UNRWA Archives - Michael Horesh Business Coach and Mentor

28 August 2019

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Blog, Israel, Palestinian Society, Palestinians

UNRWA was set up in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees. Today, it has an annual budget of around one billion dollars. And, special programmes or campaigns can see similar additional amounts raised from donor countries, via their taxpayers.

UNRWA is a nebulous body. It uses the UN initials, but does not seem to come under UN auspices or jurisdiction. Last year, President Trump suspended American funding and Washington was the largest donor. In recent months, four other countries have followed suit. Even New Zealand, no friend of the Israeli government, is withholding support.

UNRWA’s history has been unusual. It is nearly 15 years ago, when one commentator observed that:

Despite over 50 years of experience and employing around 25,000 local Palestinians, UNRWA simply does not do its job effectively. A recent World Bank report on the Palestinian territories noted that “55% of those who receive emergency assistance are not needy… 32% of the needy do not receive emergency assistance.” If UNRWA’s money does not help solve Palestinian poverty, then who are the true beneficiaries of its lavish funds?……..

Most Palestinians in Jordan have resolved their economic issues without UNRWA. The 1997 report from the Norwegian Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies compared the situation of the 13% of Palestinian Arabs in the Hashemite Kingdom who were being catered to by UNRWA to the remaining 87%. It concluded that the Palestinian Arabs cared for by UNRWA continued to live in destitution, while the others maintained a similar economic level to their fellow non-Palestinian Jordanian citizens.

The Norwegian Refugee Council has invested much resources into the Palestinian issue. That said, it has just published a report, which concludes: –

Today, 25 August 2019, marks the two-year anniversary of the start of the largest ever stream of refugees out of Myanmar….. Since 25 August 2017, around 740,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh. More than 630,000 are living in Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp.

I am prepared to bet that these wretched people do not receive even 50% per capita of what the Palestinians do. And what does reach them is carefully accounted for.

Meanwhile, the UN is allowing a Palestinian oligarchy to support itself, at the expense of unknown taxpayers and to the detriment of other needy causes. What conclusions would you draw?

Postscript: I just checked the UNRWA website. I could not find budget figures for post 2017.

2 August 2019

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Blog, Israel, Palestinian Society, Palestinians

One of the core arguments of the British “Leave Europe Campaign” is that the EU is one big amorphous bureaucracy. For example, accountability and transparency are words that rarely find their way into the diplomatic nous. Nowhere has this been more true than the issue of paying out money to the Palestinians.

Back in the early 1980s, the EU took a deliberate decision to match the USA aid for Israel (and Egypt). The Palestinians needed support. Within two decades, the World Bank had declared that the Palestinians were receiving more aid per capita than any other target population, including Tsunami victims.

Not only was much of this cash was coming from generous EU taxpayers. Analyses of the Palestinian Authority’s budget had revealed that the PA was failing to raise taxes by any significant amount. And what did enter the coffers of the Treasury in Ramalalh was often disbursed to the families of those imprisoned in Israel on terror charges, to the security forces fighting Israel, or simply to the families of the leading leaders of the PA and Hamas.

Nothing new there?

In 2016, the British public informed Brussels what it thought of its policies. Somewhere in that message was the whole theme of vast sums disappearing into black holes to fund the favourite political campaigns of the few. And this included the politically correct issue of helping the Palestinians. For example:

The EU is the largest contributor to UNRWA. Together with the EU Member States, the EU’s contribution for 2016, 2017 and 2018 amounted to €1.2 billion……EU support to the Palestinians covers a wide range of areas, including humanitarian assistance, capacity building, democratic governance and socio-economic development. In 2018, it amounted to a total of nearly €350 million. The funding is framed by the “European Joint Strategy in Support of Palestine 2017-2020” agreed by the EU Institutions, 22 EU Member States, as well as Norway and Switzerland.

Add in the money for support to various NGOs. Then season that off with contributions by individual governments for pet projects. That €1.2 billion has easily doubled!

For years, pro-Israel pressure groups screamed. One of the initial campaigners was Arnold Roth, whose daughter was murdered by a Palestinian called Tamimi, whose family find support in the actions of the EU. The Palestinians do deserve a better life, but make sure that you now where the money is going. As for UNRWA, who is supervising this amorphous multi billion body, employing 30,000 people and which has yet to resettle even one Palestinian in over seven decades?

Last week, by some ironic coincidence, the extent of the gross misuse of funds for the Palestinians leaked out in two separate news items.

First, The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has ordered the Department for International Development (DFID) to disclose audit reports of accounts into which British grant money was transferred and allegedly used to pay salaries to convicted Palestinian terrorists.

