6 june 2014
B'Tselem issued Thursday on the day of Naksa a statement explaining that Israel exploits Oslo Accords to over control the West Bank lands. B'Tselem , The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories , made clear that Palestinian authority emanated from Oslo Accord in 1993 deceiving the public opinion that Israeli occupation has a minor role in Palestinian daily life.
“In theory, Israel retains full control in the West Bank only of Area C. In practice, Israel’s control of Area C adversely affects all Palestinian West Bank residents,” B'Tselem reported.
Naksa Day (5 June 1967), meaning “day of the setback”, is the annual day of commemoration for the Palestinian people of the displacement that accompanied Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. As a result of the war, Israel took control of the Palestinian-populated West Bank and Gaza Strip, which were previously annexed by Jordan and controlled by Egypt, respectively
The report stated that some 60 percent of West Bank lands have been classified as “Area C” and are under full and exclusive Israeli control. Area C is home to an estimated 180,000 Palestinians and includes the major residential and development land reserves for the entire West Bank. Israel prohibits Palestinian construction and development on some 70 percent of Area C territory, arguing various rationales, such as being “state lands” or “firing zones.”
Israel’s planning and construction policy virtually ignores the needs of the local population: it refuses to recognize most of the villages in the area or draw up plans for them, prevents the expansion and development of Palestinian communities, demolishes homes and does not allow the communities to hook up to infrastructure. Thousands of inhabitants live under the constant threat of expulsion for living in alleged firing zones or “illegal” communities. In addition, Israel has taken over most of the water sources in Area C and has restricted Palestinian access to them.
Scattered throughout the vast expanses of Area C are 166 “islands” of Area A- and B-land that are home to the major concentrations of population in the West Bank. The land reserves that surround the built-up sections of West Bank towns and villages are often designated as Area C, and Israel does not allow construction or development on these reserves. Israel thereby stifles many Area A and B communities, denying them the opportunity to develop. This is one of the contributing factors to the difficulty in obtaining lots for construction, the steep price hike in the cost of the few available plots, the dearth of open areas, and the total lack of suitable sites for infrastructure and industrial zones. If, for want of an alternative, residents of these areas build homes without permits on nearby land – owned by them but classified “Area C” – they live under the constant shadow of the threat of demolition.
The report stated that Israel’s policy in Area C is anchored in a perception of the area as meant above all to serve Israeli needs. Consequently, Israel consistently takes actions that strengthen its hold on Area C, displace Palestinian presence, exploit the area’s resources to benefit Israelis, and bring about a permanent situation in which Israeli settlements thrive and Palestinian presence is negligible. Israel’s actions have brought about a de facto annexation of Area C and have created circumstances that will influence the final status of the area.
" Israel’s policy in Area C violates the essential obligations of international humanitarian law, namely: to safeguard occupied territory on a temporary basis; to refrain from altering the area or exploiting its resources to benefit the occupying power; and, most importantly, to undertake to fulfill the needs of the local residents and respect their rights," it reported.
Instead, through the Civil Administration, Israel pursues a policy designed to achieve precisely the opposite: the Civil Administration refuses to prepare master plans for the Area C communities and draws on the absence of these plans to justify the prohibition of virtually all Area C construction and infrastructure hook-ups. In cases where, having no alternative, residents carry out construction despite the prohibition, the Civil Administration demolishes their homes. Israel utterly ignores the reality that residents cannot build their homes legally. Israel conducts itself as though this situation were not in fact a direct result of its own policy.
As long as Israel controls the West Bank, including Area C, it must meet its obligations under international law and human rights law, the institution demanded.
It stressed that first, Israel must revoke the allocation it has made of vast tracts of “state land” to the local and district councils of settlements’ – whose very existence is in contravention of international law – and also retract the classification of extensive areas as firing zones.
Second, Israel must allocate lands throughout Area C to Palestinians for housing, infrastructure and industrial zones, and pursue an expert planning process whose top priority will be the needs of the Palestinians in the West Bank. In accordance with Jordanian law which was in effect in the West Bank before Israel changed it, representatives of the local Palestinian population must be included in this process. The process must also feature recognition of existing communities in the West Bank, and all Palestinian residents of the West Bank must be promptly hooked up to water and power infrastructure.
" Israel must work in conjunction with Palestinian Authority representatives to promote overall planning in the West Bank and to address the planning and development needs of the residents of the entire West Bank," it demanded.
“In theory, Israel retains full control in the West Bank only of Area C. In practice, Israel’s control of Area C adversely affects all Palestinian West Bank residents,” B'Tselem reported.
