| Israel and Palestine: There can be no Peace Without Economic Justice |
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As recent as last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and urged them to step up their efforts to find a lasting peace. 14th December 2006 - Dr. Kamran Mofid ~ STWR “Everybody recognizes that the creation of a viable, independent democratic Palestinian state that can live side by side in peace with Israel would be not just a remarkable achievement but a just achievement,” Rice said in a news conference with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank town of Jericho. Rice also held talks with the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, in Jerusalem, in which she expressed her appreciation for remarks Olmert had made earlier in the week as an “important step that was likely to both contribute towards calm and advance the peace processes in the region”. Moreover, in the last few days the Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq has recommended attempts at a revival of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. As everybody knows, we have been here many times before: so many peace processes and so many failures with tragic consequences for all. This is so, because those promoting such proposals, it seems, have failed to acknowledge that, the key which will open the door to peace is called justice. Furthermore, there will be no peace between Israel and Palestine, and no true security for Israel, so long as there exists such a level of poverty, inhumanity and economic injustice in Palestine. The words and sentiments of the UN Report on Palestine which was released yesterday (7/12/06) rings true, a gist of it can be noted below. UN aid agencies launched their biggest appeal for funding to tackle the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories, asking for $453m for next year and warning of a weakening in the Palestinians’ ability to govern. Senior UN aid officials in Jerusalem said there were clear signs of a worsening economic crisis. Around two thirds of the 4 million Palestinian population are living below the poverty line and half the population were “food-insecure”, meaning they could not afford the basic foods to meet dietary needs. Unemployment was running as high as 40% in the Gaza strip and at around 25% in the West Bank. Kevin Kennedy, the UN humanitarian coordinator, said the crisis was not only an economic collapse but was also tied to an increase in closures and access restrictions imposed on the occupied territories by the Israeli government and to continued conflict, internal political fighting and a breakdown of law and order. The UN has warned there has been a gradual weakening of the Palestinian Authority. The crisis results from an international boycott imposed in March after Hamas won the elections and formed a government. Israel has since withheld $60m a month of tax revenues that should go to the Palestinians. Although some of that money has been spent paying the Palestinian bills of Israeli electricity and water companies, the Israelis have now withheld nearly $600m. The international community, under the Quartet of the US, the UN, the EU and Russia, has also halted direct funding to the Palestinian government, saying it must recognise Israel, halt violence and accept past peace agreements. The freeze means salaries for 160,000 government workers have largely gone unpaid. “Obviously the longer the current situation continues, with further deterioration, a lack of salaries, people on strike, continued military conflict on both sides, [the] further [the] weakening of the Palestinian Authority and its institutions”, the Report notes. In the past year, the UN observes, there had been a 40% increase in the number of barriers and checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there have been continued closures of the crossing points for people and goods out of Gaza. Under an agreement negotiated last November, Israel was to open up the main crossing points to relieve the economic crisis. But the crossings have in effect been closed, with Israel citing security concerns. How Can a Lasting Peace Process Move Forward?Sound economic policies, effectively implemented, are essential elements of the peace process in the Middle East. “Economics of Hope”, leading to envisioning, enabling and empowering the disposed and marginalised people of Palestine is the most effective path to a non-violent resolution of conflict in the Middle East and a long-term security for Israel. Without economic empowerment, leading to tangible economic wellbeing and prosperity, all forms of peace proposals and dialogue, although valuable, will remain ineffective in realising their overall objective: peace, security and harmonious living, side-by-side. Hopelessness Leads to ViolenceExperience in the Holy Land has shown that hopelessness leads to violence, but the prospect for empowerment leads to peaceful coexistence. Calm and relative cooperation prevailed after the successful negotiations at Camp David over 25 years ago, after the Oslo agreement of 1993, and during and after the Palestinian elections of 1996. These were times when moderate leadership and sound judgment prevailed, and there was hope that further progress would be made. Tragically, radical and violent actions subsequently intruded. The Path to Peace, Reconstruction, Security and Prosperity: Challenges and Opportunities
It is increasingly apparent that the problem of economics is not just a technical problem for experts but is above all a moral and spiritual issue. The world is longing for a system that would be both participatory and socially just; a system with a functioning economy that would be at the same time sensitive to theological consequences. We must deal with the issue of economic empowerment that has a religious tract. Through our indifference and complicity, the integrity of our faith is in jeopardy. The children of Abraham in the Middle East know well that religion is a major factor in the formation of social networks and trust. In addition, the impetus for focusing specifically on spiritual/theological economics draws on the growing recognition in economics and other social sciences that religion is not epiphenomenal, nor is it fading from public significance in the 21st century and the importance to social/economic dynamics of human economic intangibles. Recent developments in the social sciences suggest a growing openness to nonmaterial factors, such as the radius of trust, behavioural norms, and religion as having profound economic, political, and social consequences. Spiritual Economics, Reconstruction and Development in West Bank and Gaza
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