Why? It has emerged that:

a) In the period 2008 to 2015, Britain gave grant aid to the PA’s Central Treasury totaling £430.5 million (NIS 1.85 m.), via the World Bank. The aid was untied and not earmarked for a specific project.…..
b) PA pays more than 8% of its total budget through its Central Treasury to fund salaries for convicted terrorists, which serve to reward and encourage terrorism. As such, it is possible that some of the funds provided by the UK were used to pay these salaries.

Ooops!

Awkward piece of news no’ 2 is that it leaked out that UNRWA has not just failed to deliver on its remit. It has been cited for corruption, nepotism and sexual abuse. At least for now, Switzerland and the Netherlands have ceased funding.

Double that ooops!

Meanwhile, as ever, only Qatar is propping up the finances of the PA. Quelle Surprise! Yet again the government of President Abbas has run out of money! It is even turning to cryptocurrencies for help.

So after nearly four decades of positive intervention, what have the European taxpayers got for their buck – or should I say Euro – regarding the Palestinians? And we are talking about billions of Euros that could have gone to Greece or Spain or internal structural projects or ….you name it.

It is difficult to argue for anything positive. There again, questions abound.

If billions had been allocated to any other project without a net social gain, would there have been such a placid response by the EU bureaucrats or its politicians?
Why is it that the EU has consistently rejected the classic Israeli argument for a new approach to helping Palestinian society? What are they not telling us?
And on this basis, can anyone really blame the UK for bolting the EU? The taxpayers deserve better, and so do the Palestinians.

19 May 2016

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinian Society, Palestinians

Reporting accurately on the Palestinian economy has never been easy. If you look carefully at the documents of the World Bank or the IMF, they often contain statements that data collected from Ramallah and Gaza is not of the most reliable standards. That said, various news items more recently have given the outside world a better understanding as to how revenues are used by the Palestinian Authority and by Hamas.

Why is this important for outsiders? Because according to the OECD, approximately 70% of Palestinian expenditure comes from overseas aid. And the overwhelming majority of that aid comes from the generosity of Western taxpayers, who in turn are suffering from their own economic uncertainties.

The OECD estimates that the Palestinians receive around US$2.5 billion in direct aid annually. Ostensibly, the USA is the largest single donor, but much of UNRWA’s support comes from the pockets of European citizens. 49% of the total sums are designated for ‘other social infrastructure’, whatever that may mean. (BTW, total annual contributions to global aid peak above $130 billion. Thus, per capita, the Palestinians receive a very healthy share of the total pool).

And where specially does this money end up? Here are four quick case studies:

A few weeks ago, I discussed how in spite of the checks in place, monies from the UK and from the EU seep through to political prisoners and terrorists. Coblogger Arnold Roth has expanded on this theme. He believes that “the perpetually financially strapped PA spent $144 million paying salaries” in 2014 alone. Thus, using the 70% factor, donors (including British taxpayers) paid about US$100m towards helping these ‘deserving people’.
On a similar note, the Palestinian commentator Khaled Abu Toameh observed this week that “The Palestinian Authority has used international funds to build prisons and detention centers in the West Bank where torture has become the norm.” He outlines how the Independent Palestinian Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) has received 782 complaints concerning torture and similar abuses. Again, the money to maintain this state of affairs primarily came from overseas.
Moving away from direct political issues, even culture is not immune to the misuse of funds. The New York Times revealed that a spanking new museum in Ramallah was opened on the basis of a US$24m budget. This is to be a great celebration of Palestinian history and art. However, due to internal wrangling, there is not one exhibit for inspection. So, I am forced to ask, where did the budget disappear to and how was it accounted for in front of the donors?
And there is UNRWA, where the EU is proud to show off its contribution. VP Mogherini announced on 4th April:

Since 2000, EU has provided over EUR 1.6 billion to UNRWA out of the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) allocation for Palestine. The bulk of EU aid for UNRWA, EUR 82 million per year for the period 2014-2016, has gone to finance its General Fund (or Programme Budget)………On top of this, there are ad hoc temporary projects financed via other instruments. Humanitarian funding to UNRWA amounted to EUR 5 million both in 2015 and 2016 (of which, EUR 4 million for shelter assistance in Gaza)……….

Well that is clear. However, less than a month later, we learnt of an event that took place at the UNRWA refugee camp in Aida, near Bethlehem. This celebrated a violent attack on Israeli buses a few days previously. And it would appear that this abuse of funds is not one isolated party.

I could list other items. For example, Hamas has returned to building offensive tunnels to fight Israel. Such an operation can only be carried out by syphoning off raw materials meant for the reconstruction of the area.

If there is good news it is that more and more of this misuse of Western generosity is being reported. However, sadly, Western governments, the EU and others are failing to take serious action. Meanwhile, the instigators of the verbal and military war against Israel grow richer.

Give aid by all means, but make sure you can check where it is going in a transparent and accountable manner. Otherwise, send it to those who do not just need it but will…………..actually receive it.

