'Adaptation' in the West Bank and Gaza
Source: WALL STREET JOURNAL
Comments by Salim Tamari
This essay was prepared as a
discussion paper for the special
consultative meeting of the RWG
intercessional which was scheduled
to be held in Rome in May 1996.
The notion of adaptation is one
of the broadest concepts in the
social sciences, usually raised
in the context of discussing the
dynamics of social change. It was
introduced into the jargon of the
RWG after suggestions were made
to the Gavel that issues of absorption
and reintegration should be injected
into the debate of the plenary
in order to move the paralysis
of the refugee group following
the Antalya meeting in December
1994. Since the 'notion' of absorption
proved too contentious for some
of the parties in the RWG, raising
the possibility of refugee return,
the more "neutral" term 'adaptation'
was suggested.
But since adaptation carries
with it the sense of ADJUSTMENT
to existing conditions--an interpretation
which was and continues to be objected
to by the Palestinians, it seems
that this paper attempts to inject
the possibilities of RECONSTRUCTION
inherent in the term.
The thrust of this paper seems
to demonstrate the utility of the
concept of 'adaptation' to Palestinians
who are re-entering Palestinian
society and require help in this
process of adjustment.
Five Groups of Palestinians are
identified in this process:
- Returning PLO cadres and administrative
staff who came to PNA areas since
1995, as well as their families
(38,000)
- Family Reunification beneficiaries
(6,000)
- Canada Camp returnees (2,000)
- Released Political prisoners
(6,000)
- Refugees expelled from Libya
who were admitted to the country(less
than 200)
Altogether about 52,000 Palestinian
who are in need for programs facilitating
their economic and social adjustment
to the new conditions they are
encountering.
Critique:
1. The term 'adaptation' is much
too broad to have operational utility.
We can enhance its instrumental
meaning if we combine it with notions
of absorption and reintegration
of Palestinian returnees. Otherwise
it carries the implied notions
of adjustment to a lopsided and
underdeveloped realities which
the Palestinians inherited from
28 years of Israeli rule.
2. Since the bulk of these returnees
(about 80%) were integrated into
the institutional bodies of the
state (police and civil servants)
their situation, in economic terms,
is better than the resident population
of the West Bank and Gaza at large.
Unemployment among returnees is
less than 2%, while it is over
35% among the population at large.
There is indeed a need for social
programs of adaptation, but it
should be remembered that these
people are not foreign immigrants,
but returnees who often have immediate
family members in their immediate
environment. The same is true of
family reunification beneficiaries.
Perhaps the most critical of the
five groups mentioned are the only
non-returnees, namely, released
prisoners, who are badly in need
of programs of (re)retraining and
social adjustments.
3. The strongest component of
the paper is the reference to the
need for building and strengthening
the institutional capacities of
the PNA. NGOs are seen as necessary
for their ability to "critically
analyze policy [in order to provide]
a healthy counterweight to the
government of the PNA" (p. 8).
Here the paper usefully points
out to the need for programs of
training and diversification that
the state would have to undertake
if it is to prepare the population
to productive life. But the other
natural avenue for expanding institutional
capacity of the state would be
in its role in facilitating absorption
of returnees. This is hardly mentioned
in the paper.
Perhaps the main problem in absorption
of returning refugees lies in the
predominantly non-civilian character
of returnees. Most of them, as
the paper demonstrates constituting
recruits for the Palestinian police
and security apparatus. This has
been achieved at the expense of
widening the quota of family reunification
beneficiaries (frozen at 2,000
cases over the last 2 1/2 years)
and of professionals and entrepreneurs
who have applied (unsuccessfully)
to come back.
4. UNRWA is mentioned as the main
provider of services to Palestinian
refugees, as well as the 'source
of employment for the PA'. This
last point is enigmatic. It is
not clear what sort of employment
UNRWA provides for the Authority--unless
the writer means by PA, the Palestinian
economy. The role of UNRWA is going
to be critical in the next few
years, both as an employer, as
well as in its continued provision
of health and educational services
to Palestinian refugees. It would
have been fruitful for this report
to suggest ways in which UNRWA
can play a positive role in the
reintegration of returnees to the
economy of the West Bank and Gaza.
Ramallah
April 20, 1996 |
