Palestinian Territories 12. 2014 Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Brightened by sunshine, the year of 2014 A selection of those events and visits is comes to an end in Jerusalem. Yet, the compiled in this Review of the Year 2014 sunshine is deceptive: The political events Newsletter. Moreover, a list of publications of the past months have led the Palestini- of our partners can be found below. an society deeply troubled. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a The trails of the Gaza War and the conti- Happy New Year. We hope for peaceful nuous clashes in Jerusalem and the West developments in the Middle East and are Bank have dimmed the light. Slowly, the looking forward to providing you with in- trust in an imminent solution to the Israe- formation about current events and our li-Palestinian conflict dissolves. work in the future. As in previous years, the FES office in the With the best regards from Jerusalem, Palestinian Territories has accompanied Ingrid Ross the developing political events with nu- merous discussion rounds, conferences Director of the FES Office in the Palestini- and workshops with old and new partners an Territories in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. It encouraged people to participate and politically engage, supported policy con- sultations through providing expertise, analysed current political and economic developments and connected Palestinians, Germans and Europeans in order to create a better understanding of the political rea- lity. Design: eryfoto Seite 1 Palestinian Territories 12. 2014 Political Developments 2014 has not been a good year for Palesti- Search and arrest operations by the Israeli ne. At the beginning of the year it quickly army in the West Bank and the gruesome became clear, that the negotiations under murder of a Palestinian teenager in East the auspices of US Secretary of State John Jerusalem by radical Israelis followed. Sin- Kerry failed. As Israel refused to free the ce then, peace and quiet has not returned last group of pre-Oslo prisoners from its to Jerusalem. Reconciliation in April raised jails, the political leadership in Ramallah Settlers took over houses in Palestinian Palestinians’ hope for a better turned to pursue different paths to enforce future. East-Jerusalem, nationalistic rightist Is- progress towards Palestinian statehood; raeli politicians openly challenged the sta- President Abbas signed several internatio- tus quo on the Haram Al Sharif / temple nal treaties and agreements to strengthen mount, fanning the flames of further pro- the Palestinians’ status in the international tests and clashes between Palestinian in- arena. habitants of the city and Israeli security In spring, the dark chapter of the intra- forces. Palestinian split between West Bank and The summer was overshadowed by Gaza, Fatah and Hamas seemed to come the Gaza war that claimed the lives of to a close. All Palestinian factions signed hundreds of Palestinians. More than 2,000 the reconciliation agreement in Gaza’s re- Palestinians died throughout the course of fugee camp “Shati” charting the way to “Operation Protective Edge”, about 11,000 new elections and reforms of the political were wounded and 100,000 were internal- system. After the new consensus govern- ly displaced. ment with the old and new prime minister Possibilities for a change of Rami Hamdallah was sworn in, the de fac- There was no chance to flee from the war, the Status Quo at the Temple Mount / Haram Al Sharif in the to Hamas government in Gaza resigned. since the Gaza Strip remained and re- second half of the year invo- mains under closure. Even before the war, Especially the Palestinians living in the ked violent clashes between the coastal enclave was suffering from Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza Strip were hoping that with recon- chronic underdevelopment with its civilian Jerusalem. ciliation their siege and isolation would infrastructure on the brink of collapse. The come to an end. Influential players in the destruction and trauma brought upon the international arena accepted the recon- people is putting the Gazans’ will for sur- ciliation and even endorsed it, but Israel vival once more to a test. refused to fundamentally change its poli- cy vis-à-vis Gaza. Hopes for better living Even if construction material and equip- conditions of the Gazans thus were bitterly ment would not be subjected to entry re- disappointed. To the contrary; they had to strictions to the Strip, it would take years endure a third war with Israel in six years. to rebuild what has been damaged during the war. But the siege has not been lif- The kidnapping and murder of three Is- ted and therefore the main reason for the raeli teenage settlers close to the West 20.000 people are still living latest escalation remains in place, thus Bank’s city of Hebron marked the sad tur- in temporary shelters 100 threatening the fragile ceasefire that had ning point for a new phase of confrontati- days after the end of the Gaza been reached after 50 days of war. w a r. on between Israelis and Palestinians in the second half of the year. Design: eryfoto Seite 2 Palestinian Territories 12. 