3 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinians

According to official recordings of proceedings from Parliament in London on July 1st 2015:

DFID (overseas aid – MH) is providing £349 million in support of Palestinian development from 2011-15 and £72m for 2015/16. The UK was one of the biggest donors to the crisis last summer, providing more than £17 million in immediate humanitarian assistance for those caught up in the conflict. In October, the UK pledged a further £20 million in early recovery assistance at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Cairo.

To those sums, you can add the US$95 million that the UK donated in 2014 alone to UNRWA and the financial help given to a plethora of NGOs active in the region. Also, there are the hundreds of millions of Euros that are handed by Brussels, either directly to the Palestinian Authority or to UNRWA. And the World Bank, partially funded by the UK, has contributed a further near-billion dollars since 1993. etc, etc.

In itself, nothing here is wrong. Israel can complain that this is too much or unbalanced. This is a political decision to allocate taxpayers’ money. Tough luck. All that is required is some transparency and accountability to clarify where the money ends up.

Apparently, the UK “continues to take extensive precautions to ensure that Hamas does not derive any financial benefit from our projects, including by providing £0.5m to support the Materials Monitoring Unit (MMU) which oversees and monitors the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials into Gaza …” (Hansard, 25th June.)

Four days later, a statement confirmed that the:

Palestinian Authority (PA) payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are made at the request of the Israeli Authorities to meet basic living conditions. No UK or EU money is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, or their families. UK funding to the PA is used to pay civil servant salaries only. The UK funds are channelled through a trust fund administered by the World Bank and only named civil servants from a pre-approved list are eligible. The entire process is independently audited, which ensures we know exactly where and how our money is being spent.

So, the UK government can claim that it lives up to the test of accountability and transparency. Taxpayers have been assured………….or have they?

What is key is that there are no available figures for how much of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) spending comes from taxes collected. However, as both the IMF and the World Bank have consistently found this revenue source to be negligible, then it can be assumed that most of the PA’s spending power derives from overseas contributions. That includes large sums from British taxpayers, some of which, by admission of a British minister, ends up in the hands of terrorists resident in Israeli prisons.

What about those large UNRWA contributions? Well, as I have pointed out before, UNRWA is arguably the largest international charity in the world. However, UNRWA is not controlled by the UN. Staggeringly, yet never publicised, it has no external accountable nor transparent reporting procedures. When you consider that its educational facilities became army camps for Hamas operatives during last year’s war with Israel, you have to question what truly happens to the hundreds of millions of donated by UK, European and American taxpayers.

While the mind is left to shudder at where these public monies end up and what they may be financing, I wanted to briefly examine some of the actual projects. Using the same sources as above, it has emerged this week that her majesty’s Ministry of Defence has seconded personnel to the EU for “security sector assistance to the Palestinian Authority”, whatever that may mean.

In parallel, the EU police mission for the Palestinian Territories has been extended until 30 June 2016 at a cost of €9.175 million. “Through its contribution to security and justice sectors reform, the mission supports efforts to increase the security of the Palestinian population and to reinforce the rule of law.”

The EU and member countries have yet to produce a report showing the improvement in the justice system rising out of this investment. In contrast, there is emerging evidence that the domestic security services in both the West Bank and in Gaza are prone to murderous and in humane tendencies.

While the British Parliament was awash with announcements of financial support for the Palestinians, a flotilla of ships sailed through the Mediterranean. It purported to carry aid for Gaza and was trying to block the Israeli blockade on the enclave. It was stopped by the Israeli navy, which discovered that the whole bundle of resources amounted to ‘two cardboard boxes“. As the Sussex Friends of Israel illustrated, the Palestinians could have received 70 times more help.

Sussex Friends Of Israel's photo.

And it is this flotilla that shows just why so much of the money will rarely end up in the pocket of the average person in Nablus or Rafah. The blogger, Elder of Ziyon, noted that the boats passed en route close to Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, where Palestinians are suffering and have been the target of killings. The plight of these people was ignored. Instead, the international press was treated to another sexy orgy of Israeli hate-feast.

And that is the lesson for the UK government. It must prove beyond reasonable doubt, in a transparent and accountable manner, that the hundreds of millions in contributions for the Palestinians do drip down to their intended target and are not diverted to the planting of the seeds of the next conflict.

29 January 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinians

It has become comfortable professional practice amongst international journalists to blame Israel for all the economic woes of the Palestinians. Even during International Holocaust Day, respected Sky News anchorman, Adam Boulton sought to compare the systematic slaughter of 6 million Jews to the current hardships of those in Gaza and the West Bank.

In terms of sound bites, one has to wonder why such communicators did not mention how over 2,400 Palestinians have been killed or disappeared amidst the violence in Syria. Similarly, there is silence re the dozens executed by Fatah and Hamas regimes. Surely, this environment of violence and hatred must act as a bigger downer on the Palestinian economy than Israel’s actions.

