Media coverage
Sawa News Agency · 2022-07-23
PalThink for Strategic Studies organized a dialogue meeting with the Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany, Oliver Owcza, and trainees from the PalThink Academy for Democracy and Human Rights as part of its efforts to break the cultural and knowledge blockade imposed on Gaza’s youth. Owcza outlined the work of the German Representative Office in development cooperation, humanitarian aid, and political advocacy, including support for water, the economy, civil society, and UNRWA, and he also addressed issues related to the canceled Palestinian elections and Masafer Yatta. The meeting included questions from trainees about Germany’s approach to Gaza’s youth, cultural engagement in Palestine, its position on Israeli violations of Palestinian rights and settlements, and youth political influence in Germany.
PalThink for Strategic Studies organized a dialogue meeting with the Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany, Oliver Owcza, and trainees from the PalThink Academy for Democracy and Human Rights as part of its efforts to break the cultural and knowledge blockade imposed on Gaza’s youth. Ow…
PalThink for Strategic Studies organized a dialogue meeting with the Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany, Oliver Owcza, and the trainees of the PalThink Academy for Democracy and Human Rights, yesterday, Thursday, as part of the institution’s tireless work to break the cultural and cognitive siege imposed on youth in the Gaza Strip, to help them meet influential decision-makers, and to enable them to think outside the box in order to prepare them to become the leaders of the future.
The meeting was opened by the institution’s director, Omar Shaban, who welcomed H.E. Oliver Owcza and the attendees, and said that this visit comes within the framework of the Academy’s work to break the suffocating cycle of siege on youth by enabling them to meet international diplomats and discuss with them their countries’ policies toward Palestine.
He added: “Meeting diplomats and learning about their work is beneficial and more useful for youth than university education limited to theoretical sciences.”
For his part, H.E. Ambassador Oliver Owcza began his remarks by expressing his happiness at meeting the youth in the Gaza Strip, describing them as “inspiring and the youth of the future.”
He said: “Our current office is located in Ramallah, and it is responsible for relations with Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. We are now Germany’s Representative Office, but if Germany were to officially recognize Palestine as a state, the office would become an embassy, although we now operate as an embassy and have different sections.”
He pointed out that they have different sections, including one responsible for Germans living and residing in Palestine, and for issuing visas and residency permits to Palestinians who wish to visit Germany or study there.
The ambassador added: “The development cooperation section and the humanitarian assistance section are among our largest sections. In the development cooperation section, we work with multiple parties to achieve long-term development goals. We have negotiations every two years on the humanitarian assistance and development cooperation to be implemented, which amount to about 52 million euros annually, with priority given to economic development and employment.”
He explained that they also have a special section concerned with civil society and local governance.
He stressed that water is “one of our priorities, as we funded the recommissioning of the water treatment plant, and it was a very successful project among the activities of the development cooperation section.”
He stated that the Representative Office is working to help some factories and companies raise the quality standards of their production in order to grant them the “ISO 2200” certificate so they can enter global markets more easily, which also falls under the development cooperation section.
As for humanitarian assistance, Owcza explained that they fund humanitarian aid when the need arises, noting that the largest organization working in this field is “UNRWA,” which he described as operating like a state, given the services it provides and the length of time since its establishment.
He emphasized that Germany is one of UNRWA’s main supporters, especially after the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump stopped funding it.
He said: “Yesterday we visited a project funded and supervised by Germany in Deir al-Balah Camp after the completion of its first phase, which consisted of rebuilding the infrastructure in a civilized manner, constructing streets, and providing housing units for 121 families, surrounded by green areas, playgrounds, and spaces designated for various community purposes and for markets.”
Politically, the German representative explained that they are engaged politically first and foremost through multilateral talks with the Palestinian Authority in a constructive manner to develop cooperation, and also through some forces in the Legislative Council.
He added: “We have another section concerned with political advocacy, which happens partly through political dialogue, to address issues that concern us, especially with regard to human rights violations. We know very well that Israel is the occupying power, and it is the principal force for any change, and perhaps one of the most important fundamental factors for change.”
At the same time, he stressed that Germany has special relations with Israel because of the history of his Federal Republic, noting that all German parties agree on the importance of relations with Israel.
Owcza continued: “There is also multilateral cooperation, which means unifying efforts to achieve greater effectiveness for the beneficiaries, as we work with our partners who have the same goals.”
He pointed out that they address some political issues, such as the cancellation of the Palestinian elections last year, saying: “We believe that this is the right time to hold elections, and their cancellation was frustrating.”
He said: “We were recently asked to chair the working group concerned with the Palestinian Authority’s budget, which needs reform and has not been reformed until now. We are trying to encourage those concerned to reform it and we provide them with suggestions, and this is part of our political work.”
He explained that they have a media section concerned with publishing everything related to Germany to familiarize Palestinians with his country, a cultural cooperation section, a representative office at the German Academic Exchange Service in East Jerusalem, and another section for protocol to receive high-level personalities from Germany.
Regarding what is happening in the village of Masafer Yatta, the German representative said, “The military administration there is using illegal means to evacuate the Bedouins, so we are addressing that politically. We have been there ourselves, and we showed our presence and our sympathy, and we certainly do all this with our partners.”
He concluded by saying: “I do not know what it means to be young in the Gaza Strip, but I try to listen to as many of you as possible. It is difficult to imagine being young in the Gaza Strip.”
Questions and interventions by the male and female trainees revolved around the approach Germany adopts in dealing with youth issues in the Gaza Strip, the objectives of cultural intervention in Palestine, Germany’s position on Israel’s assaults on Palestinians’ rights, which constitute a violation of international law, its position on the settlements, and the political influence of youth in Germany.
Text © Sawa News Agency — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source