Peace and Development in Palestine

Carl Arrindell introduces Partners for Peace & Development in Palestine, an initiative designed to address the increasing difficulties NGOs operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories face, including the stereotyping and misrepresentation of the work of Muslim agencies in the UK and elsewhere.

We find ourselves in a period where the global security threat has meant that the pressure of scrutiny on NGOs, particularly Muslim-based organisations, is at an all time high. The post-9/11 operating environment for NGOs in many parts of the world has become increasingly restrictive. In Palestine, development work and relief provision have become increasingly frustrated, with access to services on the ground restricted and NGO staff at risk of injury, finding themselves barred from entry to Israel and the Occupied Territories. This 'under siege' atmosphere has made it all the more difficult for international NGOs to conduct their crucial work in this area.

In a submission to the International Development Select Committee (IDSC), Christian Aid reported that the ability of humanitarian agencies to operate, including Israeli and Palestinian partner organisations, is ‘under unprecedented constraint’. Jihad Ma'ashal, Director of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC), told Christian Aid that they have "never been so penned in by soldiers, by checkpoints, by curfew". War on Want commented that between September 2000 and September 2002, the UPMRC counted: 95 first-aid workers injured; 432 incidents of denied access to Red Crescent ambulances at roadblocks and 76 Palestinians dead as a result of denied access to emergency treatment.

Operational difficulties coincide with the harsh reality that the humanitarian crisis in Palestine has reached its worst level since the beginning of the Intifada. According to the UN, 60 per cent of Palestinians now live in acute poverty, a figure that has tripled in the last four years. Over 50 per cent of Palestinians are completely dependent on food aid.

In a House of Commons IDSC report published last year, ‘Development Assistance and the Occupied Palestinian Territories’[1], the Committee describes two particularly pressing problems characterising the situation in Palestine. Firstly, are the difficulties of co-ordination, "We saw a multiplicity of agencies, each of which was aware of the work their counterparts were undertaking. But we saw little evidence of a co-ordinated strategy… But greater harmonisation is important to ensure aid effectiveness; this is particularly so in a situation where there is a complex web of service delivery such as in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The second is that of negative stereotyping of Palestinians in the world press, and what the report calls a ‘rising tide of anti-Islamism, or anti-Arabism, characteristic of such perceptions’.

All actors need to remind themselves of the need to avoid anti-Semitism and anti-Islamism, as well as stereotyping Arab or Jewish societies. International agencies that are engaged in dealing with the crisis and are witnesses to many of the problems Palestinians face could do much more to convey these facts, in an authoritative and non-polemical manner, to the media and the general public in the UK and Europe.

Now more than ever, there is a pressing need for all NGOs that share an interest in working in this region, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish or secular, to be not only working together more effectively, but to be seen to be working together and to challenge misconceptions about the realities of NGO work and everyday life in the Occupied Territories.

The idea of a Partners for Peace and Development in Palestine forum was launched in December 2004 at the tenth anniversary celebrations of Interpal, a BOND member NGO that has had first hand experience of the post-9/11 tide of anti-Islamism. Interpal has been designated a terrorist organisation by the US Government on the basis of what continue to be unproven and discredited allegations of providing financial support to terrorist organisations in Palestine. The impressively attended event saw a range of NGO practitioners, politicians, academics and faith community representatives come together to celebrate common purpose in their work in Palestine, each sought to challenge the perceived notion of a natural connection between Islamic and Arab charitable work with acts of terrorism and indeed the counter-notion that international western charities are by their nature complicit in a conspiracy to infiltrate and undermine the wellbeing of Islamic communities.

The initiative is as yet embryonic, and it is hoped that an alliance of interested NGOs will come together and collaborate in hosting a conference at the end of the spring to further discuss and seek remedies to these important issues. The overall aim is to build bridges between organisations of different faiths working in Palestine. The initiative has to challenge the lack of harmony and co-ordination among NGOs, address the misconceptions of the media and the general public in a non-polemical fashion, and resist the stereotyping of cultural and religious differences. Whatever our faith, we are working towards the same end - justice and welfare for all human beings.

Carl Arrindell is an independent consultant who works on issues related to Palestine. carl@arrindell.demon.co.uk