Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Inducing a Failed State in Palestine

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 49; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00396330701564786

1468-2699

Yezid Sayigh,

Global Peace and Security Dynamics

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. This estimate excludes contributions to the 'regular' budget of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, and is based on three sets of figures: for 2006, IMF and UN reports cited in Steven Erlanger, 'Aid to Palestinians Rose in '06 Despite an Embargo', New York Times, 21 March 2007; for 2005, World Bank, West Bank and Gaza Economic Update and Potential Outlook, 15 March 2006, p. 3, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/WBGEconomicUpdateandPotentialOutlook.pdf; for 2001–04, Nigel Roberts, head of the World Bank mission in the occupied territories, quoted in 'World Bank's Local Pointman Banking on Change', Jerusalem Post, 23 May 2005, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=11041; for 1994–2000: World Bank and Government of Japan, Aid Effectiveness in the West Bank and Gaza, prepared at request of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, June 2000, Fig. 2.19, http://lnweb1_.worldbank.org/mna/mena.nsf/All/ 2CDBC52F2D7B18C58525691A0022B56F?OpenDocument. 2. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, The Agreement on Movement and Access One Year On (New York: OCHA, November 2006), p. 6, www.ochaopt.org/documents/AMA_One_Year_On_Nov06_final.pdf. For the most up-to-date map of movement restrictions, see 'West Bank – Closure Map', 18 April 2007, at http://www.ochaopt.org/?module=displaysection§ion_id=1&format=html. 3. Anne Le More, 'Killing with Kindness: Funding the Demise of a Palestinian State', International Affairs, vol. 81, no. 5, October 2005, p. 983. Palestinian statehood was formally endorsed by the European Council in its Berlin declaration of 24–25 March 1999, by US President George W. Bush in his informal statement of September 2001 and sponsorship of UN Security Council Resolution 1397 in March 2002, and by the international 'Quartet' of the UN, the United States, Russia and the EU in its 'roadmap for peace' of 30 April 2003. 'Presidency Conclusions', Berlin European Council, 24–25 March 1999, Part IV, http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/ACFB2.html; http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/sc7326.doc.htm; 'A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict', 1 May 2003, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2003/20062.htm. An earlier version of the roadmap was published on 17 September 2002, and Bush also proposed a modified draft on 15 October 2002. 4. On the state of the Palestinian Authority system of government prior to the intifada, see Yezid Sayigh and Khalil Shikaki (principal authors), Report of the Independent Task Force on Strengthening Palestinian Public Institutions (New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1999), http://www.cfr.org/publication/3185/strengthening_palestinian_public_institutions.html. On the impact of Arafat's legacy on his management of the intifada, see Yezid Sayigh, 'Arafat and the Anatomy of a Revolt', Survival, vol. 43, no. 3, Autumn 2001, pp. 47–94. 5. For an excellent and comprehensive assessment of international assistance to the Palestinians, see Rex Brynen, A Very Political Economy: Peacebuilding and Foreign Aid in the West Bank and Gaza (Washington DC: United States Institute for Peace Press, 2000). 6. Scott Lasensky, 'Paying For Peace: The Oslo Process and the Limits of American Foreign Aid', Middle East Journal, vol. 58, no. 2, Spring 2004, p. 211. 7. World Bank, Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the Settlements (Washington DC: World Bank, 23 June 2004), p. 1. 8. World Bank, Stagnation or Revival? Israeli Disengagement and Palestinian Economic Prospects (Washington DC: World Bank, 1 December 2004), p. 6. 9. World Bank, Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the Settlements, p. 1. 10. World Bank, The Palestinian Economy and the Prospects for its Recovery, Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, No. 1 (Washington DC: World Bank, December 2005), p. i; and Stagnation or Revival?, p. 20. 