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World Bank and US: Palestinians Should Pay for Israeli Checkpoints

Thread ID: 16964 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2005-02-25

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Jack Cassidy [OP]

2005-02-25 16:47 | User Profile

[font=Times New Roman][size=3]http://www.antiwar.com/ips/mekay.php?articleid=4952<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />[/size][/font]

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[right][size=3][color=black][font=Georgia]February 25, 2005[/font][/color][color=black][font=Georgia] [/font][/color][/size] [/right]
**[color=black][font=Georgia][size=3]World Bank and US: Palestinians Should Pay for Israeli Checkpoints [/size][/font][/color]**
[color=black][font=Georgia][size=3]by Emad Mekay[/size][/font][/color]
[font=Georgia]WASHINGTON - The [url="http://www.worldbank.org/"][color=black]World Bank[/color][/url], an international development institution that says it has no political agenda, may be preparing to fund Israeli security checkpoints around a controversial separation wall under construction on occupied Palestinian territories. [/font] [font=Georgia]Israel is not eligible for World Bank lending because of its high per capita income, but Palestinians are. [/font] [font=Georgia]According to a World Bank official, the project would help the Palestinian economy by allowing Palestinian goods and workers a faster review at the checkpoints. [/font] [font=Georgia]"We had proposed a couple of crossings and Israel has more formally come back to us and asked whether we would help secure financing for these, which is why we have started to prepare a project," Markus Kostner, the Bank's country program coordinator for the West Bank and Gaza, told IPS. [/font] [font=Georgia]The crossings would be designed to speed up the movement of Palestinian people and cargo, and would be staffed by Israelis. [/font] [font=Georgia]"However, as I said, our financial contribution would be to the Palestinians. Because of its high per capita income level, Israel is not eligible for World Bank financing," Kostner said. [/font] [font=Georgia]"So the project helps enhance the efficiency of the border crossings for the benefit of Palestinians, as well as at the same time … at least maintain if not increase the security considerations of Israelis. From that perspective, it'll be a double gain," he added. [/font] [font=Georgia]Approval of the plans may come as early as June this year, he said. The funding would come either in the form of grants or soft loans. The Bank declined to give a dollar value for the project and said it was still under consideration. [/font] [font=Georgia]The Palestinians say they are following the issue closely. [/font] [font=Georgia]"Our policy is that in principle, as long as this is not cut from any funding or aid to the Palestinians, then we'll put it under discussion," Hassan Abderhman, chief of the Palestine Mission in Washington, told IPS. [/font] [font=Georgia]"However, we haven't been informed of the World Bank plan. We are still in the discussions phase." [/font] [font=Georgia]Some watchdog groups say the project would violate international law since some of the proposed checkpoints by the Israelis are on and around the separation wall, which annexes Palestinian land. [/font] [font=Georgia]"If they are going to be funding the checkpoints outside of places in the Green [Line], then it's clearly a violation of international conventions and law," said Terry Walz of the Washington-based [/font][url="http://www.cnionline.org/"][color=black][font=Georgia]Council for the National Interest[/font][/color][/url][font=Georgia], a group that monitors [/font][font=Georgia]U.S. and international policy toward Israel and the Palestinians. [/font] [font=Georgia]"I must admit that making the Palestinians pay for the modernization for these checkpoints is an embarrassment, since they had nothing [to do] with the erection of the separation wall to begin with and in fact have protested it. I think the whole issue is extremely murky right now." [/font] [font=Georgia]The Israeli business publication *Globes* reported on Feb. 15 that World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region [/font][url="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20129852%7EmenuPK:34491%7EpagePK:36880%7EpiPK:36882%7EtheSitePK:4607,00.html"][color=black][font=Georgia]Christiaan J. Poortman[/font][/color][/url][font=Georgia] and other senior figures indicated that the Bank does not rule out financing infrastructure projects inside Israel that benefit Palestinians, such as a rail link between Gaza and the Ashdod Port or water projects. [/font] [font=Georgia]Poortman also told the Jewish weekly publication *The* *Forward* two weeks ago that the World Bank is considering funding projects and security crossings around the separation wall. [/font] [font=Georgia]*The Forward* quoted Poortman as saying that the World Bank "has indicated that it is willing to play a role, whether financially or in technical assistance," in upgrading the border crossings. [/font] [font=Georgia]Poortman was not available for an interview. [/font] [font=Georgia]This would be the first time the World Bank had stretched its interpretation of lending to the Palestinians to permit funding Israeli security measures and projects on occupied land. [/font] [font=Georgia]Two weeks ago, an official Israeli delegation headed by former Brigadier General Baruch Spiegel briefed U.S. officials on the planned crossing points. [/font] [font=Georgia]Spiegel heads a team appointed by Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to contain the Palestinian "humanitarian" problems emanating form the construction of the separation wall. [/font] [font=Georgia]Spiegel has reportedly also briefed officials with U.S. Jewish groups and senior World Bank officials. [/font] [font=Georgia]An action alert from the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a leading pro-Israel lobby group, said Israel is building "state of the art" checkpoint crossings "for Palestinians traveling from Gaza to Israel, modernizing five similar terminals between Israel and the West Bank and substantially reducing the number of security checkpoints and roadblocks in Palestinian areas." [/font] [font=Georgia]Israel is also building a Jerusalem bypass road that will enable Palestinians to travel between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank without moving through security checkpoints. [/font] [font=Georgia]Some U.S. aid slated for the Palestinians would also be going to fund checkpoints. The Palestinians will eventually have to pay some of those debts. [/font] [font=Georgia]President George W. Bush's public offer of $350 million in aid to the Palestine Authority actually allots some money to fund those "state of the art" checkpoint crossings. [/font] [font=Georgia]The World Bank may also be trying to cast the modernization of checkpoints between Israel and the Palestinian Territories as a "development" project to be undertaken by the either the Israelis or the Palestinians as a way of improving the Palestinian quality of life and ease of communication. [/font] [font=Georgia]The World Bank has been at the center of several controversies over the past few years, including charges that it backs international corporations at the expense of poor people in developing nations, but this is the first time it appears ready to get actively involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. James Wolfensohn had rejected this possibility last year. [/font] [font=Georgia]The controversial separation wall is not built along the Green Line, the borders before the 1967 war in which Israel annexed more Arab land, but is in the West Bank, the main part of a potential Palestinian state. [/font] [font=Georgia]The route of the barrier purposefully runs deep into Palestinian territory in order to help annex Israeli settlements and to break up Palestinian territorial contiguity. [/font] [font=Georgia]Many development groups question the involvement of the World Bank and the U.S. government in the scheme. [/font] [url="http://www.peacenow.org/"][color=black][font=Georgia]Americans for Peace Now[/font][/color][/url][font=Georgia], a Jewish group that advocates peace with the Palestinians, says that funding the security gates and crossing points would violate [/font][font=Georgia]U.S. policy that opposes spending U.S. tax dollars in support of Israeli settlement activity and the perpetuation of Israel's occupation of the West Bank. [/font] [font=Georgia]The United States is the largest shareholder in the World Bank. [/font] [font=Georgia]"In addition, funding such expensive crossing point structures would undermine the credibility of the argument that the security barrier is only temporary in nature, and not a permanent addition to the West Bank," the group said in a statement. [/font] [font=Georgia]The Council for the National Interest described the project as a boondoggle in which "Peter is robbed to pay Paul." [/font] [font=Georgia](Inter Press Service)[/font]

