Media coverage
Jablah · 2009-03-08
A survey prepared by journalists Elham Mohammed Ali (Egypt) and Mahmoud Mustafa al-Barbar (Gaza) after the March 2009 Sharm el-Sheikh donor conference, asking economists and political analysts whether money alone can rebuild Gaza. Shaban, introduced as head of PalThink, says loss estimates contradict each other but certainly exceed 3 billion dollars, not counting home and factory contents or lost property deeds; that money is only one tool, since reconstruction needs a political, legal and institutional framework that depends on national reconciliation and the lifting of the blockade; that, managed well and with the local economy involved, it could create lasting jobs; that Rafah is only one of six crossings and the commercial crossings matter as much; and that rebuilding society's psychological fabric is the responsibility of Palestinian institutions.
A survey prepared by journalists Elham Mohammed Ali (Egypt) and Mahmoud Mustafa al-Barbar (Gaza) after the March 2009 Sharm el-Sheikh donor conference, asking economists and political analysts whether money alone can rebuild Gaza. Shaban, introduced as head of PalThink, says loss estimates contradi…
Gaza is surrounded by the destruction that befell it like a sweeping torrent. Everything in it has become destroyed. Souls were destroyed in their innermost being. That destruction reached it as it reached the trees and the stones, and did not leave a single inch of the land of Gaza untouched. The war ended, but it left behind destruction that can only be described as akin to the horrors of the Day of Judgment. Gaza today is in need of complete reconstruction on various levels: political, social, psychological, etc.
Many appeals were made and various voices were raised for its reconstruction. Some Arab and Western countries contributed to this reconstruction, and conferences were devoted to it, the latest of which was the conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The countries participating in the donors’ conference for the reconstruction of Gaza, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, announced the provision of more than three billion dollars to carry out reconstruction and support the Palestinian economy, while the Palestinian Authority presented an overall plan worth $8.2 billion.
Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its previous position of allocating one billion dollars to be provided through the Saudi Development Bank to the Gaza Strip, while Qatar announced a contribution of $250 million. The British government announced that it would provide £30 million for the reconstruction of Gaza, and the United States announced that it would provide $900 million in total aid to the Palestinians, including $300 million that would go directly to the Gaza Strip. Despite all this, are funds alone capable of reconstruction without establishing institutions to organize the reconstruction process? And will the reconstruction process take place without there being a strategy for its implementation? And will reconstruction proceed under the current political situation? And what does it require? We will try to answer all of this through the survey prepared by our fellow journalists: Ilham Mohamed Ali from Egypt, and Mahmoud Mustafa al-Barbar from Gaza.
It is necessary to end the blockade on the Strip
We begin where matters ended, namely with the convening of the donors’ conference for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, at which the participating leaders agreed to emphasize the need to end the blockade on the Gaza Strip and achieve Palestinian reconciliation within the framework of efforts to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Aid cannot be separated from peace
In this regard, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the conference that US aid to the Gaza Strip “cannot be separated from our broader efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace.” She added, “Through our aid to Gaza, we also seek to strengthen the conditions that must be available in order to achieve the establishment of a Palestinian state.” Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh
Destruction and reconstruction
As for the other side, represented by Arab economic analysts, we were keen to gather several opinions. The economist Omar Shaban, President of PalThink for Strategic Studies in Gaza, first stated: Many statistics have been issued by local and international institutions to estimate the scale of the losses and damages caused by the aggression against Gaza, but unfortunately there are contradictions in the statistics, and more than one institution is conducting inventories and assessments of the damage without disclosing its study. But what is certain is that the losses caused by the aggression against Gaza exceeded $3 billion, distributed across all sectors, and this amount does not include the contents of homes and factories and other losses, in addition to the loss of documents proving individuals’ ownership rights and title to their land.
The political analyst Hani Habib from Gaza added, regarding the reconstruction of Gaza from multiple angles not limited only to physical reconstruction: There are multiple viewpoints in this regard, especially since there is no economic structure capable of developing a vision in isolation from political developments. Some see reconstruction as rebuilding and repairing homes, while others see reconstruction as a real opportunity to reorganize the economic and demographic infrastructure of Palestinian society. In other words, reconstruction should not proceed according to how Gaza was in the past so much as it should reorganize it in a more civilized manner, in addition to meeting the needs of Palestinian society as an alternative to the previous randomness, and according to a system that derives its entirety from the givens. For example, there are many victims of this war who are disabled and have lost limbs. As a result, the construction process must take into account the necessities of these people in terms of freedom of movement and change what had not been tangible in the past.
It is not an easy matter
The economist Omar Shaban believes that the reconstruction of Gaza is not an easy matter. Financial assistance is one of the tools, but it requires a political system, a legal framework, and institutions. This will only be achieved through Palestinian national reconciliation, because Gaza is under the control of Hamas, there is an international boycott of it, and the security centers and official institutions have been destroyed. Reconstruction requires an appropriate political and legal environment that accelerates reconstruction, and this depends on national reconciliation and on how Israel deals with the Gaza Strip. As long as the blockade and the closure of the crossings remain in place, there will be no benefit from pumping in funds. Therefore, two basic conditions are necessary for development and reconstruction to take place:
First: achieving national reconciliation.
Second: lifting the blockade imposed on Gaza.
As for the political analyst Hani Habib, regarding financial assistance for the reconstruction of Gaza: financial aid is one of the important solutions, but money is not sufficient for reconstruction. Funds may be available, but if there is no administration to organize reconstruction in a transparent manner that leads to real, effective national reconstruction affecting individuals as well as society, then I believe the money will end up in the pockets of others rather than in its proper channel. Hani Habib (Political analyst – Gaza)
Reconstruction and unemployment
Omar Shaban said, regarding confronting unemployment after the war on Gaza: if the crisis is managed properly, new job opportunities will be created and economic activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in particular will increase. This depends on the extent of the local economy’s contribution to reconstruction. If international institutions and international companies are entrusted with it, the Palestinian economy in general will change greatly. Here, local society must participate, job opportunities must be provided, and the necessary training must be made available for new graduates, which would restore life to Palestinian construction companies, engineering offices, and Palestinian institutions. All this depends on the extent of the local economic sector’s contribution to reconstruction. In fact, the contribution of the local economy must be strengthened and enhanced so that it can create genuine long-term job opportunities rather than short-term ones.
To whom will the reconstruction funds go?
When speaking of the donation funds for the reconstruction of Gaza, to whose hands these funds will reach, and which government will undertake their administration, Salam Fayyad, the Prime Minister in Ramallah, announced and stressed in his statement the necessity of channeling the reconstruction of Gaza through the Ramallah Authority, saying: “The aid required for reconstruction should pass through the Palestinian Authority,” on the grounds that international donors keen on rebuilding in the Gaza Strip, administered by Hamas, risk deepening the political division by ignoring the role of the Ramallah Authority.
And when the issue was raised of which governments would take charge of reconstruction, the political expert (Khamis al-Helbawy) from Egypt said: A joint international body must be formed bringing together the local factions with the donor countries to control and regulate the reconstruction process so that reconstruction funds do not become plunder for those of weak conscience.
Dr. (Saif al-Din Abd al-Fattah), Professor of Political Science at Cairo University, indicates: The issue of rebuilding Gaza is not merely a humanitarian issue on the political stage; rather, it is a political issue clothed in humanitarian garb, in which factional and regional interests and gains are intertwined.
He added that the reconstruction of Gaza is one of the ongoing political problematics linked to the Arab-Zionist conflict, and that the entity has declared that it will not allow reconstruction funds to reach the government of the Hamas movement out of fear that they will be used in the process of rebuilding the resistance and constructing more tunnels, as they claim, something that will certainly be used against reconstruction efforts. Dr. Saif believes that those reconstruction efforts will be one link in the chain of Palestinian division, with Arab, Zionist, and Western support, pointing to talk of American and Zionist plans to deepen Palestinian division.
As for whether the process of rebuilding Gaza will be a point of political agreement or disagreement, political analyst (Hani Habib) said: It is now assumed that new elements will enter the Palestinian arena, and by this I mean Arab, international, and regional interest, and the insistence of donor parties on the necessity that the process of reconstruction and building begin. Placing hopes on the reconstruction of Gaza requires the existence of national consensus and a national unity government that will help create an incentive before the two main parties to divide the spoils of support funds.
When opening the file of the Rafah Crossing and its role in reconstructing Gaza, we directed a question to the political expert (Khamis al-Helbawy) from Egypt: Can the opening of the crossing be considered the first actual step toward reconstruction..?
He said: The basis of reconstruction is that it begin on the ground, after all parties agree with transparency that serves the matter, though I personally believe that this will not happen, for each of the Palestinian factions considers that the donations granted to the Palestinian people for reconstruction belong to it alone and that it alone has the right to control them, for two reasons:
1. Each faction does not trust the other faction.
2. Each faction has its own program, which certainly does not agree with the other faction, and the proof of that can now be found in what is happening now in Gaza among the men of the various factions, especially between Hamas and any party other than Hamas.
Therefore, national reconciliation must come first, with complete transparency, in the interest of Gaza and Palestine. At the same time, Hamas is demanding that the crossings be opened wide, and not only for transporting the goods and tools with which reconstruction will be carried out.
In addition, the donor countries will not pay a single millime in light of the existing disputes among the factions, and therefore reconciliation must come first.
From the economic side, (Omar Shaban), the economic expert, said: The Rafah Crossing is one of the six crossings linking the Gaza Strip to the outside world. The Rafah Crossing is designated only for the movement of human travelers, but there are crossings no less important than the Rafah Crossing, namely the other commercial crossings that link the Gaza Strip to the West Bank and Israel, through which raw materials can be imported. The Rafah Crossing can be expanded so as to allow the entry of raw materials, but we must not confine ourselves to opening only the Rafah Crossing. Opening the Rafah Crossing is important, but it is not the only crossing whose opening we demand.