11. World Bank, Stagnation or Revival?, p. 5. 12. Ibid., p. 13. 13. Disengagement Plan of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 16 April 2004, http://www.knesset.gov.il/process/docs/DisengageSharon_eng.htm. 14. As proposed, for example, in Amjad Atallah, Jarat Chopra, Yaser M. Dajani, Orit Gal, Joel Peters and Mark Walsh, Planning Considerations for International Involvement in an Israeli Withdrawal from Palestinian Territory (Carlisle, PA: US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership, June 2004), http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usacsl/Studies.asp#P26. 15. World Bank, Stagnation or Revival?, p. 5. 16. 'EU Border Assistance Mission for Rafah Crossing Point (EU BAM Rafah)', http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_5366_en.htm. 17. The text of the Agreement on Movement and Access may be found, for example, in World Bank, The Palestinian Economy and the Prospects for its Recovery, annex 4. 18. World Bank Technical Team, An Update on Palestinian Movement, Access and Trade in the West Bank and Gaza (Washington DC: World Bank, 15 August 2006), p. 1; International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, 'Economic Developments in 2006 – A First Assessment', March 2007, http://www.imf.org/external/np/wbg/2007/eng/032607ed.pdf, p. 6; and World Bank Technical Team, 'Potential Alternatives for Palestinian Trade: Developing the Rafah Trade Corridor', 21 March 2007, p. 4, http://domino.un.org/pdfs/RafahCorridorMarch07.pdf. 19. World Bank Technical Team, 'Potential Alternatives for Palestinian Trade', p. 4. The practices include non-installation of advanced screeners donated by the United States. They have in fact been installed since the publication of this report, but instead of replacing more cumbersome and time-consuming manual inspections, have simply been added as an extra measure. 20. Ibid.; World Bank, West Bank and Gaza Investment Climate Assessment: Unlocking the Potential of the Private Sector (Washington DC: World Bank, 20 March 2007); Palestinian Economic Bulletin, no. 6, March 2007, p. 1; and Guy Leshem, 'Gaza Goods Cost Up to a Million Shekels More a Day', Haaretz, 17 December 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/801788.html. A lucrative resale trade emerged for the crossing permits sold by the Israeli Airports Authority (which operates Karni on behalf of the government of Israel), as Israeli shippers and drivers book fictitious slots for trucks carrying imports into Gaza and then sell them on for $2,000–$6,000 per truck, while on the Palestinian side shippers pay bribes to move their export trucks up in the queue. 21. 'EUHR Solana Welcomes 100,000th Border Crossing at Rafah', 7 February 2006, http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_5669_en.htm. 22. Besides its Access and Movement Agreement commitments, the Israeli government also promised a reduction in its own Disengagement Plan; http://www.knesset.gov.il/process/docs/DisengageSharon_eng_revised.htm. 23. OCHA, The Agreement on Movement and Access One Year On, p. 1. 24. Ibid., p. 3; and successive issues of the OCHA Movement and Access (AMA) Report, http://www.ochaopt.org/?module=displaysection§ion_id=119&static=0&format=html. 25. Statement by United States Security Coordinator Lieutenant-General Keith W. Dayton, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 15 March, 2006, http://www.senate.gov/∼foreign/testimony/2006/DaytonTestimony060315.pdf. The coordinator's role is, inter alia, to provide liaison between Israeli and Palestinian security forces and commands, including on border management, as well as assist Palestinian security-sector reform. According to the data posted on the website of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israeli death tolls (civilian and military) in 2001–06 were: 204 (2001), 451 (2002), 210 (2003), 117 (2004), 55 (2005) and 30 or 32 (2006). The toll from suicide and other bombings in Israel in the same period stood at: 36, 60, 26, 15, 7 and 4. 'Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000', http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm; 'Suicide and Bombing Attacks since the DOP (Sept 1993)', http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Suicide+and+Other+Bombing+Attacks+in+Israel+Since.htm; 'The Nature and Extent of Palestinian Terrorism, 2006', 1 March 2007, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Palestinian+terrorism+2006.htm. 26. World Bank Technical Team, An Update on Palestinian Movement, p. 6. 