This Week in Palestine... INVESTMENT

Message from the Editor

Come the New Year, we start with “Investment,” a matter that requires sound, comprehensive research. For a place like Palestine, sort of country, sort of occupied, sort of independent, sort of heavily reliant, the topic can be tricky. Indeed, the situation in Palestine is complex. Nonetheless, we have taken a more traditional approach to investment and examined it from an economic and business point of view, while highlighting various social, cultural, and political dimensions.

Covering investment in Palestinian goods, Arda Mardirossian Shamshoum enlightens us with her article, “Taking the Liberty.” Tom Speechly, partner in The Abraaj Group, writes about, “Private Equity in Palestine.” An article from Elisabeth Koek, a legal researcher at Al-Haq, describes water conditions in Palestine and their effect on the Palestinian economy and agriculture. Hashim Shawa, our personality of the month, explores the “Start-up Generation,” while Laila Kaiksow discusses the importance of investing in public spaces for our children. 

Other articles include a contribution from Sabri Saidam about information technology, Ali Qleibo on “Investing in Palestinian Culture,” and Nora Lester Murad takes the theme from a community perspective. A special piece by Ayat Wael Kanaan titled, “Ultimate Endurance,” will surely touch your hearts, in addition to input from other writers who have enriched the issue. Finally, I would like to wish you all an enjoyable read and a prosperous 2013, as a result of wise investment choices!

In peace,
 Manar Harb
Content Editor

• Start-up Generation
  By Hashim Shawa

 
• Private Equity in Palestine
  By Tom Speechley

 
• Five Guaranteed Ways to Profit from Investment in the Palestinian Community
  By Nora Lester Murad

 
• Investing in Palestine … Palestine of Opportunities
  Courtesy of Palestine Exchange (PEX)

 
• Investing in Palestinian Culture Heritage, Agriculture, and Ecotourism
  By Dr. Ali Qleibo

 
• Investing in Palestinian Water
  By Elisabeth Koek

 
• HappyPalestine.com A Journey in the Making!
  By Sabri Saidam

• Artist of the Month
  Bashir Makhoul

 
• Book of the Month
  Occupation Diaries

 
• Exhibition of the Month
  Points of Departure

 
• Exhibition of the Month
  Jericho – Beyond the Celestial and Terrestrial

 
• Personality of the Month
  Hashim Shawa

 
• Picturesque Palestine
  Picturesque Palestine

Doura Al Qare

 

Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem... and prayers for peace for both Israel and Palestine

Musicians perform on stage in Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas eve in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 24, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

Orthodox Christian priests (R) wait for the arrival of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal at the entrance of the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem December 24, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

People walk through the Church of Nativity, the site revered by Christians as Jesus' birthplace, ahead of Christmas in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 23, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

A visitor lights a candle inside the Church of Nativity, the site revered by Christians as Jesus' birthplace, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 23, 2012. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

A member of the clergy holds a cross as he waits for the arrival of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem December 24, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

Christian boys from Nigeria walk outside the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. Thousands of Christian worshippers and tourists arrived in Bethlehem on Monday to mark Christmas at the site many believe Jesus Christ was born. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

"From this holy place, I invite politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the suffering in the Middle East," said the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal in his annual address. "Please continue to fight for a just cause to achieve peace and security for the people of the Holy Land."

Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem

Merry Christmas in spite of it all By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

[Please Note: From FY2008 to the present, annual U.S. bilateral assistance to the West Bank and Gaza Strip has averaged over $600 million, including annual averages of over $200 million in direct budgetary assistance and over $100 million in non-lethal security assistance for the PA in the West Bank. Additionally, the United States is the largest single-state donor to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)]

http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=25626&CategoryId=3

Merry Christmas in spite of it all

Date posted: December 24, 2012
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

Everyone loves the Christmas season with its decorated trees, lights, family get-togethers and overall cheer. The Palestinians are no different, both Christians and Muslims alike. This year in Palestine, Christmas will be celebrated with a mixture of hope for the future and frustration over the present. Palestinian Christians who work for government institutions will unfortunately have to make do with half their salaries this month as the PA continues to try and hold its head above water. With the financial crisis eating away at the Palestinian economy and tens of thousands of pocketbooks, some Christians will have to cut down on the festivities this year for lack of funds.

This crisis is crushing from every aspect. While employees cannot be blamed for wanting their salaries and therefore taking protest measures to demand them, neither can the PA be fully blamed for not being able to deliver. Israel is withholding money that is rightfully ours and the Arabs have yet to make good on their promise of providing a financial safety net to the PA. While many may say the government has not managed the crisis very well, if anyone or anything is to blame, it is the system created by the Oslo Accords that allows such crises to happen in the first place. The fact that the Palestinians are almost completely dependent on Arab and foreign aid coupled with the uneasy fact that Israel can freeze the transfer of our tax revenues whenever it wants, means this is a faulty system from the get-go. The Palestinians can never have a stable and viable economy as long as this lopsided and discriminatory system is in place.

This brings us to the element of hope this Christmas. The Palestinian leadership, very aware of this faulty system, have started to turn things around. The recent status upgrade for Palestine at the UN to a non-member state is a quantum leap for the Palestinians. While the road is understandably still long and full of obstacles, the wheel has been put into motion. Palestine is now a state under occupation, a status recognized by the overwhelming majority of world countries. Israel is violating international law by its presence in this occupied state in the form of settlements and the Palestinians have now been empowered by the tool of international criminal courts to fight this. Things are changing, even if slowly.

So even though pockets may be almost empty this Christmas, Palestinians still count their blessings. Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, our own Palestinian-born prophet and his tremendous sacrifice for humanity. We know a thing or two about sacrifice and therefore never ever lose hope.

Merry Christmas to all from the occupied State of Palestine.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

Laylat Al-Milad, the night of Christmas. Arabic Carol

Christmas in Bethlehem: Image and Reality, 2012

Philip Farah

Co-founder, Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-farah/christmas-in-bethlehem-im_b_2339384.html

If you have a miniature manger in your home today, or if you've heard a piece of music in the mall with "Bethlehem" in it, I -- as a Palestinian Christian in whose life Bethlehem has played a big role -- have a favor to ask you: Please go to your computer and do a search using these words: "Bethlehem Christmas wall." Check out some of the articles and the images. If your curiosity is piqued, go a bit further and check out the images for "al Masara village," or "al Walaja village," two tiny villages near Bethlehem. I think this is an important exercise for anyone who has formed a mental image of the Little Town of Bethlehem during this holiday season.

Today, Bethlehem and the surrounding areas still have some of the holiest churches of Christianity, and they still vibrate with the prayers and celebrations of Palestinian Christians. But the Palestinians of Bethlehem, Christians and Muslims alike, are a people besieged. For Bethlehem today is surrounded by a host of physical barriers, including several miles of a concrete wall that is over 20 feet high, built by the Israeli occupation authorities.

This wall -- deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004 -- separates the Palestinians of the Bethlehem area from huge swaths of their land. Much of that land has been taken from them to build Jewish-only settlements...READ MORE