The political expert (Hani Habib) added in this regard, saying: In my view, the issue of the Rafah Crossing goes back to the 2005 Agreement on Crossings. This agreement was implemented in an acceptable manner before the political division, and the crossing was open, meaning that it was acceptable to all parties. The focus on the Rafah Crossing has more of a political dimension than that of an economic crossing. The Rafah Crossing is for the movement of individuals, not for the movement of goods, as is known, and the agreement includes all the crossings, not only the Rafah Crossing. But the focus on the Rafah Crossing has political aims, as I mentioned previously, namely implicating Egypt as a party in order to sideline other real parties. Talk about the Rafah Crossing should not be detached from talk about all the crossings on the one hand, nor should it be focused on as though it will solve the problem of bringing in essential materials, which have their own entry points and infrastructure for the entry of these materials at specialized crossings prepared for the entry of these materials according to constructional foundations and standards. One crossing does not replace another; otherwise the situation will be built anew, and this requires coming years, and we are not now able to wait.
Added to this is the neglect of the possibility of investing in the Port of Gaza and rebuilding it in a way that would facilitate or help the entry of many construction materials and reconstruction materials. There is great neglect of the issue of the Port of Gaza, and the crossing is proposed instead, as I have indicated, for political reasons and not for economic reasons.
The political expert (Hani Habib) also stated regarding Egypt’s role toward the reconstruction of Gaza, saying: I believe that the Arab Republic of Egypt was in an awkward position. Many parties tried to thrust it into the role of a party to this war. Egypt exerted great effort before this war, first in reopening the crossings in accordance with the 2005 Crossings Agreement, and second through pressure on Israel not to carry out its threat. Nevertheless, the war occurred, and the arrows were directed at Egypt and the Rafah Crossing as though it were an alternative to this war, and that was for political reasons and had no relation to security. In my view, during this war Egypt’s position—especially as a result of internal Arab division and the efforts of some parties to drag Egypt artificially into this war—made Egypt’s position extremely delicate. But after the war, Egypt returned to play its commendable role in attempts to restore Palestinian cohesion and repair the Palestinian situation in a way that responds to investing the current circumstances in favor of restoring unity on the one hand, reaching a truce with Israel on the other hand, and reconstructing and rebuilding the Gaza Strip on a third hand.
On the other hand, the political expert (Khamis al-Helbawy) said: Egypt’s role, as it has continuously been since the emergence of the problem, is a pivotal and essential role, and the problem cannot be solved without Egypt’s presence and support, even if any Arab state were to participate in any part of it, even by obstructing the solution as happened in the alleged Doha conference. Therefore President Mubarak is concerned with national reconciliation, participation in the call to provide aid and in that participation, and the resumption of peace talks with Israel through a Palestinian side that is agreed and harmonious. As for opening the Rafah Crossing, it will be opened only for the transport of aid and individuals in necessary cases, and it will not be opened on both sides, so that the plan to liquidate the Palestinian cause by emptying Gaza of its inhabitants is not carried out.
When we put our question about the role of the Doha summit in reconstruction, given that it was the first summit at which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appealed for the reconstruction of Gaza, the political expert (Khamis al-Helbawy) answered: What took place at the alleged Doha conference was nothing but mere bidding over the cause and a plot against the Palestinian cause, aimed at sabotaging what might be in the interest of the cause and persisting in entrenching the principle of divide and rule, which Western colonialism has practiced for a long time, since the Balfour Declaration. What took place in Qatar was never a genuine desire to support the Palestinian cause.
And in this regard, Hussein Abu Shanab, member of the Palestinian National Council, stated: The days that pass without confrontation with the aggression feel strange to us, but the scale of the machinery has exceeded all consideration, and psychological rehabilitation is extremely important, especially for children, because a child in Gaza now, when he sees a weapon, wants revenge. Therefore, a new media philosophy must be organized to address the psychology of the child, alongside interviews and visits to children in schools and care homes for awareness-raising, in addition to the Palestinian media.
The economic expert Omar Shaban added, saying: International institutions have begun implementing social restoration programs and psychological treatment, but these programs remain short-sighted and limited, taking into account the scale of the problem, and the international community cannot be responsible for rebuilding the psychological structure of Palestinian society. This is the responsibility of Palestinian official and national institutions and Palestinian civil society institutions. Recently, local institutions have begun to take into consideration the implementation of related programs. The body that was proposed is meant to strengthen social and political restoration alongside housing reconstruction. The occurrence of national reconciliation is a basic condition for addressing all the repercussions of the aggression on the Gaza Strip. Consequently, if national reconciliation is not achieved, the situation in the Gaza Strip will remain bad, and many people will be deprived of the benefits of reconstruction due to the absence of Palestinian consensus.
Text © Jablah — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source