NGOs Address Challenges in Palestine

By Don Betz

What a difference a year makes. The 1993 gathering under U.N. auspices of the world's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active on the question of Palestine was held just days prior to the surprise announcement of the Oslo accords, the subsequent Sept. 13 ceremony on the White House south lawn and the signing of the Declaration of Principles. What the NGOs produced in Vienna at the 1993 U.N. conference had been eclipsed by back-channel diplomacy, economic imperative and the rush of history.

In late August 1994, once again NGOs from most continents were represented at the eleventh United Nations international NGO meeting on the question of Palestine, this time held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. More than 120 NGOs registered for the four-day meeting, which combined the European Regional Symposium with the international conference. (The 1994 North American NGO regional symposium was held in Toronto, Ontario in June.) Significantly, 30 governments sent observers to the Geneva conference in 1994, a marked increase over previous NGO meetings on Palestine.

From the outset, the defining reality was the implementation of the Declaration of Principles (DOP). Among the NGOs present there was a marked dichotomy between supporters of the current peace process and of the fledgling Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and those who view the Cairo agreement of May 4, 1994 as insufficient to fulfill the aspirations of the people who had been resisting occupation for 27 years. Negative reactions to the DOP and the Palestinian National Authority were exacerbated by the grinding poverty, 60 percent unemployment in Gaza, the display of autocratic power by the Authority and the growing realization that Israel retains an immense amount of control over the lives and futures of the Palestinian people. One observer remarked that Yasser Arafat went from being an international revolutionary leader to "the mayor of Gaza who must report to Israel and who cannot even leave the Gaza Strip without the permission of the IDF."

The sense of the conference and its speakers was to affirm the undiminished right of Palestinians to achieve true self-determination. The conference enunciated this orientation through its theme: "Building on the Declaration of Principles: Toward the Independent Palestinian State." Most speakers reflected varying degrees of dissatisfaction with the achievements for Palestinians under the Cairo agreement and the PNA. Others noted that this current era must be judged only as a transitional phase. The final communiqué from the conference participants underscored this message:

"The implementation of the initial stages of the Palestinian interim self-government is an important achievement but must not be permitted to obscure the reality that, during the transitional period, Israel, as the occupying power, remains obligated to observe the Geneva Conventions until such time that the Palestinian people achieve full sovereignty."

All of the conference participants knew full well that Israel has failed to comply with the conventions throughout the occupation and has always maintained that these accepted parts of international law do not apply to this occupation. Therefore there were no surprises in this regard.

However, in a year of organizational transition and fiscal concern at the U.N., it was surprising to hear the litany of official statements lauding the importance of NGOs to the work of the U.N. and its committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people on the question of Palestine and the verbal commitments to continuing the U.N.-NGO collaboration on Palestine.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ibrahima Fall, representing Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the Geneva conference, cited the NGOs' extensive experience in the region and their role in "building Palestinian confidence in the future." He and others echoed the call for the economic, social and political development of the occupied Palestinian territories as essential for peace-building. He concluded by reiterating the "singular importance" the U.N. attaches to the contribution of NGOs to the development of peace in the Middle East.

NGO Preparations in Palestine

An essential component of last year's U.N.-NGO conference was the preparatory work done in the spring and summer of 1994. At the conclusion of the 1993 U.N. conference in Vienna, several organizers and participants judged that the conclave lacked coordinated input from the international and Palestinian NGOs operating on the ground. Through major organizational work done by several NGOs and umbrella organizations representing such groups of NGOs as AIDA (Association of International Development Agencies-Jerusalem), CCINGO (Coordinating Committee of International NGOs in the Occupied Territories), the ICCP (International Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine), and its two regional counterparts in North America, the NACC and the ECCP, a consultation process for NGOs in Palestine was launched.

Nine hundred representatives from 650 NGOs including international NGOs working in Palestine participated in four regional preliminary meetings held during May 1994 in Gaza and the West Bank, and in the general conference in Jerusalem in June. Dubbed the Geneva Conference Working Group (GCWG), their objective was to formulate recommendations for the NGOs that would congregate for the U.N. meeting in Geneva later in August. The process was organized and funded by NGOs with no U.N. assistance.

The extensive participation signaled that the proliferating Palestinian NGOs were concerned about their relationship with the emerging PNA. The NGO representatives in the GCWG process contended that the role of NGOs in the forthcoming process of nation-building in Palestine was necessary to ensure the development of a democratic system.

Their recommendations were specifically addressed at the U.N.-sponsored NGO meeting in Geneva, which in turn referred them "to the U.N. Committee and the NGO network for their support and implementation."

Among suggestions was a call for the stimulation of income-earning projects. The need for serious cooperation with the Palestine development authority (PECDAR) was acknowledged, but the NGOs as a movement were unwilling to subsume their priorities, programs and identities within the PNA structure. They reacted swiftly and negatively to suggestions that, after the establishment of the PNA, independent NGOs no longer have a role to play in the transformation of Palestine.

In his official remarks at the U.N.-NGO meeting in Geneva, PECDAR spokesman Samir Huleileh sought to avert NGO-PNA friction and suggested that coordination between the PECDAR, international NGOs and Palestinian groups on projects within emerging Palestine was a key to sustained success. He proposed to conference participants that they pool resources to convince governments, the U.N., the European Union and international development agencies "to hasten the contribution to peace via building Palestine."

The education and training of Palestinian groups in effective methods of participation in U.N. meetings once again was raised as a priority for the forthcoming NGO plans for action. The pilot program for this training was successfully completed by the ICCP in Geneva in 1993, but for lack of funding the project was ended and the ICCP Geneva office closed.

The final communiqué was unique precisely because it was a brief and informal document rather than the weightier political statements of previous conferences. It was apparent that the NGOs present found fault with the Cairo Agreement and still were focused on the realization of self-determination and the emergence of the independent Palestinian state. Further, in these early moments of institution-building in Gaza and Jericho, the NGOs did not want their role trivialized. This was noted in the communiqué, which said in part:

"Under occupation, local and international NGOs have played crucial roles in the development of the Palestinian economy and society. We anticipate that NGOs will continue to play these roles, and that support should be provided based on their competence and quality of service. We NGOs will seek ways to increase the involvement of other NGOs, including those involved in economic and social development and in humanitarian service. We look forward to and encourage cooperation between NGOs and the Palestine National Authority."

Dissatisfaction expressed at the Geneva meeting by several speakers and participants reflected disappointment with the current state of affairs on the ground in those areas under nominal PNA control. As one speaker suggested:

"Our work as NGOs is not based on pious platitudes, but on the solid efforts of men and women who have believed passionately in striving for lasting peace and on the efforts of a global network of NGOs responding to the challenge of change...As we heard historic words from the White House lawn we all hoped that our individual and collective work had borne sweet fruit for Palestinians. Only time and true diligence will bear witness to our hopes."

Don Betz is chairman of the International Coordination Committee on Palestine.