In our business, we often look for the best way to tell the story; the best pictures to support a script, the best words to convey a sense of urgency for action.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the conflict in
It was only a year ago when governments rallied around the hope of peace on the back of the
Quartet Envoy Tony Blair and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad were following a path of real opportunity and real investment leading to real jobs. The next logical step being that real development would create the conditions for lasting peace.
One cannot disagree with the intention, but the results are less than impressive. Beyond the horrendous casualties of conflict, unemployment is at more than 30 per cent in
Clare Spencer is a
Spencer says as long as Hamas is labelled as a terrorist organisation by the
Beyond the money recently pledged by governments, the Palestine Investment Fund was set up back in 2002 to introduce transparency for the money coming in and to generate a return on assets for the government. The fund manager reports to the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah Party and a bitter rival of Hamas, which now controls
Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad have garnered the support of the international community as evidence by the hundreds who showed up at the first Palestine Investment Conference last spring in
A significant gesture at the conference was a pledge by Arab investment funds — enjoying the fruits of $100 oil at the time — to participate in the process. This was led by two real estate funds from Qatar and Saudi Arabia announcing projects of a half billion dollars in the West Bank. I am curious to see if those deals and others on the drawing board will see the light of day after this latest twist introduced to the long running script.There was a greater political significance behind the Arab investment. As the Chatham House’s Spencer says that money was pledged in part because regional leaders were hoping for a greater say in the Arab Peace Initiative and the peace process overall. Basically, “We too will put our money on the table as long as our voice is heard as well” is the subtext here.
It is similar to the point King Abdullah of
John Defterios presents Marketplace
Middle East on CNN
Tune in Timings: Friday 1215 & 2345 hrs, Saturday 0945 hrs and Sunday 1115 hrs (All Times UAE)