27. Haaretz, 3 May 2006. 28. Palestinian exports are typically held for an additional 48 hours at Israeli ports, affecting agricultural products most severely, while goods destined for the West Bank take ten days and for Gaza 30 days on average to clear customs. In contrast, goods imported by Israeli firms normally take one or two days. World Bank Technical Team, 'Potential Alternatives for Palestinian Trade', p. 6. 29. Ibid. 30. World Bank Technical Team, An Update on Palestinian Movement, p. 1. 31. OCHA, 'Special Focus: Can Business Relieve the Suffering?', Humanitarian Update, April 2006, p. 1. Revenue estimate from Mohammed Samhouri, 'Taking Stock and Learning Some Lessons in the Process: The Palestinian Socioeconomic Crisis of 2006', For the Record, no. 273, The Palestine Center, 2 March 2007, http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/images/fortherecord.php?ID=292. 32. USAID cuts included $20m for the Palestinian Agribusiness Partnership Activity and $12m for trade promotion. OCHA, 'Special Focus', p. 1; and Haaretz, 8 April 2006. 33. Palestinian Economic Bulletin, no. 4, January 2007, p. 1. 34. On the emigration of business, Geoffrey Aronson, 'Building Sovereignty in Palestine – A New Paradigm for the Gaza-Egypt Frontier', paper prepared for the International Development Research Center, Ottawa, 19 April 2007, p. 9. 35. NIS73 versus NIS66. OCHA, 'Special Focus', p. 1. 36. 'Rice Plans to Reduce Security Funds Intended for Abbas', Haaretz, 21 March 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/840384.html. 37. Quartet Statement on Middle East Peace, 20 September 2006, http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/72900.htm. 38. OCHA, The Agreement on Movement and Access One Year On, p. 6. 39. Text at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/855601.html. The document was drafted by Dayton, US Ambassador to Israel Dick Jones, and US Consul General in Jerusalem Jacob Walles. Avi Issacharoff and Aluf Benn, 'U.S. Presents Israel, PA with Detailed Demands', Haaretz, 4 May 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/855602.html. 40. 'Elliott Abrams' Uncivil War', Conflicts Forum, 7 January 2007, http://conflictsforum.org/2007/elliot-abrams-uncivil-war/. Abrams's advocacy is confirmed in numerous reports, most notably by UN Special Envoy Alvaro de Soto, 'End of Mission Report', May 2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2101570,00.html. Also, for example, by a Western diplomat cited in Akiva Eldar, 'Washington Trying to Block Direct Donations to Palestinians', Haaretz, 4 May 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/spages/712155.html. Certainly, Hamas believed that Abrams had 'machinated' against its government; Ahmed Yousef, 'Gaza is not Algeria', Haaretz, 10 July 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/879647.html. 41. 'Hobbling Hamas: Moving beyond the U.S. Policy of Three No's', Weekly Standard, 3 April 2006, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC06.php?CID=917. 42. US–Israeli discussions reported in Steven Erlanger, 'U.S. and Israelis Are Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster', New York Times, 14 February 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/international/middleeast/14mideast.html?ei=50__&en=9579_6e4a40ff0c2&ex=1297573200&partner=rssn&pagewanted=all. Denial in 'U.S. and Israel Deny Plans to Drive Hamas from Power', New York Times, 15 February 2006, cited in Tim Youngs, 'The Palestinian Parliamentary Election and the Rise of Hamas', Research Paper 06/17, House of Commons Library, 15 March 2006. 43. A 'soft coup' was reportedly favoured by US Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Alastair Crooke, 'Talking to Hamas', Prospect, June 2006, posted on http://conflictsforum.org/2006/talking-to-hamas/. 44. The aid was channelled through various contractors including the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute. 