Expert says Palestinians don't need financial aid

Expert says Palestinians don't need financial aid
Ex-International Monetary Fund official says investments, not donations, needed more to rebuild economy of territories --
James Sterngold, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, September 4, 2005



With Israel's disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank largely completed, the Palestinian Authority is struggling to provide a new kind of hope with an economic rebirth in the battered territories.

It is a monumental task, one that will require enormous amounts of outside assistance. But while the United States and other donors have pledged billions of dollars, a senior member of the Palestinians' new economic team says the flood of money is largely unnecessary at this time -- and some of it may be counterproductive.

"If you poured in a lot of financing at this time, it would not have a big impact. It would not be very effective," said George T. Abed, who retired earlier this year from a senior position at the International Monetary Fund, then was appointed governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority. "Governance is poor. It would be wasted."

Abed, 66, a UC Berkeley-trained economist, said the view from inside the territories is different from the perception some may have from the outside. Although unemployment and poverty are rampant, Palestinian banks are overflowing with deposits, he said, and many wealthy Palestinian entrepreneurs living overseas are eager to invest in the territories.
snip

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/04/MNGTHEI7BV1.DTL

in the * administration.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

from the article
"In an Atlantic Monthly article titled "In A Ruined Country," author David Samuels estimated that Arafat and his senior aides may have siphoned off as much as half of the $7 billion in aid to the Palestinian Authority. Samuels, citing an International Monetary Fund report, said Arafat may have personally taken $900 million just from 1995 to 2000, a figure that did not include the rake off from kickbacks and other forms of corruption."

I was simply pointing out that this story mentions that Palestinians don't need help while neglecting to point out that then likewise others
(like Israeli settlers) ought not to need help either. Same rules for everybody I always say.

It said they need INVESTMENTS not outright gifts. Billions have disappeared into the pockets of corrupt Palestinian leaders, billions more have been given to the terrorists, while the people lack jobs and infrastructure.

What is wrong with pointing this out?

The funds earmarked BY THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT are compensation to the settlers for the forcible loss of their homes, businesses and jobs. If you can't see the justice in that then I give up.

"In the long term, Abed said, private capital and internal reform will be more important than government contributions or funds from public institutions such as the World Bank if the Palestinians are to create a self-sustaining economy with jobs that rely on growth rather than aid.

"There are things that require funds, and things that require reform," said Abed. "We can produce high single-digit growth in the first year or two of our administration if we can make those changes in things like the judiciary, education and the government."

A direct quote from the article.

That there are plenty of rich Palestians, and that therefore we
need to suck up to them so they will invest, rather than have
public entities (governments and the like) take command and see
that the necessary investment and development is done. It is
the neo-liberal economic agenda in spades promulgated by an
appointed priest of that sect, and it will fail and fail badly to
do anything to alleviate the problems of the Palestinian people.
If Israel really wants to do something about the Palestinian birth
rate, they need to thwart these loons and work on getting jobs and
literacy rates up in all those young folks as fast as possible.

Bemildred, really. Politically that's an amazing conceit.

Having said that I am all for responsible family planning! And I couldn't agree more that a thriving economy is vital for the long-term peace and security of ANY region, let alone I/P.

But there's a limit to what ISRAEL can do to help the Palestinian economy! Indeed I believe the Palestinian attitude is basically - RAUS, the sooner the better, and don't let the door hit you in the ass. And, the fact is a high birthrate was one of Arafat's long-range plans to defeat the Israelis - simple demographics. So I don't think financial and/or family planning advice from the Israelis is going to be all that welcome. I do think that's a shame though - working together, I/P could become a vital, well-off region. Maybe in time, with peace and quiet and mutual healing, such cooperation can evolve. I certainly hope so.

As it is, the Palestinian literacy rate is quite high - I believe some 86%. This is the best in the Arab world, though obviously 100% would be ideal, with higher education and technological training available as well for those who want or need it. I could say the same for the US, come to think of it!

As for the government - the P.A. you mean? - taking over and managing the wealth in Palestinian banks, they can't even prevent a relative of Arafat from getting whacked, nor can they seem to control the militias. Indeed, many resent Fatah and other vestiges of Arafat's reign, accusing them of corruption. So how should they be effective at managing this wealth? And as for FOREIGN governments taking charge of Palestinian money - doesn't that smack of paternalism? Doesn't it suggest (in spades) that the poor little Palestinians can't manage their own affairs? I think that's defeating the purpose of trying to empower people to manage their own state!

Even apart from that, the system in the Middle East isn't Western, it isn't democratic or corporate in the way we're used to - so the existing system - familial, even paternalistic to a large extent - must be employed.

The author of the article is obviously more of an expert on this subject than yours truly but what he said made sense, and I doubt he intended harm to the Palestinian people, but rather ways to improve their economic situation using existing resources. The problem is, additional resources, without reform, could well just go poof - and that wouldn't help anybody.

think it's hard for the people who are being blamed for all the troubles to suggest solutions, much as we would like to help.

The economic problems faced by people throughout the developing world share many similarities to those confronting the Palestinians: human population explosion, scarce resources, internal political conflict and war. These require a lot of hard work, rational thinking and good will to work out.

A big part of the problem, implicit in the very term "developing", has to do with the time warp - the immense changes wrought in just two centuries have left people in some places living existences undreamed of - futuristic, even - and in others still subsisting on pastoral or basic agricultural economies. Those were sufficient for small human populations but they won't support large ones - yet, there is resistance to change. The very large families desireable in the past become threats to the future in this day and age - especially since drought, global warming, pollution and diminishing resources threaten much of the world's population. Yet, resistance to change is very great, the greatest perhaps in some of the most threatened regions.

In China, the government has sufficient power - and the people apparently have a sufficient grasp of the enormity of the problem - that the birth rate has been drastically - and sometimes forcibly - reduced. India has made great strides. But this isn't something that can be forced on people and indeed, certain religions even forbid basic family planning, and the very speed, cosmopolitan nature, competitiveness and variety of post-modern life are regarded with great suspicion by many people.

How do we work WITHIN people's traditional cultures to effect beneficial economic change, especially when change itself is regarded as an enemy?

I didn't say (before) it was Israel's problem (although it
obviously is).

I'm simply trying to assert that, if you want the situation to
improve, certain things have to happen, and to suggest what they
are. How they happen is open.

I was also asserting that this fellow's policy prescriptions (IMHO)
will not work, they have been tried many times in many places and
they do not address the things that have to happen if the situation
is to get better (i.e. jobs, literacy, reduced birth rates, etc.)

I don't know how I'm supposed to carry on a conversation were
I'm continually expected to respond to assertions I never made and
(apparently) incomprehension of what I did say.

"In the long term, Abed said, private capital and internal reform will be more important than government contributions or funds from public institutions such as the World Bank if the Palestinians are to create a self-sustaining economy with jobs that rely on growth rather than aid.

"There are things that require funds, and things that require reform," said Abed. "We can produce high single-digit growth in the first year or two of our administration if we can make those changes in things like the judiciary, education and the government."

A direct quote from the article.