As for the facts on the ground, we known that the Palestinian economy is dependent on donations. One of the largest component of this is UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Its current annual budget, ignoring special projects, runs to over a billion dollars, putting it as one of the largest international charity in the world. Major donors include Britain and the European Union. UNRWA runs a dedicated assistance programme to help Palestinians rebuild homes. Of the US$ US$585 million dollars promised, barely 25% has been handed over.

Interestingly, despite the name and its initial history, UNRWA is not controlled by the UN. It has no external accountable nor transparent reporting procedures. Thus distributions disappear. When you consider that its educational facilities became army camps for Hamas operatives during last year’s war with Israel, you have to wonder who truly benefits from the hundreds of millions of UK, European and American taxes.

The weak tax base of Palestinians has long been a cause of concern for the IMF and the World Bank. Poor government practices do not enhance the collection process. In parallel, Palestinians are understandably angry at Israel’s decision to withhold excise collected on behalf of the Ramallah Finance Ministry. This is worth over US$100 million a month.

Whatever Israel’s reasoning, Palestinian civil servants, the largest group of wage earners in the economy, are yet again not receiving full salaries. On the other hand, the Saudis have just delivered US$60 million. Similarly, Iraq and Qatar have promised a further US$50 million together. Why does the man in the street not feel these contributions?

And how are Hamas and others able to fund the rebuilding of their military prowess?

The average Palestinian deserves better from his and her leaders. There may not be a lot of joy around, but money is out there, as videos of shops for the elite prove time after time. Palestinians are being deprived of the basic right to receive their fair share of public monies, yet Israel takes the rap.

If you are looking for a suggestion: I note that Iran does not help out with the UNRWA budget. And yet according to an article in the Hebrew newspaper “Calcalist” (Economist), for all the sanctions imposed on Tehran, the Ayatollahs make sure that Hizbollah receives a cool US$100 million annually. Now if those weapons were converted into ploughshares…..but that would require a desire to seek peace.

17 October 2014

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinians

Last week, the international community pledged US$5.4 billion dollars in order to support the estimated 1.8 million people of Gaza in the aftermath of the war with Israel.

A humongous sum, one commentator has tried to give the dollars a sense of proportion. Michael Freund observed that the release of the Ebola plague has barely justified approximately US$1.0 billion of contributions. Millions of Syrians and other human refugee problems around the globe are also valued less highly.

It appears that while John Kerry is still looking for an extra US$200 million to combat Ebola, Qatar has committed US$1 billion to Gaza. Similarly, “the US pledged $212m (£132m) in new aid, while the United Arab Emirates and Turkey both committed $200m (£124m). European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said donations from member states would reach $568m (£353m).” etc , etc.

Let me clear, whether you blame the bombing of the Israeli air force or the fact that Hamas booby trapped streets of housing, at least 5% of Gaza residential buildings were destroyed. Hundreds of thousands require new housing. The issue is not the cause. At a time when Europe is facing another recession, the question is can the placements of the new donations be accounted for?

The original request from President Abbas was for a mere US$4.0 billion. However, historically donors, particularly from the Middle East, have rarely delivered in full. And as the Financial Times pointed out, a significant amount will seep out to the growing class of corrupt Gaza millionaires.

That stated, there are four key ways in which the sums can be transferred. And each methodology reveals a disturbing lack of transparency for the generous donors.

A) Palestinian Authority (PA). Except for brief periods under Prime Minister Fayyad, the PA has never declared fully their financial accounts. When I last checked the pages of the Palestinian Ministry of Finance, the links to the detailed statements would not open out. Furthermore, the PA does not govern Gaza, which is run by Hamas, a known supporter of ISIL.

B) UNRWA: Despite the name, this organisation is not supervised directly by the UN. And even though its annual budget breaches the one billion dollar level, it has no external and independent auditor! During the Israel-Hamas hostilities, UNRWA was forced to admit that its facilities are used by terrorists – exposing the abuse of Western taxpayers’ contributions.

C) NGOs: Increasingly since 2001, NGOs have become to be seen as a ‘kosher’ mechanism for transferring money to the Palestinians. While the aim here has been noble, several such charities have been exposed by NGO Monitor for operating in the political sphere rather than impacting on the lives of ordinary Palestinians. For example, monies transferred by the royal Swedish government are utilised to denigrate Israel, supposedly a friend of the monarchy, rather than to benefit Palestinian society.