'U.S. Begins $42 Million Program to Bolster Hamas Opponents', Haaretz, 13 June 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/spages/774570.html. 45. International Crisis Group, Palestinians, Israel and the Quartet: Pulling Back from the Brink, Middle East Report No. 54 (Brussels: ICG, 13 June 2006), p. i. 46. This assessment is shared, for example, by Ed Abington, former US consul general in East Jerusalem and a political consultant to the Palestinian Authority. 'The Palestinian Elections: What Next', For the Record, no. 242, _ February 2006. 47. Khalil Shikaki, With Hamas in Power: Impact of Palestinian Domestic Developments on Options for the Peace Process, Working paper 1, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, February 2007, p. 8. 48. Mouin Rabbani, 'Developments within Fateh and the PLO and their Interaction with Hamas', paper presented to Chatham House seminar, 10 October 2006, p. 2. Cited with author's permission. 49. Shikaki, With Hamas in Power, p. 8. 50. Avi Issacharoff, 'Creating a Balance of Fear', Haaretz, 16 November 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/spages/789124.html; Avi Issacharoff, 'Rifts Split Fatah as Barghouti and Dahlan Vie for Leadership', Haaretz, 6 March 2007; http://www.haaretz.com/spages/833784.html. 51. International Crisis Group, Enter Hamas: The Challenges of Political Integration, Middle East Report no. 49 (Brussels: ICG, 18 January 2006), p. 23. 52. Ibid. p. 26. 53. ICG, Palestinians, Israel and the Quartet, p. 23. The text of the final law as amended by the Senate on 23 June 2006 and passed into law on 21 December is at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ446.109. 54. World Bank, West Bank and Gaza Public Expenditure Review: From Crisis to Greater Fiscal Independence, vol. 1 (Washington DC: World Bank, February 2007), p. iii. 55. On Israeli banks, Ynetnews.com, 5 April 2006; 'PA Owes Israeli Industries NIS 100 million', 10 April 2006; and Financial Times, 2_ May 2006. On Palestinian banks, 'Banks Cut Exposure to PNA', Palestinian Economic Bulletin, no. 2, November 2006, p. 3. 56. Akiva Eldar, 'Quartet to Hold Key Talks on fate of its Mideast Peacemaking Role', Haaretz, 3 May 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/711766.html. 57. Crooke, 'Talking to Hamas'. 58. 'Extreme Poverty on the Rise', Palestinian Economic Bulletin, no. 2, November 2006, p. 1. 59. International Crisis Group, Islamic Social Welfare Activism in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: A Legitimate Target?, Middle East Report no. 13 (Brussels: ICG, 2 April 2003), pp. ii and 17. 60. 'Extreme Poverty on the Rise', p. 1. 61. Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 23, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 22–24 March 2007, http://www.pcpsr.org/survey/polls/2007/p23e1.html. 62. Shikaki, With Hamas in Power, p. 8. 63. Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 23. 64. Ibid. 65. The latest formulation of these conditions in the statement issued by the Quartet on 9 February 2007 required the government to commit itself to 'nonviolence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap', http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/february/80368.htm. 66. Akiva Eldar, 'A Peace or War Initiative?', Haaretz, 21 April 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/850778.html. 67. Yezid Sayigh and Khalil Shikaki, Reforming the Palestinian Authority: Concluding Report, Independent Task Force on Strengthening Palestinian Public Institutions, U.S./Middle East Project, 2006, p. 12. 68. Figures for increases based on official documents cited on Mideastwire, 6 June 2006. Total strength given by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, cited in Haaretz, 28 February 2006. 69. Arnon Regular and Aluf Benn, 'PA Police: Hamas Government will not Meddle with our Force', Haaretz, 15 February 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/850778.html. The head of the EU Co-ordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EUCOPPS), Jonathan McIvor, and unnamed EU security advisers cited in the same article expected the Hamas government to be more successful at streamlining the security forces. 70. ICG, Palestinians, Israel and the Quartet, p. 12. 