Having to Rebuild Gaza, Again By The Editorial Board; OCT. 10, 2014 The recent 50-day war in Gaza killed over 2,000 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, and it destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 homes, 5,000 businesses, and essential public necessities like roads and power plants. Thousands of Gazans are now living in untenable conditions and desperately need help. Still, as Secretary of State John Kerry and other officials convene in Cairo on Sunday for an international conference of prospective donors to discuss the reconstruction challenge, one question arises over and over: What is the point of raising and spending many millions of dollars (the Palestinians say $4 billion is required) to rebuild the Gaza Strip just so it can be destroyed in the next war? It’s a harsh question. Given the region’s tragic history, it is also inevitable. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars in the last six years. Ending this depressing cycle will require a durable solution, not just short-term emergency aid and a temporary cease-fire until bombs start falling again. That, in turn, requires imaginative diplomacy to make sure any rebuilding program is linked to a permanent cease-fire and is designed in a way that strengthens the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate committed to peace with Israel, while weakening Hamas, Israel’s implacable enemy. Even during times of relative peace, Gazans have endured soul-crushing deprivation, including high unemployment and shortages of water and electricity. Since 2007, when Hamas seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Egypt have enforced a draconian blockade that restricts the flow of people and goods in and out of Gaza. While the goal is to squeeze Hamas, innocent people have paid a much bigger price. Faced with financial problems, Hamas forged a unity government with Fatah, Mr. Abbas’s party, this year. But major differences remain between the two factions, and whether the alliance can hold is an open question. Worried that Hamas will divert concrete and steel for military purposes, Israel used the blockade to restrict imports of construction materials. Since the shelling has ended, Israel has shown a willingness to cooperate on reconstruction. Under a deal brokered last month by the United Nations, Israel is to ease those limits while U.N. inspectors and security forces loyal to Mr. Abbas monitor the shipments. In theory that is progress, but much will depend on how the agreement is carried out. Other challenges complicate Gaza’s future. Israel has a right to insist that Gaza not be used as a launchpad for attacks against Israelis. To that end, it has demanded that Hamas be disarmed. But it is not at all clear how that can be achieved. At the very least, whatever money is raised from donor nations for reconstruction must be channeled through the Palestinian Authority so that the new unity government, which is composed of professionals not formally tied to either faction, and Mr. Abbas get the credit. Mr. Abbas, though, must work much harder to assert leadership in Gaza and present himself to the Palestinians there as a credible political alternative to Hamas. He took a positive step this week when the unity government’s prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, established a symbolic presence in Gaza by convening a cabinet meeting there on Thursday — the highest-profile West Bank leader to visit Gaza since 2007. Donor nations are also demanding an end to the corruption that undermines confidence in the authority and its leadership, and rightly so. The reconstruction program should be transparent and used to integrate Gaza and the West Bank by increasing trade between them, as well as with Israel, and ensuring that reconstruction benefits all Palestinians. The only long-term answer to a destructive militant group like Hamas is to empower moderates and give Palestinians hope of a constructive future that could, in time, include a comprehensive peace settlement leading to an independent state. But Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on that broader goal collapsed in April and show no sign of reviving. It is little wonder, absent a credible peace process, that so many donor nations are reluctant to pour money into what many see as a black hole. nytimes/2014/10/11/opinion/having-to-rebuild-gaza-again.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 12:04:47 +0000
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