2014 Thus, Palestinians are confronted with im- tribution to conflict resolution. mense challenges in 2015: A new phase One has to fear that, if left alone, Israelis in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been and Palestinians will get drawn deeper into reached. President Abbas is undertaking the conflict in the near future. what seems to be one last attempt to force Israel back to the negotiating table on his terms. The Year in Review By means of a UN Security Council reso- - Highlights lution Abbas aims to safeguard the two- Bomb crater in East Gaza. state-solution on the basis of the borders January: Launch of the Young Lea- While rubble removal and repairs have begun, without of 1967 and bring occupation to an end ders Program “Jeel Jdid” in Ramallah an end to the blockade re- within two years. But in light of the dy- construction and sustainable In January, FES launched its Young Lea- namics of the settlement enterprise in the development are not in sight. occupied territories, it seems to be too late ders Program in cooperation with Palesti- to try to disentangle settlers and Palestini- nian Vision, entitled “Jeel Jdeed”, a New ans in the West Bank and Jerusalem. It is Generation. Over the course of a year becoming more and more difficult to find and a half, 25 participants from all across an Israeli partner who supports national the West Bank and East Jerusalem will self-determination and a Palestinian sove- complete a series of workshops and de- reign state. bates, giving them the basis on which to play a role as mobilizers for socio-political At the same time it remains a challenge to change. The group met once a month throughout the year and will maintain Palestinian reconciliation – that As a source of inspiration to their future work on initiatives for change has de facto been suspended throughout in the first half of 2015. the second half of the year. In order to initiatives, Dr. Sabri Saidam, Advisor to strengthen democratic development, new President Mahmoud Abbas on Telecommu- elections and reforms of the political sy- nications and Information Technology and stem are indispensable. Mr. Jihad Shojaeha of the Palestinian In- itiative for Supporting Students (ESNAD) However, relations between Hamas and shed light on the importance of believing Fatah have been rapidly deteriorating af- in the potential of the individual and in the ter the Gaza war. The pragmatic moderate change a person can make in her/his so- camp within Hamas has been weakened, ciety. while the military wing has flourished with new self-esteem. The group met once a month throughout the year and will continue to work on three The only ray of hope for many Palestini- initiatives for change in the first half of ans is the willingness in Europe to save the 2015. The program has evolved into a key two-state-solution as expressed in parlia- component since it is implemented by FES The Young Leaders Program was also launched in the Gaza mentary resolutions for the recognition of in ten countries in the MENA region over Strip in 2014. the State of Palestine. the past two years. Even Brussels seems to finally muster the political will to place the Israeli-Palestini- an conflict higher on the political agenda. The political developments in 2014 have shown that just standing by is not a con- Design: eryfoto Seite 3 Palestinian Territories 12. 2014 February: “Towards a National Agen- Consequently, private homes and public da for the Reform of Economic Poli- institutions increasingly depend on electri- cies in Palestine”, PGFTU Publication city from other sources. In cooperation with the Palestine General To find solutions for the chronic energy cri- Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), FES sis FES in ccoperation with PalThink took focused on an agenda for economic and stock of existing initiatives using renewab- In March Dr. Roland Schmidt, social reforms in Palestine. The financial le energy in the Gaza Strip. Director of the FES and Chri- stiane Kesper, Head of the and economic situation in the Palestini- Based on these findings experts, govern- Department for Development an Territories has not only stagnated but Cooperation visited the FES ment and private sector representatives effectively declined in the past years. Se- Office in East Jerusalem. put forward recommendations for short-, veral socio-economic imbalances have af- medium- and long term strategies for al- fected large segments of the Palestinian ternative energy sources in Gaza.