71. According to Hamas statements. International Crisis Group, The Arab–Israeli Conflict: To Reach A Lasting Peace, Middle East Report no. 58 (Brussels: ICG, 5 October 2006), p. 4; Avi Issacharoff, 'Abbas Pays Salaries of 5,000 members of Hamas's Operational Force', Haaretz, 23 August 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/753695.html. According to a PLO official interviewed by the author, Abbas finally agreed to place 6,000 on the payroll, of a total of 13,000 new security recruits Hamas wished to add. 'PA Source: Abbas Security Aides Amassing Arms to Bolster Forces', Haaretz, 28 January 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/818672.html; 'U.S.: With Iranian Help, Hamas Forces Growing Faster than Fateh', Haaretz, 21 March 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/840398.html. 72. Avi Issacharoff, 'Fatah Enlists 5,000 for Possible Confrontation with Hamas', Haaretz, 18 June 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/.html; al-Quds al-Arabi, 23 September 2006, cited on Mideastwire.com, 25 September 2006; and 'PA Source: Abbas Security Aides Amassing Arms to Bolster Forces'. 73. The militants were paid $400 per month. MENL, 2 November 2005. A different source states that 7,000 new Fatah recruits received NIS1,000 ($210). Nicole Ball, Peter Bartu and Adriaan Verheul, Squaring the Circle: Security-Sector Reform and Transformation and Fiscal Stabilisation in Palestine, report prepared for the UK Department for International Development, 16 January 2006, Box 1, p. 14. 74. Crooke, 'Talking to Hamas'; ICG, Palestinians, Israel and the Quartet, p. 12. 75. On US views, see Aluf Benn and Avi Issacharoff, 'U.S. to Bolster Abbas' Guard in War with Hamas', Haaretz, 31 October 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/781505.html. On Palestinian perceptions, author's interviews with security officials in Ramallah, West Bank, 25 February to 3 March 2007. 76. Steven Erlanger, 'Egypt Sends Weapons to Abbas, Israelis Say', International Herald Tribune, 29 December 2006. Cabinet minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer argued the arms shipment would give Abbas 'the capability to hold his own against those organisations that are trying to spoil everything'. 77. On rifles, Haaretz, 10 April 2007. A similar number had been transferred nearly a year earlier. Gil Hoffman, 'Israel Gives Abbas Guards 375 Rifles', Jerusalem Post, 13 June 2007. 78. Yousef, 'Gaza is not Algeria'. 79. Independent Palestinian Commission on Citizens' Rights. 80. This critique of aid use is shared by the international personnel, aid practitioners and academics contributing to the colloquium proceedings published as Michael Keating, Anne Le More and Robert Lowe (eds), Aid, Diplomacy and the Facts on the Ground: The Palestinian Experience of Disconnection (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2005). 81. On roads, see World Bank Technical Team, An Update on Palestinian Movement, p. 12. 82. The former security officer for the West Bank Settler Council Ron Schechner was adviser to Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz on settlements, and the council also reportedly went to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's aides whenever they wanted help on illegal outposts and settlements. Furthermore, in violation of the report prepared by lawyer Talia Sasson and approved by cabinet in March 2005 regarding the dismantling of the illegal outposts, 'every trailer and mobile home was authorized by Mofaz'. Nadav Shragai, 'Peace Now: 43% of Outposts on Private Palestinian Land', Haaretz, 20 January 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/777223.html. 83. Israeli Interior Ministry, cited in Jerusalem Post, 10 January 2007. 84. As noted, for example, in OCHA, The Agreement on Movement and Access One Year On; and World Bank Technical Team, An Update on Palestinian Movement, p. 10. 85. Public Administration and Civil Service Reform in Palestine: Drivers of Change, The Ibrahim Abu-Loghod Institute of International Studies, in association with The Centre for Continuing Education (Birzeit University), May 2007, p. 37. 