Naksa Day (5 June 1967), meaning “day of the setback”, is the annual day of commemoration for the Palestinian people of the displacement that accompanied Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. As a result of the war, Israel took control of the Palestinian-populated West Bank and Gaza Strip, which were previously annexed by Jordan and controlled by Egypt, respectively
The report stated that some 60 percent of West Bank lands have been classified as “Area C” and are under full and exclusive Israeli control. Area C is home to an estimated 180,000 Palestinians and includes the major residential and development land reserves for the entire West Bank. Israel prohibits Palestinian construction and development on some 70 percent of Area C territory, arguing various rationales, such as being “state lands” or “firing zones.”
Israel’s planning and construction policy virtually ignores the needs of the local population: it refuses to recognize most of the villages in the area or draw up plans for them, prevents the expansion and development of Palestinian communities, demolishes homes and does not allow the communities to hook up to infrastructure. Thousands of inhabitants live under the constant threat of expulsion for living in alleged firing zones or “illegal” communities. In addition, Israel has taken over most of the water sources in Area C and has restricted Palestinian access to them.
Scattered throughout the vast expanses of Area C are 166 “islands” of Area A- and B-land that are home to the major concentrations of population in the West Bank. The land reserves that surround the built-up sections of West Bank towns and villages are often designated as Area C, and Israel does not allow construction or development on these reserves. Israel thereby stifles many Area A and B communities, denying them the opportunity to develop. This is one of the contributing factors to the difficulty in obtaining lots for construction, the steep price hike in the cost of the few available plots, the dearth of open areas, and the total lack of suitable sites for infrastructure and industrial zones. If, for want of an alternative, residents of these areas build homes without permits on nearby land – owned by them but classified “Area C” – they live under the constant shadow of the threat of demolition.
The report stated that Israel’s policy in Area C is anchored in a perception of the area as meant above all to serve Israeli needs. Consequently, Israel consistently takes actions that strengthen its hold on Area C, displace Palestinian presence, exploit the area’s resources to benefit Israelis, and bring about a permanent situation in which Israeli settlements thrive and Palestinian presence is negligible. Israel’s actions have brought about a de facto annexation of Area C and have created circumstances that will influence the final status of the area.
" Israel’s policy in Area C violates the essential obligations of international humanitarian law, namely: to safeguard occupied territory on a temporary basis; to refrain from altering the area or exploiting its resources to benefit the occupying power; and, most importantly, to undertake to fulfill the needs of the local residents and respect their rights," it reported.
Instead, through the Civil Administration, Israel pursues a policy designed to achieve precisely the opposite: the Civil Administration refuses to prepare master plans for the Area C communities and draws on the absence of these plans to justify the prohibition of virtually all Area C construction and infrastructure hook-ups. In cases where, having no alternative, residents carry out construction despite the prohibition, the Civil Administration demolishes their homes. Israel utterly ignores the reality that residents cannot build their homes legally. Israel conducts itself as though this situation were not in fact a direct result of its own policy.
As long as Israel controls the West Bank, including Area C, it must meet its obligations under international law and human rights law, the institution demanded.
It stressed that first, Israel must revoke the allocation it has made of vast tracts of “state land” to the local and district councils of settlements’ – whose very existence is in contravention of international law – and also retract the classification of extensive areas as firing zones.
Second, Israel must allocate lands throughout Area C to Palestinians for housing, infrastructure and industrial zones, and pursue an expert planning process whose top priority will be the needs of the Palestinians in the West Bank. In accordance with Jordanian law which was in effect in the West Bank before Israel changed it, representatives of the local Palestinian population must be included in this process. The process must also feature recognition of existing communities in the West Bank, and all Palestinian residents of the West Bank must be promptly hooked up to water and power infrastructure.
" Israel must work in conjunction with Palestinian Authority representatives to promote overall planning in the West Bank and to address the planning and development needs of the residents of the entire West Bank," it demanded.
13 may 2014
Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennet asserted that the annexation of the West Bank to Israel will be discussed in the next session of the Knesset. He said in a statement Monday evening, “ after we have advanced a bill that blocks amnesty for Palestinian prisoners convicted of murdering Israelis, our goal of the next summer session of the Knesset will revolve on transferring the sovereignty over the West Bank to Israel.”
“ Israel woke up from its romantic vision of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, who was seen as a figure that calls for peace, after he woos Hamas movement,” Bennet added.
Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority officially controls a geographically non-contiguous territory comprising approx. 11% of the West Bank (known as Area A) which remains subject to Israeli incursions. Area B (approx. 28%) is subject to both Israeli occcupation forces and Palestinian civil control. Area C (approx. 61%) is under full Israeli control.
“ Israel woke up from its romantic vision of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, who was seen as a figure that calls for peace, after he woos Hamas movement,” Bennet added.
Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority officially controls a geographically non-contiguous territory comprising approx. 11% of the West Bank (known as Area A) which remains subject to Israeli incursions. Area B (approx. 28%) is subject to both Israeli occcupation forces and Palestinian civil control. Area C (approx. 61%) is under full Israeli control.
23 apr 2014
By Al-Shabaka
Al-Shabaka is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and foster public debate on Palestinian human rights and self-determination within the framework of international law.
This policy brief is authored by Khalil Nakhleh, a Palestinian anthropologist and the author of Globalized Palestine: The National Sell-out of a Homeland.
This is not an assessment of the impact of the Oslo Accords that began to be signed in 1993. It was never the kind of "process" that could lend itself to a balance sheet type of analysis that would show the positives and negatives of what transpired. The accords were destructive from the start.
As the late Edward Said brilliantly put it, "The fashion-show vulgarities of the White House ceremony … only temporarily obscure the truly astonishing proportions of the Palestinian capitulation. So … let us call the agreement by its real name: an instrument of Palestinian surrender, a Palestinian Versailles."
Instead, what must be analyzed is how the Oslo Accords systematically undermined the Palestinian struggle for liberation and self-determination and replaced it with a dangerous form of economic neo-colonialism. The political and economic leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization/Palestinian Authority has been a willing and indeed a profiting partner, facilitating the creation of new "predatory classes."
The Economic Neo-Colonization of Palestine
Palestine, in its entirety, has of course been subjected to a unique form of colonialism, i.e. settler colonialism, since the early nineteenth century. Under the cover of the British Mandate, the Zionist settler-colonialists and later the state of Israel dispossessed and uprooted the indigenous population and stole their lands and natural resources.
This ongoing process intensified with the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 and especially since the start of the "peace process" 20 years ago.
However, it was marked by a new form of colonization grounded in the neo-liberalism that the US-led international finance institutions peddled to (and imposed on) the global South in the late 1970s and 1980s. It is this dual process of colonization and neo-liberalism that I term economic neo-colonialism.
It is worth reflecting for a moment on the outcomes of the social and economic re-colonization of the South, which began in Latin America and moved on to Africa and the Middle East, given that it has been and continues to be applied to Palestine (the term is used for the sake of brevity).
In the neoliberal process of re-colonizing the South, occupying armies, destroyers, and missiles were replaced by invading systems and agents that:
1. De-regulated public sectors
2. Privatized indispensable services, such as education, health care, and welfare
3. Mortgaged people through easily accessible credit schemes in collusion with locally-created financial institutions and locally-invented monopolies, thus loading citizens with heavy debts and financial commitments that they could not pay
4. Generated high levels of unemployment along with reduced chances of employability
The result has been the pauperization of entire generations and the political and economic submissiveness of the bulk of the population to new elites who control political and economic resources. At the same time, this process has entrenched an overarching self-delusion -- that these changes would lead to the people’s liberation and ensure their economic well being.
Palestine is no different; it has not been immune from what Chris Hedges aptly characterized as a "collective capacity of self-delusion."
Neo-colonial Palestine, having received about $23 billion since 1994, currently carries the weight of at least $4.3 billion in external and internal debt. It is often unable to pay the salaries of its 170,000 public employees at the end of each month. The ever-escalating rate of unemployment reaches, for example, in excess of 45 percent among university graduates and people below 30 years of age.
Its economy is totally dependent on that of its occupier and on external "aid." Developmentally, Palestinian society is splitting at the seams.
Non-Sovereignty and New Predatory Classes
Al-Shabaka is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and foster public debate on Palestinian human rights and self-determination within the framework of international law.
This policy brief is authored by Khalil Nakhleh, a Palestinian anthropologist and the author of Globalized Palestine: The National Sell-out of a Homeland.
This is not an assessment of the impact of the Oslo Accords that began to be signed in 1993. It was never the kind of "process" that could lend itself to a balance sheet type of analysis that would show the positives and negatives of what transpired. The accords were destructive from the start.
As the late Edward Said brilliantly put it, "The fashion-show vulgarities of the White House ceremony … only temporarily obscure the truly astonishing proportions of the Palestinian capitulation. So … let us call the agreement by its real name: an instrument of Palestinian surrender, a Palestinian Versailles."
Instead, what must be analyzed is how the Oslo Accords systematically undermined the Palestinian struggle for liberation and self-determination and replaced it with a dangerous form of economic neo-colonialism. The political and economic leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization/Palestinian Authority has been a willing and indeed a profiting partner, facilitating the creation of new "predatory classes."
