Jordan Times
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Economic reform key to Mideast
stability - UN
By Linda Hindi
AMMAN - Delegates attending a UN conference yesterday stressed economic reform
as the key for stability in the occupied territories and the basis for building
a foundation for a viable two-state solution.
But they added that sustainable growth cannot be achieved without a political
settlement.
These concerns were at the centre of discussions during a two-day United Nations
Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People. The meeting, which concluded on
Wednesday, sought to highlight deplorable living conditions for Palestinians and
encourage countries to support Palestinian economic reform.
More than 50 countries participated in the talks led by the UN Committee on the
Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Participants
called on Israel to remove checkpoints, freeze settlements and permit free
movement of goods as some of the conditions crucial for peace.
The committee was established in 1975 to focus on basic rights to independence,
sovereignty and rights of return.
UN agency experts, who live among Palestinians, provided testimonies that
chronicled living conditions for Palestinian residents. Rosemary Willey, the
field coordinator for the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian
affairs, described the impact of more than 500 checkpoints on more than 2.5
million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel maintains that barriers and checkpoints are crucial for the safety of its
citizens.
Mohammad Allaf, the Jordanian permanent representative to the UN, said the
crucial issue is Palestinian borders are controlled by Israel.
"Without the control of border crossings resolved, Palestinians and their
commodities cannot move freely and hope for economic recovery and stability will
be futile,” Allaf told The Jordan Times.
He reiterated the Kingdom's unwavering support for the establishment of a
Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
His Majesty King Abdullah has repeatedly insisted that a free Palestine is the
key to peace in the Middle East, the diplomat said.
During an opening address on Tuesday, Nasser Judeh, acting foreign minister and
minister of state for media affairs and communications, said: “Instead of
barriers between populations being demolished, walls were constructed."
"Instead of movement being eased, barricades and checkpoints were set up. And
instead of openness and cooperation, the policies of closure and blockade were
applied."
Several officials who spoke with The Jordan Times referred to the “Oslo times”
as a period that brimmed with hope. They stressed that, regrettably, the basic
issues of food, fuel and electricity have returned to the forefront.
Roby Nathanson, general director for the Macro Centre for Political Economics in
Tel Aviv, highlighted the positive effects that would follow a cooperative
Israeli-Palestinian economy.
Friendly relations, according to Nathanson, could allow the GDP per capita to
grow from around $1,000 to $2,000 within a few years, create hundreds of
thousands of new jobs, and develop a sustainable export-oriented economy, while
capitalising on tourism.
Nathanson was one of the four nongovernment participants who attended the UN
seminar on their behalf. Although Israel is repeatedly invited to attend the
seminars for Palestinians, the government and its UN representative never
attend, a UN official said.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the UN, told The
Jordan Times that the UN seminar was important to further highlight the
three-year Palestinian Economic and Reform and Development plan devised by the
Palestinian Authority. He called on the international community to support the
plan.