D) PEGASE: Created by the European Union in 2008, PEGASE seeks to ensure that Brussels’ support for Palestinians ends up at designated targets. Stephan Fule is the European Commissioner responsible for enlargement and neighbourhood policy. In response to a question from Lynn Boylan MEP, he reported last week how “Aid to Gaza is part of the overall package of cooperation with Palestine and no separate ‘accounting’ is kept. However, for the period 2007-2013, our estimate is that:”

1) For PEGASE, payments to beneficiaries in Gaza correspond to 1/3 of the allocations for civil servants and pensioners and 2/3 of the amount for Vulnerable Palestinian Families. The overall contributions for the 2007-2013 period amounts to circa EUR 1.5 billion

ii) In addition,

For UNRWA, aid to Gaza targets 1.2 million refugees representing 1/4 of the total refugees assisted by the Agency. The total EU contribution to UNRWA for the referred period has been around EUR 950 million;

Infrastructure projects amount to EUR 23 million and projects for the private sector to over EUR 30 million;

Humanitarian assistance amounted to over EUR 225 million, including 74 million to UNRWA

Note that the figures are “approximately”. So the EU admits that it has no ability to add up how much goes out to the Palestinians.

Note that “civil servants ….. and 2/3 of the amount for Vulnerable Palestinian Families” is ‘Newspeak’. for Hamas officials and families of convicted terrorist.

And thus note why it is not a surprise that in December of 2013, the European Court of Auditors could not substantiate that donations to the Palestinians had been used properly.

Bottom line: However much of the 5.4 billion is transferred, very considerably less will be received or felt by the average person in downtown Gaza City!

So what will make a difference to the lives of ordinary citizens in Gaza? And does Gaza really need US$5.4 billion, an amount bigger than the economies of over 50 countries?

Well, Israel has been criticised for operating a closed border with Gaza. Actually, it is the Egyptian side, which is sealed. Israel lets in hundreds of trucks of humanitarian supplies most days a week, even during a war. (By the way, it is Qatar has been financing these transports, and thus their above contributions are nothing new.)

Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General, delivered a speech at the Cairo donors’ conference, claiming that the fault of the conflict in Gaza lay in Israel’s occupation. Yet, Israel separated itself from Gaza back in 2005. Everyone does agree upon is that the should be greater freedom of movement at the border crossings, and President Rivlin of Israel echoed this in an address to Ban.

What is the missing factor? For years, Hamas invested billions in building up a war machine against Israel. While never able to defeat Jerusalem, the dynamic and nimble infrastructure of tunnels and rockets threatened, maimed and killed. None of this investment created wealth, happiness and prosperity for its own people….except the oligarchy, as the Financial Times described. If Hamas was to think in terms of mutual peace, now that is a concept of near immeasurable value.

The world has yet to learn how to fund and to repeal the threat of Ebola, Islamic terror and many other problems. Regarding Gaza, US$5.4 billion appears to be a secure number for the peace of mind of global leaders. It allow them to believe that they can achieve a reduction in poverty. Meanwhile, the plague of Hamas remains free to build up its resistance.

14 February 2014

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinian Society

When I looked up the word “sanctions”, I had to agree that it is time to sanction the Israeli economy. Two of the definitions imply bringing penalties in order to force a country to comply with a specific issue.

The Palestinian-based BDS movement campaigns for “calls for action against projects and initiatives which amount to recognition of or cooperation with Israel’s regime of apartheid…” This includes banks divesting from Israel, rock stars like Elvis Costello cancelling performances, and US basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cancelling a scheduled public visit to Israel.

An outspoken supporter of BDS is the international charity Oxfam, which refuses to help Israeli children. Hollywood star Scarlett Johannson has campaigned actively on behalf of Oxfam. When she recently promoted at the Superbowl the Israeli firm, SodaStream, which is partially located in the West Bank, Oxfam was furious.

However, as social commentator Melanie Philips pointed out:

Ms Johansson stunned everyone by sacking Oxfam, on the grounds that she was a supporter of “economic co-operation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine”. Which, by implication, Oxfam was not.

As Phillips indicated, Johannson had in effect initiated her own sanctions. However, and more importantly, she had invoked the other definition of sanctions: “authoritative permission or approval”.

What Johansson was saying is that Israel’s economy deserves a huge ‘thumbs up’ from the rest of the world. Here are some examples why:

1) Even the Director of Policy for Oxfam had to admit on the BBC that Palestinians at the SodaStream factory are treated fairly.

2) Israel has taken major steps in recent years to ensure that minorities are a full part of the country’s successful high-tech bandwagon.

3) Israel does not keep its capabilities to itself, but shares them with the stricken and crippled. Classic case studies include the ongoing support in the Philippines and the treatment of Syrian refuges.

4) Without Israeli technology, millions around the world would be worse off – physically, financially, and socially.

BDS’s use of the word ‘sanction’ is at best hypocritical, as rappers have pointed out. When it involves academics insisting that Israeli research should be ignored, it invokes images of Kristallnacht in 1938.

Significantly, BDS is a secret movement. There are few records of senior staff, financial structure, donors, records of board members, etc. While demanding transparency and accountability from Israel, it refuses to play by the same rules.

