US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Berlin on Tuesday, 24 June.
The international community pledged US$242 million
yesterday (24 June) to strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s police and legal
systems. The pledges, made at the German-initiated Berlin Conference in Support of Palestinian Civil
Security and the Rule of Law, will be channeled
to the Palestinian Authority (PA) over the next three years to finance
development of the Palestinian security and judicial systems in the West Bank. These
funds, part of the US$ 7.4 billion pledged by the international community for
the PA at the 17 December 2007 International Donors’ Conference for the
Palestinian State in Paris, will also finance an expansion of the European
Union Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories.
The one-day Berlin conference, touted as “a clear signal
of support” by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and others for
the building of a Palestinian state, was premised on the idea that
strengthening the civilian security infrastructure of the PA is essential to
the creation of a Palestinian state. As the German Foreign Ministry noted in a
press release, “The Federal Government knew from the outset
that it was key to bolster the Palestinian people's will for peace by
strengthening the Palestinian economy. And there can be no economic development
without functioning state structures as well as legal certainty for investors.”
While Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad welcomed what he dubbed
"a strong expression of support" for a Palestinian state, he stressed
the need for Israel to
comply with its international obligations to freeze construction of Jewish
settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
In June alone the Israeli government has twice announced plans to build a total
of approximately 2,000 housing units in occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem.
Fayyad further urged a change in Israeli "security behavior,"
referring amongst many incidents to Israel’s raid of the West Bank town of
Nablus early on 23 June and its assassination of 24-year-old Iyad Khanfar, a
student at An-Najah University and 23-year-old Tariq Juma'a Abu Ghali, a
prominent Islamic Jihad activist in the northern West Bank. This raid was cited
by the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, as the reason
for its 24 June launching of three projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, both incidents following start of the
Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel
and Hamas. As a result of the attack on Sderot, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud
Barak today announced the indefinite closure of the crossings for goods between
Israel
and the Gaza Strip, a move which Hamas spokesperson Fawzi calls a breach of the
ceasefire agreement.
Participants in the Berlin conference,
including the Quartet, stressed the importance of sustaining the calm in Gaza. However, as the negotiated
ceasefire does not apply to the West Bank, Israel has a free hand to continue
its military actions there at will. Palestinian political analyst Ahmad Hanoun noted
today on the Voice of Palestine radio that “whenever calm is reached in Gaza strip, Israel
usually escalates its military operations in the West Bank…(and) the events of
yesterday clearly demonstrate that Israel is endorsing the same
policy.”
Driving a wedge between the West Bank and Gaza Strip political authorities
has been a primary goal of Israel
and the international community since Hamas’ ascension to government in Gaza last year. However, Israel’s negotiations – however indirect – with
Hamas over the ceasefire in Gaza
and the return of imprisoned Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit demonstrate the
Israeli de facto acceptance of Hamas as a necessary, key regional player.
The Quartet issued a statement following the Berlin
conference, noting “the urgent need for more visible progress on the ground in
order to build confidence and support progress in the negotiations launched at Annapolis.” However, the
Quartet statements are not coupled with appropriate political moves and
pressure necessary to end the Israeli occupation.
The international community, as it did during the Oslo negotiations, focuses on the building
and strengthening of Palestinian state institutions, especially security
related ones that could potentially be a proxy for the Israeli military.
However, while the international community is building state institutions and
focusing on the potential economic “dividends of peace”, the Palestinians
continue to live under an ever strengthening Israeli occupation. The
Palestinians require an actual state before they can build viable, strong and
relevant state institutions; a Palestinian state and possible peace dividends
remain an impossible and cruel fantasy as long as the Israeli occupation is
allowed to continue.
While the German Foreign Minister may believe the Palestinian “will for
peace” must be bolstered through economic measures, it is real political change
that the Palestinians require. It is the Israeli and international will for a
just and lasting peace that must be questioned in the current reality.
|
