Palestine Geographic Fragmentation Political Fragmentation Legal Fragmentation At the outset, Development under occupation is an illusive goal Source: Political Geography Now website
Second Level Aggregation (unions of CSO s)* National level aggregation Of CSO s First Level Aggregation, no direct access to funding, member organizations give the support Theme or sector level aggregation Of CSO s Bottom up structure Grass root Organizations (CBO s) NGO s, charities, nonprofit centers
CSO s are referred to in the Law 1/2000 as Charitable Associations and Community Organizations The Law gives Palestinians the right to cultural, scientific, and professional activities including forming CSO s. Such organizations are under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior. And in 2010 a new law was adopted by the ministry of labor to regulate Palestinian cooperatives. There is also a self enforced Code of Ethics (NGO development Center 2006) which later developed into Code of Conduct in 2008 to follow the Arab league model.
Israeli practices hampers the operation of CSO s in The following areas (EU Roadmap (2014)): 1) The illegal annexation of East Jerusalem in 1980 makes CSO s report to both Palestinian law and Israeli Law. 2) Area (C) is subject to Israeli security control with restrictions on movement and reporting requirements 3) Until recently, Hamas control over Gaza added another layer of bureaucracy to CSO s operations 4) The multiplicity of laws and their interrelatedness without enough monitoring and lack of transparency results into serious challenges for CSO s effective functioning.
In order to have access to donor funding, institutions are required to register at the ministry of interior. The availability of donor funds caused the number of NGO s to expand rapidly (In 2010, the number was estimated to be 2400 NGO s)(rosa Luxemburg 2011). The large number of NGO s makes monitoring internal governance and financial reporting a difficult task. It is reported the amount of donor funding increased from US $48 million in 1999 to US $ 257 million in 2008. This makes about 80% of their consolidated budget. Heavy dependence on donor funding (Mostly US and EU) raises two concerns: Sustainability Priorities alignment(donors versus national)
Between 1995 and 19999, many studies including those of the IMF and World Bank has warned against the proliferation of public employment, although it took sometime to control its growth, public employment eventually slowed down. This could be partly due to budget concerns, but the repeated calls (by local and international CSO s) may have also contributed to limiting the growth of public employment.
4/95 1/97 3/97 2/98 4/98 99-2 99-4 00-2 00-4 01-2 01-4 02-2 02-4 03-2 03-4 04-2 04-4 05-2 05-4 06-2 06-4 07-2 07-4 08-2 08-4 09-2 09-4 10-2 10-4 11-2 11-4 12-2 12-4 0.24 0.22 0.2 0.18 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.1
In 2008, The Palestinian Authority started the use of short term planning in using 3 year overlapping budgets. It was a result of work done in earlier research and promoted by funding from DFID (Birzeit University s CCE and Adam Smith Institute) who helped in promoting the use of the MTFF. Civil Society was allowed to participate in the 2011-2013 National Development Plan (sector strategies). In the absence of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), CSO s should be Playing the monitoring role in budgeting and policy making. However, this has been limited in the presence of the political divide.
CSO s have acted as service providers (specially before the establishment of the PA). But this function continues to exist even after establishing the PA because the status under occupation, area c for example implies some sort of relief funding were NGO s are viewed as clients. Thus resisting occupation is an important factor in shaping the functions of CSO s. A study by UNDP/CDS of Birzeit University concludes that donor funding did not contribute much to development, rather it was humanitarian relief aid at best.
There are an estimated 100-200 ICSO s in Palestine, the number dependents on whether and office or activity exists. ICSO s provide expertise in fund raising and technical implementation of projects. project based partnerships are the most frequent forms of cooperation. They also provide a monitoring role in protecting the rights of local CSO s. On the other hand local CSO s often complain about unfair competition, unbalanced partnerships and agenda imposition.
The War on Gaza (operation protective edge, July 2014) began as a retaliation for the killing of 3 kidnapped Israeli's. No Palestinian faction claimed responsibility. The war lasted for 50 days, as a result Over 2100 Palestinians were killed and about 25% of them were children; also about 70% of them are civilian. In comparison, 66 Israeli solders and 5 civilians were killed About 11,000 Palestinians were wounded. On the Israeli side 469 soldiers and 261 civilians were wounded. 17200 Palestinian homes were totally damaged and 37650 were partially damaged. 30% of Gaza population were displaced. In comparison 5000 to 8000 Israelis took shelters.
Public outcry revitalized the boycott movement. Although established in 2005, the Boycott, divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) has been very effective in mobilizing public opinion and the boycotting of Israeli Products and the domestic and international levels. The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) managed to convince Kuwait city municipality to exclude a French Company Veolia from a $ 75 million contract due to its complicity in Israeli projects that violate international law. On 27/9/2014, activists in California Dockworkers and endorsers responded to BNC by refusing to unloading the cargo of the Israeli container ship ZIM in oakland, ca For more on BDS see http://www.bdsmovement.net/
The Palestinian Union of Food Industries has funded a background paper to study how the boycott movement can be used to enhance import substitution and limit its adverse effects. The Paris Protocol signed in 1994 does not have any mandates for litigation subsequent to noncompliance of each of the parties to its principles. Instead it calls for committees to follow up on issues that arise (where Israel has the upper hand). Israel has repeatedly used security as an instrument to maintain Palestinian dependency. Article 9 of the protocol allows Israel to protest the boycott movement as a violation of the protocol.
The following are estimates (MAS, 2014) Increased demand for domestically produced goods, eg the sales of a local dairy company rose 15% Increased domestic employment as a results of increased domestic production. Some estimates put the increase of 70-100 thousand worker. Unclear impact on the government budget, negative due to less imports but positive due to increased domestic activity.
Increased market share of domestic goods, estimates of change in market share range from 20 25% Contraction in imports of goods subject to boycott is estimated at $ 600 million, a small number compared to Israeli exports (94.8 bil) but big enough for particular industries. Some reports put the decline in certain food and beverage companies at 50-70%. Perhaps the biggest achievement (although indirect) of the war on Gaza is the facilitation of the ending of the political divide between the WB and GS. And the formation of the national unity government.
Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS) is a Palestinian NGO that has for long helped shape policy making. Its current Director and Research director are both previous Ministers of Planning and the current Director was also a minister of finance. The estimation of the reconstruction cost of Gaza post 2014 war was a result of a round table discussion paper.
The paper estimates the losses of the last three wars (2008, 2012, 2014) on Gaza in total as follows: US $ 900.1 million for 2009, and 638.1 and 2326 millions for 2012 and 2014 respectively. This amounts to US $ 3864.3 million for the three wars. The participants pledged US $5.4 billion for the reconstruction and relief funds.
Center for Development Studies, Birzeit University (2009). Occupation and Development: A Conflict-related Development Analysis in the WBG (draft 2, unpublished) European Union (2014). Palestine: EU country roadmap for engagement with Civil society. Gerster and Baumgarten (2011). Palestinian NGO s and their cultural, economic and political impact in Palestinian society. Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Palestine. Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (2014). The boycott of Israeli products: determinants and consequences. Round table discussion paper. Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (2014). Challenges for the reconstruction and revitalization of the Gazan economy following the latest Israeli aggression. Round table discussion paper. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_israel%e2%80%93gaza_conflict. Accessed 17/10/2014