86. On operational costs, David Shearer and Anuschka Meyer, 'The Dilemma of Aid under Occupation', in Keating, Le More and Lowe, Aid, Diplomacy and the Facts on the Ground, p. 169. On 'routinisation', Mary Anderson, '"Do No Harm": the Impact of International Assistance to the Occupied Palestinian Territory', in Keating, Le More and Lowe, Aid, Diplomacy and the Facts on the Ground, pp. 145–6. 87. Shearer and Meyer, 'The Dilemma of Aid under Occupation', p. 169. 88. World Bank, 27 Months of Intifada, Closure and Crisis (Washington DC: World Bank, 2003). 89. Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (PA), '4th Quarterly Monitoring Report of Donors' Assistance', 31 December 2000; and World Bank and Government of Japan, Aid Effectiveness in the West Bank and Gaza, figure 5.28. 90. Geoffrey Aronson, 'Palestinian National Security Options after Gaza Disengagement', report prepared for the International Development Research Center (Ottawa), January 2006, p. 13. This view is argued strongly in Mushtaq Khan, George Giacaman and Inge Amundsen (eds), State Formation in Palestine: Viability and Governance during a Social Transformation (Abingdon: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004). 91. Marina Ottaway, 'Rebuilding State Institutions in Collapsed States', Development and Change, vol. 33, no. 5, November 2002, p. 1,012. 92. Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 24, Palestinian Center for Policy Survey and Research, 21 June 2007, http://www.pcpsr.org/surveys/2007/p24epressrelease.html. 93. World Bank, West Bank and Gaza Public Expenditure Review: From Crisis to Greater Fiscal Independence, Vol. 1, February 2007, pp. vi–vii. 94. 'Building Effective and Accountable Security Sector for Palestine: Reform and Transformation', February 2007. Draft presentation viewed by author. This figure does not include the 6,000 men of the Hamas 'Executive Force' who it added to the payroll. On the impact of contradictory international priorities on security sector retrenchment, see Ball, Bartu and Verheul, Squaring the Circle. 95. UN official and figures cited in ICG, Enter Hamas, p. 27. 96. Statement by United States Security Coordinator Lieutenant General Keith W. Dayton', Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 15 March 2006. 97. Alvaro de Soto, End of Mission Report, May 2007. 98. Akiva Eldar, 'The Constructive Destruction Option', Haaretz, 25 October 2002, cited in International Crisis Group, Who Governs the West Bank? Palestinian Administration under Israeli Occupation, Middle East Report no. 32 (Brussels: IGC, 28 September 2004), p. 4. Also Geoffrey Aronson, IDRC, 25 May 2006, p. 10; and The Economist, 29 June 2002. To minimise the responsibility that would accrue to it for social welfare and economic development by resuming full status as belligerent occupier, the government of Israel reversed its long-standing aversion to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, discussing with the United States ways of extending its mandate to include non-refugees in the occupied territories. Following the Palestinian elections in 2006, Ronnie Leshno-Yaer, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said 'we were aiming at diminishing UNRWA's infrastructure, but what happened with Hamas has now disrupted our plans and has created a dilemma'. Forward, 23 March 2006. 99. Government of Israel request confirmed in 'International Aid, Diplomacy and the Palestinian Reality', transcript of remarks by Nigel Roberts, For the Record, no. 244, 10 February 2006, http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/images/fortherecord.php?ID=254. Later warning came in a letter from Wolfensohn to the Quartet on 30 October 2005, cited in World Bank, The Palestinian Economy and the Prospects for its Recovery, p. 4. 100. Official text published by Palestinian Authority, 13 September 2005. 101. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 'Special Focus: Emerging Humanitarian Risks', Humanitarian Update, January 2006; Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Assessment of the Future Humanitarian Risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 11 April 2006; and World Bank, The Impending Fiscal Crisis, Potential Remedies (Washington DC: World Bank, 7 May 2006), pp. 4–6. 102. Cited in Mohammed Samhouri, 'Gaza Economic Predicament One Year after Disengagement: What Went Wrong?', Middle East Brief, no. 12, November 2006, p. 1. 