The Political Economy Of Aid In Palestine

Despite for many years receiving the highest per capita aid worldwide, the economies of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have failed to achieve any lasting developmental outcomes and suffer from major weaknesses which undermine their very survival. This book argues that the dominant, mainstream approach to the study of aid and aid effectiveness is theoretically and empirically inadequate for a comprehensive understanding and analysis of the workings of aid in developing countries, particularly those undergoing conflict. This book examines the nature of donor operations in Palestine, highlighting the political and ideological determinants of aid allocation and effectiveness, and focussing on the role of trade-related donor assistance in Palestine, more commonly known as Aid for Trade. It discusses how such trade-related assistance is only another instance of donors working ‘around’ the conflict, as opposed to taking it into account; and how aid to Palestine cannot bring about significant improvement as long as the Palestinian economy is fundamentally affected by Israeli occupation, settlements and blockade. It argues that unless restructured and more carefully targeted, aid can only act as a temporary relief mechanism. Furthermore, the book sheds light on critical areas within Palestinian territories that are in need of development and require significant and immediate attention at both national and international level.

A Very Political Economy spares no political sensitivities in its dissection of the aid process, but also argues persuasively that without international assistance there would have been no Palestinian Authority left to negotiate with, and no peace process to revive.".

This book explores the political economy of Palestine through critical, interdisciplinary, and decolonial perspectives, underscoring that an approach to economics that does not consider the political—a de-politicized economics—is inadequate to understanding the situation in occupied Palestine. A critical interdisciplinary approach to political economy challenges prevailing neoliberal logics and structures that reproduce racial capitalism, and explores how the political economy of occupied Palestine is shaped by processes of accumulation by exploitation and dispossession from both Israel and global business, as well as from Palestinian elites. A decolonial approach to Palestinian political economy foregrounds struggles against neoliberal and settler colonial policies and institutions, and aids in the de-fragmentation of Palestinian life, land, and political economy that the Oslo Accords perpetuated, but whose histories of de-development over all of Palestine can be traced back for over a century. The chapters in this book offer an in-depth contextualization of the Palestinian political economy, analyze the political economy of integration, fragmentation, and inequality, and explore and problematize multiple sectors and themes of political economy in the absence of sovereignty.

The book examines the impact of aid to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip from the 1993 Oslo Agreement up to 2013. It attempts to go beyond the general notion that the Israeli occupation is the main instrument of control and de-development and rather tries to investigate these aspects and the dynamics that have surrounded foreign aid delivery in the Territory. At the socio-economic level, the book explores how donors’ definition of partner for peace has exacerbated socio-economic inequalities within the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. The book also looks at how foreign aid has been used as an instrument for particular groups to advance politically, and through this socially and economically. Hence, the book attempts to investigate the resultant socio-economic imbalances within Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip.

The volume brings together cutting-edge political economy analyses of the Palestinian people: those living in the occupied territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, those living within Israel, and refugees in Arab states. It is a must-read for those who wish to understand the historical origins and contemporary realities that face Palestinians.

Roy (Harvard U.) analyzes the causes and impact of the various political and economic policies introduced into the Gaza Strip, focusing on those occurring during the Israeli occupation. Arguing that political concerns have hindered the area's economic development, resulting in the region's de-development, she examines the Gulf war, the Gaza-Jericho Agreement, and Arab and PLO policies, and presents data on the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors. Published by the Institute for Palestine Studies, 3501 M St., NW Washington, DC 20007. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR