Delivering Aid Without Government: International Aid and Civil Society Engagement in the Recovery and Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip

150 Pages·2017·1.76 MB·English

by  Tamer Qarmout (auth.)

The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science
Tamer Qarmout
Delivering Aid
Without
Government
International Aid and Civil Society
Engagement in the Recovery
and Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip
— —
The Anthropocene: Politik Economics
—
Society Science
Volume 7
Series editor
Hans Günter Brauch, Mosbach, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15232
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/APESS.htm
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/APESS_07.htm
Tamer Qarmout
Delivering Aid
Without Government
International Aid and Civil Society
Engagement in the Recovery
and Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip
123
Tamer Qarmout
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK
Canada
Thetwophotosonthebookcoverandontheinternaltitlepageweretakenin2008afterthe
Gazawarby©TamerQarmoutwhograntedthepermissiontousebothforthisbook.More
onthisbookis at:http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/APESS_07.htm.
ISSN 2367-4024 ISSN 2367-4032 (electronic)
TheAnthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science
ISBN978-3-319-49660-3 ISBN978-3-319-49661-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-49661-0
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To Marwa and Ryan Ezzat, beloved wife
and son.
To Juljana and Mahmoud, for being such
great parents.
To the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip,
“On this land, there is what’s worth living”
Mahmoud Darwish
Foreword
Thedeliveryofinternationalaidanddevelopmenteffortsareoftenhamperedbythe
thicketsof‘recognition’underinternationallawandpolitical‘legitimation’through
thediscoursesofinternationalrelations.Nowherehasthisprovenmorecontentious
and deleterious to the humanitarian needs of subject peoples that in those domains
occupiedbyaforeignpower.Thepost-SecondWorldWarliberalorderestablished
by the victorious Western allies articulated norms of legal and practical behaviors
that promoted independence across the formerly colonized regions of Latin
America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. While undermined by the proxy
campaigns and political violence associated with bipolarity during the Cold War,
the aspirational expression of these norms nonetheless imbued national
self-determination efforts and saw overt military occupation as unacceptable. An
exceptiontothisalteredglobalorderhasbeenPalestine.TheZionistexpressionof
statehood in Israel, where the Jewish population has been afforded free expression
of its rights, has seen the Arab population relentlessly frustrated in the effort to
achieve expression of Palestinian self-determination.
From U.N. adoption of the partition plan this has led to an international
humanitarian aid effort to provide for refugees as well as those living under Israeli
occupation following the wars of 1947–1948 and 1967. The 2005 withdrawal of
IsraelimilitaryforcesfromtheGazaStripwasheraldedamongthosecommittedto
the ‘peace process’ as a step towards increasing self-rule under the auspices of the
Oslo Accords. However, with the 2006 Hamas electoral victory and subsequent
division of the Palestinian Authority architecture between a West Bank-based
Fatah-led faction and Gaza-based Hamas-led faction, Gaza saw the de facto
occupying power retain ultimate control. This situation has been exacerbated by
repeatedIsraeliattacksagainstGaza,especiallythosein2008,2012,and2014.This
perpetuation of the conflict, humanitarian crisis and physical destruction has
blunted development efforts and raised challenges for international Civil Society
Organizations(CSOs)lookingtoalleviatesufferingforthoseimpactedbyhostilities
orlookingtoprovidebettersupportfor socialandeconomicdevelopmentoverthe
long term for stateless Palestinians.
vii
viii Foreword
Examination of CSOs’ operating beneath the menace of this conflict provides a
robust test case allowing for the better understanding of the difficulties that many
contemporary modes of thinking and policy analysis have in grappling with the
deliveryofhumanitarianaidandeconomicdevelopmentprogramsacrosstheglobe.
In the particular case examined in this volume, Tamer Qarmout successfully
focuses on the work of CSOs, their relations with International Organizations and
politicalactorsasdiverseasforeignstates,patronsanddonors,allwithoutresorting
toparsingtheirorientationtothepoliticalconflictinPalestineitself.Hisfocusison
the modalities and learnings CSOs accrued working in Gaza since 2008. By
fronting the operations and outcomes achieved by CSOs in Gaza and consulting
CSO, International Organizations and local government staff-members for opera-
tionalparametersandactivities,Qarmoutprovidesthereaderwithperspicacityand
access into the delivery of such programs. The far-reaching insight(s) that emerge
formsthebasisbywhichthebookcaninformpolicy-making,operationalpraxisfor
CSOs as well as future research agendas.
Most pointedly, Qarmout’s research focuses on the foundering of the ‘gover-
nance without government’ paradigm. He finds that it failed to be a solution for
weakgovernmentinvolvementintheGazacontext.InhisworkQarmout’sfindings
demonstrate that the absence of governmental involvement in the post-conflict
recoveryandreconstructioneffortsledtopoorpolicycoordinationandashort-term
focus in the policy solutions implemented. By observing the ‘no-contact’ policy,
those CSOs and donor agencies refusing to coordinate with the Hamas governing
apparatus in Gaza unmoored technical and humanitarian aid from the local
knowledge and direction provided by a sitting government. Inauspiciously, it saw
thosewillingtoabidebythepolicyforcedtotakesidesintheconflict.Thus,while
Qarmout’s interviewees agreed that the initial deployment of resources directed to
alleviate humanitarian needs following the conflict did attenuate Palestinian suf-
fering, it nonetheless created dependency on aid rather than enabling Gazans to
truly rebuild their economy and society. This was exacerbated by the devastation
metedoutbyIsraeliattacksonthephysicalinstitutionalapparatusbuiltupthrough
EU, UN and other donor efforts since 2005. Moreover, the modalities of the overt
focus on aid efforts exacerbated existing social and political cleavages amongst
Palestinians residing in Gaza. While Qarmout notes that this shortcoming was less
thanoptimalasaresponsetotheneedsofthepeopleresidinginGaza,healsolays
bare how such efforts were in direct conflict with the OECD Fragile States
Principles for Engagement as well as the People-Centred Liberationist
Development (PCLD) framework. This failure forms the basis of Qarmout’s
exploration of whether such paradigms are of limited utility or if the Gazan case
was an exception.
A distinction was found between the efforts of Muslim and Arab donors and
agencies on the one hand and Western transnational aid actors on the other,
whereby they differed in their prioritization, planning and implementation of
reconstructionandrecoveryprogramsinGazafollowing2008.Qarmoutfoundthat
the difference between the two groups stemmed from three primary factors: the
extent to which they adhered to the no-contact policy, the conditions they applied
Foreword ix
onfunding,andtheagendaoffocusfortheirreconstructionandrecoveryprograms.
His research found that Arab and Islamic donors ignored the no-contact policy
where they could, applied no conditions when it came to the selection of recovery
programs’ beneficiaries and the procurement of materials, and most decisively
identifiedandworkedtowardsdevelopment-basedprojects.ThiswhileWesternand
other donors were much stricter in their application of the no-contact policy,
expansionofconditionalityintheselectionofbeneficiariesandtheprocurementof
materials, all while focusing on humanitarian projects.
Qarmout is to be applauded for his fastidious care to focus on the technical
modes of CSO and donor actions and the impacts of such efforts on the Gazan
population. By decentering the politics of the conflict, the reader can better avoid
engagement with normative claims of a political nature and thereby refine their
examination on the pragmatic implementations of CSO project(s) as delivered
during the period of study. This allows for a more broadly informative exercise,
where the varied approaches can be isolated for their potential to effect efforts in
other conflict and post-conflict environments where an occupying power persists
over the impacted population. Thus, while those looking for specific empirical
coverage of the issues following the 2008 Gaza war will find much to reflect on,
thoseinvestigatingaidanddevelopmentprogramdeliverymorebroadlywillbenefit
greatly from Qarmout’s writing and research findings.
March 2017 Prof. Dr. Tareq Y. Ismael
Department of Political Science
University of Calgary
Calgary, AB, Canada
Acknowledgements
This book would have not seen the light of day if it were not for the great support
and encouragement of many people. First, I would like to extend my deepest
gratitude to Dr. Daniel Béland from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of
PublicPolicy,UniversityofSaskatchewan,whoseconsiderablesupportandtimely
contributions as my Ph.D. advisor were key to conducting my research, and later
turning my dissertation into a book.
I would like to personally thank all my Ph.D. Committee members whose
contributions were very critical and valuable in shaping the research. Thank you
Dr. Michael Atkinson, Dr. Bruno Dupeyron, and Dr. Jeffrey Steevs. I amindebted
to Dr. Tareq Ismail for his very important contributions to my research as the
external member of my Ph.D. committee and I am very grateful for his encour-
agement and support throughout the publishing process.
Mysincerethankstotheserieseditor,Dr.HansGünterBrauch,forhisinterestin
the topic and the guidance provided by him and his team. Very special thanks to
John Measor for all the instrumental help provided in the editing process; his
thoughtfulandimportantcontributionshelpedimprovetheclarityandqualityofmy
work.
Iamverygratefultotheanonymousreviewerswhohelpedshapethelatterdrafts
through their valuable feedback. I would like also to thank all the research par-
ticipantsfromtheGovernment,NGOs,andDonoragenciesfordedicatingthetime
and effort for the interviews and data collection.
This also includes Mr. Ghassan Abumandil and Mrs. Heba Ali for all the help
they provided in the data collection and organizing the interviews.
Last, but most importantly, I would like to thank my wife Marwa Farag whose
support and inspiration throughout my Ph.D. and publishing journeys were
unlimited and unconditional. Thank you for believing in me!
March 2017 Tamer Qarmout
Saskatoon, Canada
xi