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

Video: From Palestine on Christmas

http://youtu.be/NdPjsNpuqCk

Published on Dec 21, 2012

Justice is possible and hope is justified.

Bethlehem 2012 Christmas in Palestine

Christian worshipers visits the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, ahead of Christmas, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

In this photo taken on Monday, Dec 17, 2012, Bethlehem’s first female mayor, Vera Baboun tours near the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West bank city of Bethlehem. Bethlehem’s first female mayor, Vera Baboun, can’t walk through the main square of the biblical town without being stopped by admirers. “This is our new mayor, who is turning Bethlehem into one of the greatest cities in the world,” a tour guide hollered to a group of Christian tourists passing by the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. After seven years of Islamist Hamas control of Bethlehem that drained the town of international aid funds, Baboun, a Christian, and her colleagues from the more moderate Fatah Party hope to turn things around, starting with the Christmas season. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

A Palestinian vendor pushes a cart in front of a Christmas tree as he sells corn at Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION FOOD)

 

People watch fireworks explode after the lighting of the Christmas tree outside the Church of Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 15, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

A Palestinian wood carver works on a figurine of the baby Jesus in an olive wood factory in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, ahead of Christmas, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

A worshipper lights a candle in the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 20, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

Bethlehem's new female mayor gears up for Christmas 

 ****

Tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists are expected to visit Bethlehem in the West Bank over Christmas. Photograph: Musa Al-Shaer/AFP/Getty Image

 

"OK, we are living in a big prison, but we still hope that things will change."

Bethlehem is "a symbol of hope and peace" to the world, said Rishmawi. However, he added: "Hotels in Bethlehem will be full at Christmas, but we need families to come here all the year round, to walk in our streets and eat in our restaurants."

No room at the inn – but Bethlehem's popularity is a boon for Palestinians

More visitors and statehood recognition raises hopes for tourism industry in West Bank city, which is largely controlled by Israel.

Joining our voices in seeking and offering hope for a better future...

Jerri Bird (Jerine Bettybea Newhouse b 1926): "A viable, independent Palestinian state would be a step in the direction of two peoples in the same land living harmoniously"

Family Photo - Jerri Bird, an activist for Middle East peace, died Dec. 13 at her home in Washington. Pictured are, from left, Jerine "Jerri" Bird, her children, and her husband Eugene Bird, in Jerusalem in 1956.

In her activism, Mrs. Bird often confronted the argument that a Palestinian state would jeopardize Israel’s security needs... “Israel is already the one of the most modern military forces in the Middle East, and this has not protected it against violence,” she wrote in a 2002 letter to the editor published by the New York Times. “Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians guarantee continued violent resistance. A viable, independent Palestinian state would be a step in the direction of two peoples in the same land living harmoniously. The only alternative is endless bloodshed.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerri-bird-dedicated-activist-for-middle-east-peace-dies-at-86/2012/12/19/ee78d382-493d-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story_1.html

Jerri Bird, ‘dedicated’ activist for Middle East peace, dies at 86

By Adam Bernstein, Published: December 19

Jerri Bird spent three decades accompanying her husband on his Foreign Service assignments throughout the Middle East during the Cold War. They witnessed ethnic and religious tensions that often spiraled into extremist violence and lured generations into a cycle of terror, grief and the desire for retribution.

“An eye for an eye has turned into twelve for one or better,” she wrote to her parents in Oregon at the start of the 1956 Suez Canal crisis. At the time, she and her husband were stationed in East Jerusalem... READ MORE

My letter to the NYTimes RE The Fading Mideast Peace Dream

RE: The Fading Mideast Peace Dream
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/opinion/the-fading-mideast-peace-dream.html?ref=opinion

Dear Editor,

First I read the delightful story The Christmas Frog, and then I read your somber editorial "The Fading Mideast Peace Dream." I can not help but keep thinking of that little frog- the magic of finding him in the first place, and the miracle that he lived to swim and sing... a miracle made possible by the writer's conscientious care, and listening skills.

The news from Palestine really is dire. Both Israel's continuing investments in the settlements and anti-Palestine policies, as well as Hamas/Islamist rockets and bellicose rhetoric certainly are not leading to peace or security for anyone in the region. The Holy Land is inspiring the worst in many people- on both sides of the Israel/Palestine conflict with many very negative ramifications all through out the region and beyond.

Ziad Asali of The American Task Force on Palestine wisely points out that "The only way to honor our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and Palestine."

Obama is not the only American who should "be exhorting both sides to halt retaliatory measures".  Every elected leader, every pundit, every editor, every writer, every reader should do their part... help the word spread.  We all give peace and both Israel and Palestine a much better chance by clearly calling for an end to the conflict with a negotiated two state solution- in line with international law and fully respecting basic human rights on all sides of every border.  

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Notes

Palestinian cause redefined as Hamas spins Pyrrhic victories: "Either the Palestinian national movement will continue to seek an independent state through negotiations and by building the national institutions on the ground. Or it will be defined by an open-ended "armed struggle" against Israel under an Islamist banner.... This is not simply a Palestinian choice. Israel, above all, but also the United States, the European Union, and other international actors, will have a major role to play in influencing which of these two visions predominates in the Palestinian national movement in the years to come. Regional and international incentives will be a major, if not a decisive factor, in the outcome." Hussein Ibish

Empowering Peace & Palestine

The Arab Peace Initiative

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Palestinian Refugees(1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:

Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

The Balfour Declaration of 1917

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."

Israel Defies Allies in Move to Bolster Settlements... Settlements are illegal under international law and detrimental to any international efforts to restart peace negotiations and secure a two-state solution

map

 “We call on the Israeli government to rescind these plans,” said the statement issued by Israel’s allies Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, saying the actions “send a negative message and are undermining faith in its willingness to negotiate.” 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/world/middleeast/rejecting-criticism-israel-forges-ahead-on-settlements.html?ref=middleeast&_r=2&

By JODI RUDOREN

Published: December 19, 2012

The Housing Ministry authorized construction on 1,000 housing units in the West Bank, while the city of Jerusalem approved 2,610 units in Givat Hamatos, a new neighborhood in an area annexed after the 1967 war. 

The actions came after 1,500 controversial units in the Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo were approved Monday and 500 others in Givat Hamatos on Tuesday. An additional 1,000 units, in Gilo, are expected to move forward on Thursday, in what experts said was the most activity in years in the areas known collectively as East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as their future capital. 

Every member of the United Nations Security Council except the United States issued statements on Wednesday condemning the construction....READ MORE