Aid can contribute to the development in Palestine, but few preconditions and prerequisites need to exist: Understanding the development process as resistance, rights and freedom; Adopt a politicized version of Senian development model; Respect the self-determination and dignity in aid intervention paradigm; Move from the apolitical technical development models that definitely do harm toward a paradigm that acknowledges the colonial dominance and the asymmetry of power; Bring politics back in to the aid industry and stop using aid as a smoke screen for political failures; Support the resistance and steadfastness economy; Stop addressing the symptoms of the problem and move to address the root cause, the Israeli occupation.

Series of Workshops on: Political Economy of Dependence and Independence in Palestine, Third Workshop on: “International Aid: A “Necessary Evil” for Development in Palestine?”, The Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies (IALIIS) at Birzeit University, February 28, 2012. For additional information, click here.

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