The Economic Neo-Colonization of Palestine
Palestine, in its entirety, has of course been subjected to a unique form of colonialism, i.e. settler colonialism, since the early nineteenth century. Under the cover of the British Mandate, the Zionist settler-colonialists and later the state of Israel dispossessed and uprooted the indigenous population and stole their lands and natural resources.
This ongoing process intensified with the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 and especially since the start of the "peace process" 20 years ago.
However, it was marked by a new form of colonization grounded in the neo-liberalism that the US-led international finance institutions peddled to (and imposed on) the global South in the late 1970s and 1980s. It is this dual process of colonization and neo-liberalism that I term economic neo-colonialism.
It is worth reflecting for a moment on the outcomes of the social and economic re-colonization of the South, which began in Latin America and moved on to Africa and the Middle East, given that it has been and continues to be applied to Palestine (the term is used for the sake of brevity).
In the neoliberal process of re-colonizing the South, occupying armies, destroyers, and missiles were replaced by invading systems and agents that:
1. De-regulated public sectors
2. Privatized indispensable services, such as education, health care, and welfare
3. Mortgaged people through easily accessible credit schemes in collusion with locally-created financial institutions and locally-invented monopolies, thus loading citizens with heavy debts and financial commitments that they could not pay
4. Generated high levels of unemployment along with reduced chances of employability
The result has been the pauperization of entire generations and the political and economic submissiveness of the bulk of the population to new elites who control political and economic resources. At the same time, this process has entrenched an overarching self-delusion -- that these changes would lead to the people’s liberation and ensure their economic well being.
Palestine is no different; it has not been immune from what Chris Hedges aptly characterized as a "collective capacity of self-delusion."
Neo-colonial Palestine, having received about $23 billion since 1994, currently carries the weight of at least $4.3 billion in external and internal debt. It is often unable to pay the salaries of its 170,000 public employees at the end of each month. The ever-escalating rate of unemployment reaches, for example, in excess of 45 percent among university graduates and people below 30 years of age.
Its economy is totally dependent on that of its occupier and on external "aid." Developmentally, Palestinian society is splitting at the seams.
Non-Sovereignty and New Predatory Classes
Ramallah governor Layla Ghannam confronts an Israeli soldier after her convoy was detained near Ramallah in Dec. 2012
Further, the Oslo process has entrenched the non-sovereignty of Palestine. The concept of sovereignty is used here in a holistic sense, i.e., it not only refers to political sovereignty but also encompasses the economy, nutrition, education, health, water, and other resources crucial to sustained human development. Having been subjected to various forms of occupation, Palestine has never experienced true sovereignty.
Today, however -- under the illusion of self-rule introduced by the Oslo process -- Palestine experiences an unprecedented absence of sovereignty in all of the spheres cited above.
Consider just these few facts. The Occupied Palestinian Territory is under the absolute control of the Israeli military occupation in collaboration with the well-trained and well-funded security forces of the PA. Furthermore, the Palestinian people have been fragmented into five population clusters: the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the Palestinians of the Diaspora (al-shatat).
Each of these clusters experiences -- or rather endures -- a different administrative and governance status: occupation, refugee-hood, minority citizenship, and exile. They are further fragmented at the micro-level, e.g. through the classifications of Areas A, B, and C, each with its own juridical status. The Palestinians' ability to move freely between and within these clusters depends entirely upon the approval of the Israeli occupation forces.
And, of course, there is the formal and absolute dependence of the Palestinian economy on Israel, for which it serves as a captive market. As Sam Bahour succinctly puts it, "Strategic state-building economic resources (which) are land, water, roads, borders, electromagnetic spectrum, airspace, movement, access, electricity, free trade relations, and the most important resource of all, the human resource … are 100 percent micromanaged by the Israeli military occupation."
Beyond the entrenchment of non-sovereignty, the Oslo process has incubated new "predatory classes" that have fed upon vulnerable groups, accessed political privilege and donor funds, and given a veneer of legitimacy to normalization with the structures of Israel's occupation while serving as sub-agents for the occupation.
What used to be done reluctantly and secretively in the past, given the risk of exclusion and abandonment by the society at large and sometimes the loss of one's life, has, since Oslo, been done openly, flagrantly, and even with audacious pride in, for example, securing so-called innovative economic deals for the development of Palestine.
These predatory classes include the following -- and this is by no means a comprehensive list:
1. Political brokers, who normalize contacts between the PA and the Israeli occupation administration
2. Land brokers, who manufacture commercial real estate ventures to sell off indigenous lands to wealthy Palestinians, Arabs, or Jews living outside of Palestine
3. Finance brokers, who act as intermediaries between transnational aid agencies, foreign government agencies, and commercial companies, on the one hand, and local NGOs and companies, on the other
4. Capitalist brokers, who link Palestinians in the OPT with Palestinian, Arab, Israeli Jewish, Western Jewish, and other Western capitalists who seek profitable investments in Palestine
5. Security brokers, who connect Israeli and Western security companies with local companies and enterprises with emerging security needs.
Liberating Ourselves from this Predicament
Further, the Oslo process has entrenched the non-sovereignty of Palestine. The concept of sovereignty is used here in a holistic sense, i.e., it not only refers to political sovereignty but also encompasses the economy, nutrition, education, health, water, and other resources crucial to sustained human development. Having been subjected to various forms of occupation, Palestine has never experienced true sovereignty.
Today, however -- under the illusion of self-rule introduced by the Oslo process -- Palestine experiences an unprecedented absence of sovereignty in all of the spheres cited above.
Consider just these few facts. The Occupied Palestinian Territory is under the absolute control of the Israeli military occupation in collaboration with the well-trained and well-funded security forces of the PA. Furthermore, the Palestinian people have been fragmented into five population clusters: the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the Palestinians of the Diaspora (al-shatat).
Each of these clusters experiences -- or rather endures -- a different administrative and governance status: occupation, refugee-hood, minority citizenship, and exile. They are further fragmented at the micro-level, e.g. through the classifications of Areas A, B, and C, each with its own juridical status. The Palestinians' ability to move freely between and within these clusters depends entirely upon the approval of the Israeli occupation forces.
And, of course, there is the formal and absolute dependence of the Palestinian economy on Israel, for which it serves as a captive market. As Sam Bahour succinctly puts it, "Strategic state-building economic resources (which) are land, water, roads, borders, electromagnetic spectrum, airspace, movement, access, electricity, free trade relations, and the most important resource of all, the human resource … are 100 percent micromanaged by the Israeli military occupation."
Beyond the entrenchment of non-sovereignty, the Oslo process has incubated new "predatory classes" that have fed upon vulnerable groups, accessed political privilege and donor funds, and given a veneer of legitimacy to normalization with the structures of Israel's occupation while serving as sub-agents for the occupation.
What used to be done reluctantly and secretively in the past, given the risk of exclusion and abandonment by the society at large and sometimes the loss of one's life, has, since Oslo, been done openly, flagrantly, and even with audacious pride in, for example, securing so-called innovative economic deals for the development of Palestine.
These predatory classes include the following -- and this is by no means a comprehensive list:
1. Political brokers, who normalize contacts between the PA and the Israeli occupation administration
2. Land brokers, who manufacture commercial real estate ventures to sell off indigenous lands to wealthy Palestinians, Arabs, or Jews living outside of Palestine
3. Finance brokers, who act as intermediaries between transnational aid agencies, foreign government agencies, and commercial companies, on the one hand, and local NGOs and companies, on the other
4. Capitalist brokers, who link Palestinians in the OPT with Palestinian, Arab, Israeli Jewish, Western Jewish, and other Western capitalists who seek profitable investments in Palestine
5. Security brokers, who connect Israeli and Western security companies with local companies and enterprises with emerging security needs.
Liberating Ourselves from this Predicament
A Palestinian farmer sits near a settlement in the South Hebron Hills
Overall, the social and economic development of Palestine since the 1978 Camp David Accords and particularly since the 1993 Oslo Accords has been fragmented and non-cumulative. It has been impeded primarily by the Israeli occupation's colonization of land and siphoning of resources but also by an informal coalition of Palestinian capitalists and political elites, development NGOs, and transnational aid agencies.
This coalition has depended on the flow of transnational money and collaboration with Jewish-Israeli corporations within Israel, in the region, and globally. Many -- including the current Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu -- hoped that this would generate a permanent state of "economic peace."
The aid advanced to Palestine in the context of the Oslo Accords' agenda under prolonged occupation and colonization is political aid par excellence. It has been advanced specifically to force and entice the Palestinian people to acquiesce and submit to an imposed political and economic agenda that is determined, shaped, and dictated by the global neo-liberal strategy of Palestine's occupier.
Such aid focuses on non-production and on brazen conspicuous consumption by relying on readily available credit from financial institutions, thus mortgaging and holding hostage the entire current society and future generations to political and economic debt. It is this aid that directs Palestinians to consume what they don’t produce; and eat only what and when their occupier allows.
There is an alternative: a different approach to development that I call People-Centered Liberationist Development. This would involve re-engineering our mental constructs and social, economic, and educational institutions to lead cumulatively towards social, economic, and political self-determination and liberation.
Such a re-engineering process would target the entire society in order to strengthen and enhance its indigenous resources and is aimed primarily at resisting and ending foreign occupation, political and economic re-colonization, and the predatory classes.
The challenge is how to re-engineer this artificially imposed environment in order to render it people-centered and liberation promoting.
First, Palestinians need to avoid those who insist impatiently on immediate solutions within the existing framework, a status quo that they accept, support, and from which they benefit. Rather, our approach has to be strategic and long term. The process must begin with self-liberation of the kind that Frantz Fanon advocated in his book, The Wretched of the Earth, grounded in an indigenously-generated and -nurtured consciousness that is embedded in people’s history, strengths, and value systems.
A key step toward this goal is a revision of the educational curricula in order to redefine what it means to be a Palestinian in the context of prolonged occupation and re-integrating this understanding of Palestinian-hood with that of the rest of the Palestinian people. A related step is re-instilling positive cultural values in our society, particularly volunteerism.
Concurrently, efforts should be focused on re-establishing "popular sovereignty" by reclaiming the agricultural means of production -- our lands and natural resources, especially water. Agricultural cooperatives should be the way forward for the foreseeable future. Imitating capitalism and its so-called open markets is not the way to consolidate our societal fabric under oppression and occupation. We must work on production rather than conspicuous consumption and promote the aim of consuming what we produce.
Such strategic approaches would eventually lead to Palestinians' collective emancipation and liberation. They would take time, but the Palestinian people can draw from the experience of their many struggles in the past century.
There is really no other way: liberation, independence, self-sufficiency, and sovereignty cannot be achieved within the framework created by the Oslo process.
Originally published on Al-Shabaka's website on April 11, 2014.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
Overall, the social and economic development of Palestine since the 1978 Camp David Accords and particularly since the 1993 Oslo Accords has been fragmented and non-cumulative. It has been impeded primarily by the Israeli occupation's colonization of land and siphoning of resources but also by an informal coalition of Palestinian capitalists and political elites, development NGOs, and transnational aid agencies.
This coalition has depended on the flow of transnational money and collaboration with Jewish-Israeli corporations within Israel, in the region, and globally. Many -- including the current Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu -- hoped that this would generate a permanent state of "economic peace."
The aid advanced to Palestine in the context of the Oslo Accords' agenda under prolonged occupation and colonization is political aid par excellence. It has been advanced specifically to force and entice the Palestinian people to acquiesce and submit to an imposed political and economic agenda that is determined, shaped, and dictated by the global neo-liberal strategy of Palestine's occupier.
Such aid focuses on non-production and on brazen conspicuous consumption by relying on readily available credit from financial institutions, thus mortgaging and holding hostage the entire current society and future generations to political and economic debt. It is this aid that directs Palestinians to consume what they don’t produce; and eat only what and when their occupier allows.
There is an alternative: a different approach to development that I call People-Centered Liberationist Development. This would involve re-engineering our mental constructs and social, economic, and educational institutions to lead cumulatively towards social, economic, and political self-determination and liberation.
Such a re-engineering process would target the entire society in order to strengthen and enhance its indigenous resources and is aimed primarily at resisting and ending foreign occupation, political and economic re-colonization, and the predatory classes.
The challenge is how to re-engineer this artificially imposed environment in order to render it people-centered and liberation promoting.
First, Palestinians need to avoid those who insist impatiently on immediate solutions within the existing framework, a status quo that they accept, support, and from which they benefit. Rather, our approach has to be strategic and long term. The process must begin with self-liberation of the kind that Frantz Fanon advocated in his book, The Wretched of the Earth, grounded in an indigenously-generated and -nurtured consciousness that is embedded in people’s history, strengths, and value systems.
A key step toward this goal is a revision of the educational curricula in order to redefine what it means to be a Palestinian in the context of prolonged occupation and re-integrating this understanding of Palestinian-hood with that of the rest of the Palestinian people. A related step is re-instilling positive cultural values in our society, particularly volunteerism.
Concurrently, efforts should be focused on re-establishing "popular sovereignty" by reclaiming the agricultural means of production -- our lands and natural resources, especially water. Agricultural cooperatives should be the way forward for the foreseeable future. Imitating capitalism and its so-called open markets is not the way to consolidate our societal fabric under oppression and occupation. We must work on production rather than conspicuous consumption and promote the aim of consuming what we produce.
Such strategic approaches would eventually lead to Palestinians' collective emancipation and liberation. They would take time, but the Palestinian people can draw from the experience of their many struggles in the past century.
There is really no other way: liberation, independence, self-sufficiency, and sovereignty cannot be achieved within the framework created by the Oslo process.
