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan - against those opposed to U.S. policy in the region.
The differences between the two blocs are defined largely by their respective positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict. While the former grouping backs U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, the latter supports resistance against Israel led by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas....
"The deep divisions currently plaguing the Arab world cannot be solved over the course of an official state luncheon," Mohamed Abu Al-Hadid, political analyst and chairman of the board of the state-owned Dar Al-Tahrir publishing house wrote in official daily Al-Gomhouriya Thursday (Jan. 22).
On Jan. 16, leaders and representatives of 12 Arab League (AL) member states attended a meeting in Doha, Qatar to discuss the carnage then taking place in the Gaza Strip through Israel's military campaign. The meeting followed repeated calls by Qatar for an emergency AL summit in hope of forging a common Arab stance against ongoing Israeli aggression.
Regional heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia, however, declined to attend. Instead, they announced their intention to discuss the crisis at a scheduled Arab economic summit in Kuwait three days later.
The move highlighted the longstanding divide among AL members, which pits Washington's "moderate" Arab allies - including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan - against those opposed to U.S. policy in the region.
The differences between the two blocs are defined largely by their respective positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict. While the former grouping backs U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, the latter supports resistance against Israel led by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas....
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