The only person that we really know is running it is Omar Barghouti, who flouted his own standards and studied at Tel Aviv University. He does not accept Israel’s right to exist.

Last week, a court in Gaza sentenced a man to death; execution. Although condemned by the EU, the BDS team was silent on this gross abuse of human rights. Therefore, as is their cause, they sanctioned it.

26 September 2013

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinian Society

Some readers often ask me why I do not write specifically about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In response I explain how there are so many bloggers already out there, each with their own agenda. Another one will not make a difference.

That said, just recently, I have come across a series of financial and social issues that are out of the ordinary – certainly, unexpected – and deserve wider review.

1) Investing in Palestine: As the UN Assembly meets and President Abbas implores the world to support his cause against Israel, I recently questioned who is actually investing in the emerging Palestinian economy. The bottom line is that the Arab block, who Abbas says wants to recognise Israel, transfers relatively few funds towards its favourite political project. Most of Ramallah’s joint ventures are with ……Israel.

2) Israel’s economy and the global recession: At a time when America is struggling to maintain its economic momentum and the UK may finally be seeing an initial emergence from a deep recession, Israel’s finances appear to be under control. The stock market is beginning to perform and public expenditure is finally in check. Growth predictions for 2014 have been raised to 3.4%.

3) The level of aid for the Palestinian economy: It is well established that the Palestinian economy is bolstered by aid received from large international agencies. One recent report calculates that “the Palestinian people, have received per capita, adjusted for inflation, 25 times more aid than did Europeans to rebuild war-torn Western Europe under the Marshall plan after the Second World War.” Much comes via UNRWA’s near US$1,000 million annual budget, a self-perpetuating black hole of Western taxpayer largesse.

4) The main beneficiaries of Israeli Arabic health care: About six months ago, Israel’s largest health fund released a series of training videos in Arabic for the local market. Over 90% of the million plus views have been registered to countries with no official relations with the Holy Land. So much a for a boycott of the Jewish state.

5) The main beneficiaries of Palestinian justice system: Amnesty International (AI) has just released a report condemning the Palestinian Authority (PA) for not allowing free political demonstrations. It is only a month since AI condemned Hamas in Gaza for its frequent use of executions, a horror confirmed by the BBC. When one considers that the Palestinian Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling has documented 25 honour killings so far in 2013, it has to be asked: Why does the Palestinian system demand political and social justice from Israel but does not apply the same principles for its own people?

6) What Egypt and Syria are teaching others: The Arab Spring, the revolting pictures emerging from Syria, the Islamic-Marxist rule in Iran and more have challenged a vital core part of Western thinking for decades. Until now, it was accepted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the main core of distress in the region. Clearly, it is becoming evident that pressuring Israel into a peace deal will not bring overall peace to the Middle East. Well done Assad and co for highlighting the unspeakable.

7) Not worth visiting? So with all these trouble points and instability, who would visit Israel today? Well for the first eight months of 2013, 2.13 million tourists were recorded. That figure continues the upward record trend over the past three years.

1 May 2009

2 Comments

Categories: Israel, Jerusalem, Palestinian Society, Palestinians

I recently came across a wonderful book: “Not In My Name: A Compendium of Modern Hypocrisy”, written by Chas Newkey-Burden and Julie Burchill, and published by Virgin Books.

The section on Israel was written by Burden and can be found at: https://www.oyvagoy.com/israel. The author asks a challenging question.

The anti-Israel brigade would have us believe that the motivation for this vitriolic hatred of Israel is a genuine, compassionate concern for the fate of the Palestinian people. But do they really care about the Palestinians, or is their compassion somewhat selective, to put it politely? In reality, are they only interested in Palestinian suffering for as long as it gives them an opportunity to bash Israel?

As Burden notes: When Palestinian women are stabbed to death in “honour killings” across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, no anti-Israel Westerners lose a single moment’s sleep on their behalf.

So what?

Well, yesterday, I read about a new and challenging extension of this hypocrisy.

UNRWA was set up 60 years ago to help Palestinians and their social problems. It has a standing annual budget of over US$400m, which is regularly topped up for special campaigns. European taxpayers are particularly generous donors. Even since Israel left Gaza in 2005, UNRWA has still to resettle even one refugee outside the camps.

Israel and her supporters have been consistently critical of UNRWA and its increasingly political role. The Lindsay Report is the best documented comment to that effect.

In return, UNRWA through John Ging, its chief rep in Gaza, has never pulled its punches. The most notable occasion was during the January war in Gaza, when UNRWA claimed that Israel has deliberately shelled a school killing 42 civilians. UNRWA is proud of its record of supporting schools, funding school books, founding clinics and far more on behalf of Palestinians. It openly accepts that Hamas is its partner in Gaza, and works with this proscribed organisation.