Originally published on Al-Shabaka's website on April 11, 2014.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
12 apr 2014
A picture taken on Jan. 9 2014, shows Ron Pundak, one of the architects of the 1993 Oslo Accords, speaking at a peace conference at Tel Aviv University
Ron Pundak, an architect of the 1993 Oslo agreement between Israel and the PLO, died at home of cancer Friday, aged 59, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
In the early 1990s, with the approval of then foreign minister Shimon Peres, Pundak and fellow Israeli academic Yair Hirschfeld forged a secret channel of communications with the PLO in Norway, at a time when such links were illegal for Israelis.
"The secret channel, nicknamed 'the academic talks,' which took place in an Oslo research center with the approval of Norway's government, eventually led to the Oslo peace process," wrote Haaretz.
Coincidentally, Tel Aviv-born Pundak worked briefly as a journalist for the newspaper after obtaining a doctorate from the University of London in 1991.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief peace negotiator with the PLO, called Pundak "a hero for peace" who "believed in peace and strove for it until his last day."
UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry added his own tribute.
"I knew Ron as somebody tirelessly working for peace," he said in a statement.
"Together with others, he showed that peace is possible, in fact, necessary, even in the face of tremendous setbacks, adversity, and skepticism."
Since last year Pundak was co-chair and president of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum and a member of the committee of the French-based Aix Group, an NGO for Middle East peace centerd in Aix-en-Provence.
Pundak is survived by his widow and two children.
The Oslo accords, signed Sept. 13, 1993, were meant as an interim agreement leading to a final peace agreement and an independent Palestinian state within five years.
Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti has called the accords "a transition to nothing" used as a cover by Israel "to consolidate a system of apartheid."
Ron Pundak, an architect of the 1993 Oslo agreement between Israel and the PLO, died at home of cancer Friday, aged 59, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
In the early 1990s, with the approval of then foreign minister Shimon Peres, Pundak and fellow Israeli academic Yair Hirschfeld forged a secret channel of communications with the PLO in Norway, at a time when such links were illegal for Israelis.
"The secret channel, nicknamed 'the academic talks,' which took place in an Oslo research center with the approval of Norway's government, eventually led to the Oslo peace process," wrote Haaretz.
Coincidentally, Tel Aviv-born Pundak worked briefly as a journalist for the newspaper after obtaining a doctorate from the University of London in 1991.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief peace negotiator with the PLO, called Pundak "a hero for peace" who "believed in peace and strove for it until his last day."
UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry added his own tribute.
"I knew Ron as somebody tirelessly working for peace," he said in a statement.
"Together with others, he showed that peace is possible, in fact, necessary, even in the face of tremendous setbacks, adversity, and skepticism."
Since last year Pundak was co-chair and president of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum and a member of the committee of the French-based Aix Group, an NGO for Middle East peace centerd in Aix-en-Provence.
Pundak is survived by his widow and two children.
The Oslo accords, signed Sept. 13, 1993, were meant as an interim agreement leading to a final peace agreement and an independent Palestinian state within five years.
Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti has called the accords "a transition to nothing" used as a cover by Israel "to consolidate a system of apartheid."
5 feb 2014
|
|
“Either you issue an Israeli construction license before Feb. 19, or your houses will be demolished,” Israeli forces have warned Palestinian residents in a village southwest of Hebron.
Ribhi al-Hroub, his brother, and other residents live in the part of the village Deir Samit in the West Bank's Area C, a designation according to the Oslo Accord of 1994 which places it under full Israeli rule. Al-Hroub told Ma’an Monday that Israeli officers told him that he should obtain a construction license for the house his family already lives in or it will be demolished. |
“He (an Israeli officer) notified me that I should obtain an Israeli license, and when I asked where I could get it from, he said from the Civil Administration department.
“Then I asked him if they agree to give me a license, and he immediately said no.
“'On what basis do you give me a warrant asking to get a license if you know that I can’t get it?' I asked. 'This is my business,' he said. This area “C” is Israeli land and you are not allowed to build on it.'”
Commenting on the situation, the mayor of Deir Samit says the village can expand only to the east to meet its natural growth. To the west, he said, there is Israel’s separation wall, to the south there is the Israeli bypass road, and to the north there is the town of Idhna which is densely populated and surrounded by bypass roads and the separation wall.
“Every day or every week, Israeli forces arrive and deliver demolition and stop-work warrants. Two weeks ago, they demolished houses in Beit Awwa and Deir Samit,” the mayor said.
The only possible recourse is for powerless Palestinian residents to appeal to the Palestinian Authority and president.
“Then I asked him if they agree to give me a license, and he immediately said no.
“'On what basis do you give me a warrant asking to get a license if you know that I can’t get it?' I asked. 'This is my business,' he said. This area “C” is Israeli land and you are not allowed to build on it.'”
