In the first episode of Shifting Tides, Elif Zaim and Michael Arnold talk with Dr. Alaa Tartir, Program Advisor to Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network about the political economy of aid to Palestine. They discuss the Oslo Accords, why aid … Continue reading Podcast – International Aid to Palestine with Alaa Tartir
Over US$40 billion has been spent by international donors as foreign aid for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since the Oslo Accord was signed in 1993. This makes Palestinians one of the highest … Continue reading Political Economy of Foreign Aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: A Conceptual Framing
The Oslo Accords not only left the Palestinian people much worse off politically; they also devastated the economy of those living under Israeli occupation despite the $23 billion-plus that donors have poured into the territory. What’s worse, Wildeman and Tartir … Continue reading Can Oslo’s Failed Aid Model Be Laid to Rest?
Industrial zones are criticized in the Arab region and beyond. The problem is much worse in the occupied Palestinian territory because the zones help Israel “normalize” its occupation, as Al-Shabaka Programme Director Alaa Tartir sets out in this trenchant commentary. … Continue reading PA Industrial Zones: Cementing Statehood or Occupation?
The agro-industrial park in Jericho and all the problems that surround it provide another opportunity for the major actors in the development process in occupied Palestine, including the donor community, the PA, the private sector and civil society to rethink … Continue reading Jericho Agro-Industrial Park: A Corridor for Peace or Perpetuation of Occupation?
It is time to look for alternative models of aid, ones that do not simply seek new ways for the Palestinians to cope with life under occupation, but rather challenge the status quo while enabling Palestinians to survive, by, for … Continue reading World Bank Policies Persistently Fail Palestinians
“What Palestinians need under occupation is a resistance economy. They need an economy that can support them in order to face the occupation, and eventually to end the occupation.” – Alaa Tartir, on this week’s podcast Interviewed by Nora Barrows-Friedman, The … Continue reading Podcast: Alaa Tartir on Building a Sustainable Palestinian “Resistance Economy”
The recent World Bank growth report frankly concludes that the Palestinian economy is fragile and dependent on foreign aid: No surprises there. Far more surprising – not to say shocking – are the Bank’s irrelevant and sometimes harmful recommendations, as … Continue reading Persistent Failure: World Bank Policies for the Occupied Palestinian Territories
For Palestinians, agriculture is more than a source of income or an economic category in budgets and plans. It is tied to the people’s history, identity, and self-expression, and drives the struggle against Israel’s Separation Wall. In this brief, Lebanese … Continue reading Farming Palestine for Freedom
“Receiving aid is not just like receiving an elephant but like making love to an elephant; there is no pleasure in it, you run the risk of being crushed and it takes years before you see the results. Aid is … Continue reading Aid and Development in Palestine: Anything, but Linear Relationship. Can aid contribute to development?
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey interviews were conducted in the summer of 2009 with almost 14000 members of the adult population (18 – 64),selected from nationally representative samples in these seven countries. This is the first major study of entrepreneurship in … Continue reading Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: GEM-MENA Regional Report 2009
Palestine is classified as a factor-driven economy; it exhibits a low early-stage entrepreneurship rate (the proportion of the adult population who are involved in early stage entrepreneurial activity is around 9%) among factor-driven countries, and among the MENA seven GEM … Continue reading The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM): Palestine Country Report 2009
Alaa Tartir, Program Director of Al-Shabaka, Engaged Scholar, Global Citizen 