And yet: Well, we all know that the 42 turned into 12, and 9 of those were Hamas operatives. Christopher Gunness, an UNRWA spokesperson, had to censure Hamas for stealing aid during the war. Ging has just called on the Western and Arab communities to deliver on its aid pledges to Gaza.

And now for the hypocrisy. For all the bending over backwards to help the Palestinians, often deliberately cooperating in tandem with militias, Ging has been censured by Hamas.

In effect, on 16th April, the Hamas paper “Felesteen” called on Ging to resign, as he opposes the “resistance”. His crime is his efforts to work within UN ethical standards. In other words, the man whose job is to funnel millions of Western money into Hamas projects is now seen as a traitor, because he is calling for transparency and opposing some of the violent methods.

Fortunately for Hamas, Obama is currently trying to see it included in a new Fatah government. European politicians are also queuing up to visit its leaders, as they refuse to even consider recognising Israel. Phew, no hypocrisy here, either.

3 March 2009

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Categories: Blog, Business, Israel, Palestinian Society, Palestinians

With hindsight there were many people warning over Madoff, years before he was forced to tell the truth about his Ponzi scheme.

Now turn to the Middle East. Since the Oslo Accords of 1993, roughly 25% of revenue of the Palestinian Authority comes from taxpayers in Europe, America and other donor groups. For example, in a statement released from Brussels last week, the commission observed that:

The EU is the largest donor to the Palestinians. In recent years, the combined contribution of the European Commission and EU Member States has reached €1 billion per year, which is not sustainable.

The question is: Do we know where the money is going to? Are the transfers accountable and transparent?

Just look at the work from the pressure group, Funding for Peace Coalition. With reports dating back to 2003, 2004 and 2005, the team has warned that large amounts of foreign taxpayers investment in the Palestinian Authority has simply disappeared.

What makes this a Ponzi scheme?

A combination of political correctness, goodwill and pressure from the Arab League has encouraged Europeans to support the Palestinians financially, just as America is perceived to help Israel.

It is no secret that the Arab countries have rarely delivered on their promises. The Europeans are finally wondering what they are getting for their Euro.

Benita Ferrero-Walder, European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, intended to pledge on 2 March in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) €436 million ($554 million) to the Palestinian people for 2009 at the “Conference in Support of the Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza”.

This will be on top of a similar amount of direct aid alone delivered in 2008, much of which went to pay for Hamas civil servants in Gaza. The new gold is supposed to be used for rebuilding Gaza. However, it is to be handed over to Abbas of Fatah, who has no control in Gaza!

So here comes the sting! The Europeans have opened the door as widely as possible for Barak and Hilary from the new-can-do White House. The Yanks have promised US$900 million extra bucks. But to whom and why?

To Fatah? Er, remember that Arafat died as one of the richest men in the world. To Gaza? But again Abbas does not rule Gaza. To UNRWA, whose stores are openly ransacked by Hamas operatives? Etc etc.

So what we have is: A bottomless pot, designed to feed aid to the Palestinians. European taxpayers, who have poured in loads of wealth but seen little in return. Americans, who are used to parting with money without conducting due diligence.

This week’s confrence in Egypt has promised US$4.5b to 3m Palestinians. Will they get it? Would some of this be better used in Darfur, Zimbabwe or elsewhere? Learning the truth about Gaza and the Palestinians is often more complex than unravelling a Ponzi scheme.

30 January 2009

4 Comments

Categories: Israel, Palestinian Society, Palestinians

I am usually reluctant to write about the Israel-Palestinian issue head on. In the past 2 weeks, several stories have come my way, which were never covered by the Western media and I feel deserve a wider readership. What links them is how they show that human rights in Palestinian territories are exposed and still protected under extreme situations.

Last week, an Israeli from the town of Emannuel in the West Bank was arrested. He was arrested, suspected of shooting dead a Palestinian youth, who had thrown stones at him as he was driving. When examined, there were no bullet marks on the body. A forensic report revealed that the teenager had died from his own stone, which had hit a tyre of the car and had rebounded at high speed.

A few days later, Jordanian news agencies reported that aid sent by the Hashemite Kingdom to Gaza had been hijacked by gunmen, never to reach the average man on the street. This act merely confirmed what Israeli sources have been shouting for years. Significantly, UNRWA had to suspend temporarily its aid conveys in to Gaza.

And finally, there is the story of Yishai, an Israeli soldier, who spent several days in Gaza during January. His unit slept in a temporarily abandoned house. What follows is Yishai’s thoughts, wrapped as an open letter to the family.

Yishai’s humanity is profound. It demonstrates a sincerity which cannot be described as spin. In his 3-page brief, he has managed to summarise the reports and feelings that I have heard from many soldiers who served during the recent hostilities.

Yishai not only describes in detail how they looked after the premises. His words form a plea to stop the hatred – to realise that all Israelis want to do is live in peace with Palestinians, fostering a mutual understanding for generations to come.

Yishai wrote:

An Open Letter to A Citizen Of Gaza:

I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home:

By: Yishai G (reserve soldier)

Hello,

While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that someone was in your home while you were away.

I am that someone.

I spent long hours imagining how you would react when you walked into your home. How you would feel when you understood that IDF soldiers had slept on your mattresses and used your blankets to keep warm.

I knew that it would make you angry and sad and that you would feel this violation of the most intimate areas of your life by those defined as your enemies, with stinging humiliation. I am convinced that you hate me with unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire to hear what

I have to say. At the same time, it is important for me to say the following in the hope that there is even the minutest chance that you will hear me.

I spent many days in your home. You and your family’s presence was felt in every corner. I saw your family portraits on the wall, and I thought of my family. I saw your wife’s perfume bottles on the bureau, and I thought of my wife. I saw your children’s toys and their English language schoolbooks. I saw your personal computer and how you set up the modem and wireless phone next to the screen, just as I do.

I wanted you to know that despite the immense disorder you found in your house that was created during a search for explosives and tunnels (which were indeed found in other homes), we did our best to treat your possessions with respect. When I moved the computer table, I disconnected the cables and lay them down neatly on the floor, as I would do with my own computer. I even covered the computer from dust with a piece of cloth. I tried to put back the clothes that fell when we moved the closet although not the same as you would have done, but at least in such a way that nothing would get lost.

I know that the devastation, the bullet holes in your walls and the destruction of those homes near you place my descriptions in a ridiculous light. Still, I need you to understand me, us, and hope that you will channel your anger and criticism to the right places.

I decided to write you this letter specifically because I stayed in your home.

I can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those in your household that are university students. Your children learn English, and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant; you know what is going on around you.

Therefore, I am sure you know that Qassam rockets were launched from your neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities.

How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would say “enough”?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you? How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?

I can hear you saying “it’s not me, it’s Hamas”. My intuition tells me you are not their most avid supporter. If you look closely at the sad reality in which your people live, and you do not try to deceive yourself or make excuses about “occupation”, you must certainly reach the conclusion that the Hamas is your real enemy.

The reality is so simple, even a seven year old can understand: Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip, removing military bases and its citizens from Gush Katif. Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity, water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).

Despite all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of any rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns. For three years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we could not take it anymore and entered the Gaza strip, into your neighborhood, in order to remove those who want to kill us. A reality that is painful but very easy to explain.

As soon as you agree with me that Hamasis your enemy and because of them, your people are miserable, you will also understand that the change must come from within. I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier to write than to do, but I do not see any other way. You, who are connected to the world and concerned about your children’s education, must lead, together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas.

I swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads, building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead of dwelling in self pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred to your Israeli neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now. If your leaders were not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not have been harmed. If someone would have stood up and shouted that there is no point in launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not have to stand in your kitchen as a soldier.

You don’t have money, you tell me? You have more than you can imagine.

Even before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat, millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to the Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your leaders bank accounts. Gulf States, the emirates – your brothers, your flesh and blood, are some of the richest nations in the world. If there was even a small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these nations had but the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian people – your situation would be very different.

You must be familiar with Singapore. The land mass there is not much larger than the Gaza strip and it is considered to be the second most populated country in the world. Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, and well managed country. Why not the same for you?

My friend, I would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly. I want you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my army did, and what I did. However, I feel your pain. I am sorry for the destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment. On a personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home as much as possible.

In my opinion, we have a lot more in common than you might imagine. I am a civilian, not a soldier, and in my private life I have nothing to do with the military. However, I have an obligation to leave my home, put on a uniform, and protect my family every time we are attacked. I have no desire to be in your home wearing a uniform again and I would be more than happy to sit with you as a guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea seasoned with the sage growing in your garden.

The only person who could make that dream a reality is you. Take responsibility for yourself, your family, your people, and start to take control of your destiny. How? I do not know. Maybe there is something to be learned from the Jewish people who rose up from the most destructive human tragedy of the 20th century, and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a flourishing and prospering country. It is possible, and it is in your hands. I am ready to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you.

But only you can move the wheels of history.”

Regards,

Yishai, (Reserve Soldier)

Pages

UNRWA: Saving a billion dollars of taxpayers’ money in the Middle East

Brexit, The Palestinians, and a troubling technicality called accountability

Reporting the Palestinian economy – some good news

UK’s wasted aid to the Palestinians. Better in a cardboard box?

The Palestinian economy – basic rights still missing

US$1 billion or US$5.4 billion – what is worth more?

Time to sanction the Israel economy

7 new economic and social quirks of ‘the Middle East issue’

Israel and hypocrisy – the new UNRWA?

Ponzi schemes in the Middle East

The Palestinian conflict; Human rights exposed

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