103. Declining revenue meant reduced government consumption and production of services. The drop in international project financing, from $330m in 2005 to $180m in 2006, also meant a loss of employment. Informal employment refers to labour paid in kind and unpaid family labour. World Bank and IMF, Economic Assessment, March 2007, pp. 3–6. On informal employment, OCHA, 'Special Focus: Can Business Relieve the Suffering?', Humanitarian Update, April 2006, p. 3. 104. Palestinian Economic Bulletin, no. 2, November 2006, p. 1. 105. OCHA, 'Executive Summary: Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) 2006', January 2007, pp. v and 9–10, http://www.ochaopt.org/?module=displaysection§ion_id=132&static=0&format=html. 106. Geoffrey Aronson, 'Financing the PA', report prepared for the International Development and Research Center (Ottawa), 25 May 2006, pp. 11 and 13. 107. Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator, Economic Fragmentation and Adaptation in the Rural West Bank, October 2005, pp. 10 and 26–7; and World Bank and IMF, Economic Assessment, March 2007, p. 9. 108. 'Testimony to the Parliamentary Special Committee to Study the Political and Field Situation', Appendix, Summary of the Special Committee Hearings, from Amin Hindi (15 July 2004, pp. 6 and 9) and Ahmad Qurei' (17 July 2004, p. 13) (in Arabic). 109. Ball, Bartu and Verheul, Squaring the Circle, p. vi. Other security officials discussed the spread of the clan phenomenon in the security forces in 'Moving Forward or Backward: Good Palestinian Security Sector Governance or Accelerated Tribalization', Palestinian Council on Foreign Relations and Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, 3 May 2007. Hamas spokesperson Ghazi Hamad also expressed deep concern over the phenomenon in an article published in Palestinian daily al-Ayyam, excerpted in MEMRI, no. 1268, 29 August 2006. 110. Abbas quotation from official text of speech published by Palestinian Authority, 13 September 2005. On domestic violence, Human Rights Watch, A Question of Security: Violence against Palestinian Women and Girls, vol. 1_, no. 7(E) (New York: Human Rights Watch, November 2006). The PA chief of police in the West Bank confirmed that crime had risen by 60% in 2006. Quoted in 'PA Police Chief: West Bank Crime Up 60%; Blames Militants, Poverty', Haaretz, 22 January 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/816424.html. 111. ICG, Palestinians, Israel and the Quartet, pp. 14 and 33. 112. Terms used by former PA minister Sufiyan Abu-Zaydeh; Khaled Hroub, 'Cut Hamas Some Slack', Daily Star, 26 March 2007, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=80811; Shearer quoted in The Independent, 21 April 2007. 113. Palestinian Economic Recovery Report to AHLC, December 2005, p. 22. 114. Ibid., p. 5. 115. Ibid., p. 4. 116. World Bank, Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the Settlements, p. 1; OCHA, 'Special Focus: Can Business Relieve the Suffering?', p. 3; and 'Report on UNCTAD's Assistance to the Palestinian People', United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, TD/B/53/2, 19 July 2006, p. 5. 117. World Bank, West Bank and Gaza Public Expenditure Review. Vol. 1. From Crisis to Greater Fiscal Independence (Washington DC: World Bank, February 2007), p. xiii. 118. The Israeli wish for an upgrade of international assistance stated by Mark Regev, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson in Haaretz, 21 March 2007. 119. Nahum Barnea and Ariel Kastner, Backchannel: Bush, Sharon and the Uses of Unilateralism, Monograph Series no. 2 (Washington DC: Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution, December 2006), p. 31. 120. Crooke, 'Talking to Hamas'. 121. Quartet Statement, 20 September 2005, http://www.un.org/news/dh/infocus/middle_east/quartet-20sept2005.htm. Additional informationNotes on contributorsYezid Sayigh Yezid Sayigh is Professor of Middle East Studies, Department of War Studies, Kings College London. Previously he was an adviser and negotiator in the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks with Israel, and since 1999 has provided policy and technical consultancy on the permanent status peace talks and on Palestinian reform.