Commenting on the situation, the mayor of Deir Samit says the village can expand only to the east to meet its natural growth. To the west, he said, there is Israel’s separation wall, to the south there is the Israeli bypass road, and to the north there is the town of Idhna which is densely populated and surrounded by bypass roads and the separation wall.
“Every day or every week, Israeli forces arrive and deliver demolition and stop-work warrants. Two weeks ago, they demolished houses in Beit Awwa and Deir Samit,” the mayor said.
The only possible recourse is for powerless Palestinian residents to appeal to the Palestinian Authority and president.
9 jan 2014
Hossam Badran, spokesman for Hamas Movement, confirmed that the current round of talks between Israeli and Palestinian authorities has no legal basis nor popular support, stressing that the Palestinian people will never accept a second Oslo Accord. In an exclusive interview with Quds Press on Wednesday, Badran pointed out that the Palestinian negotiating team itself admitted the failure of negotiation option, while the Israeli position towards central issues has not changed but rather is getting more extreme in light of the US biased policy.
US Secretary of State John Kerry's suggestions concerning core issues including Jerusalem and right of return do not live up to the aspirations of Palestinian people who are not committed to any agreement that might result from the ongoing negotiations, he said.
Hamas's spokesman renewed his movement's rejection to land and population swap that came in total contradiction to the Palestinian constants especially the right of return, stressing that the Palestinian people will never accept another Oslo Accord.
US Secretary of State John Kerry's suggestions concerning core issues including Jerusalem and right of return do not live up to the aspirations of Palestinian people who are not committed to any agreement that might result from the ongoing negotiations, he said.
Hamas's spokesman renewed his movement's rejection to land and population swap that came in total contradiction to the Palestinian constants especially the right of return, stressing that the Palestinian people will never accept another Oslo Accord.
7 jan 2014
Hamas leader in the West Bank Wasfi Kabha described the nine ideas proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the framework agreement as “much worse than those proposed in Oslo and Camp David 2." Kabha warned, in statements to Quds Press on Tuesday, of the seriousness of tabling these files at the negotiating table.
He stressed that the futile negotiations have given the Israeli occupation authority the opportunity to impose new realities on the ground and to continue committing more crimes against the Palestinian people.
The former minister of prisoners warned that "the continuation of these imbalanced negotiations will never achieve a fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
He called upon the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to end the negotiations that have failed for over twenty years to achieve the people’s freedom, stressing that "the Palestinian people, who refused the Oslo agreement, will not accept something that is worse”.
He stressed that the futile negotiations have given the Israeli occupation authority the opportunity to impose new realities on the ground and to continue committing more crimes against the Palestinian people.
The former minister of prisoners warned that "the continuation of these imbalanced negotiations will never achieve a fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
He called upon the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to end the negotiations that have failed for over twenty years to achieve the people’s freedom, stressing that "the Palestinian people, who refused the Oslo agreement, will not accept something that is worse”.
6 jan 2014
Palestinian lawmaker Samira Halaiqa said that the Oslo accords had achieved nothing for the Palestinian people and did not fulfil their aspiration for an independent state, affirming that the Palestinian people do not need another Oslo agreement. "The Palestinian Authority and its negotiators have to put an end to their pack of lies which they use to deceive their citizens, and Kerry has to declare clearly his plan to Judaize what has remained of the Palestinian decision-making," Halaiqa stated in press remarks to Quds Press on Sunday.
"Did Oslo protect the security and safety of the Palestinian citizen who has become exposed to killing day and night inside the PA-controlled territories and in the presence of its security?" the lawmaker questioned.
"Did it provide protection for the Palestinian lands which fall, according to Oslo within the jurisdiction of the PA and under its control? Did it protect the constants, including the right of refugees to return and the issue of borders?" she added.
Halaiqa also criticized Kerry's shuttle diplomacy and said that his visits would bring nothing for the Palestinians regarding Jerusalem, their holy sites, the right of return and the borders of their state.
"We believe that Kerry has come to barter the Palestinian people's rights and constants for more settlements, prisoners and land annexation," she emphasized.
"Did Oslo protect the security and safety of the Palestinian citizen who has become exposed to killing day and night inside the PA-controlled territories and in the presence of its security?" the lawmaker questioned.
"Did it provide protection for the Palestinian lands which fall, according to Oslo within the jurisdiction of the PA and under its control? Did it protect the constants, including the right of refugees to return and the issue of borders?" she added.
Halaiqa also criticized Kerry's shuttle diplomacy and said that his visits would bring nothing for the Palestinians regarding Jerusalem, their holy sites, the right of return and the borders of their state.
"We believe that Kerry has come to barter the Palestinian people's rights and constants for more settlements, prisoners and land annexation," she emphasized.