Jack Cassidy

2005-02-25 16:55 | User Profile

I believe that those ultra-orthodox Jews ([url="http://www.nkusa.org/"]http://www.nkusa.org/[/url]), who say Zionism is behind most anti-Semitic hatred, including the Holocaust, are correct.

Jack Cassidy

2005-02-25 17:03 | User Profile

[color=black][url="http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/antisemitism/holocaust/gedalyaliebermann.cfm"][color=black][font=Arial]http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/antisemitism/holocaust/gedalyaliebermann.cfm[/font][/color][/url]<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />[/color]

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[size=3][color=#663a00][font=Arial]THE ROLE OF ZIONISM IN THE HOLOCAUST[/font][/color][/size]

[color=black][font=Verdana]Article by Rabbi Gedalya Liebermann - [/font][/color]<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />[color=black][font=Verdana]Australia[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana] [/font][/color]

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"Spiritually and Physically Responsible "

From its' inception, many rabbis warned of the potential dangers of Zionism and openly declared that all Jews loyal to G-d should stay away from it like one would from fire. They made their opinions clear to their congregants and to the general public. Their message was that Zionism is a chauvinistic racist phenomenon which has absolutely naught to do with Judaism. They publicly expressed that Zionism would definitely be detrimental to the well being of Jews and Gentiles and that its effects on the Jewish religion would be nothing other than destructive. Further, it would taint the reputation of Jewry as a whole and would cause utter confusion in the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. Judaism is a religion. Judaism is not a race or a nationality. That was and still remains the consensus amongst the rabbis.

[rest deleted-- go to link above for more]

Ponce

2005-02-25 17:47 | User Profile

A "free" country dosen't need borders withing it's own borders and what the Zionists are doing is a consentration camp for the Palestinians.

The day that the "wall" is torn down in Palestine I will be there because it would mean that there are no more Zionists in Palestine.

Blond Knight

2005-02-26 01:24 | User Profile

James D. Wolfensohn, President of The World Bank.

[url]http://www.worldbank.org/[/url]

Biography Click here to download photo (available in 2 sizes)

JDW Photo - Bio

James D. Wolfensohn

President, The World Bank Group

James D. Wolfensohn has made sustainable poverty reduction the World Bank Group’s overarching mission since he became the World Bank’s president June 1, 1995. Mr. Wolfensohn was appointed to a second, five-year term on September 27, 1999, making him the third president in Bank history to be reappointed by the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors.

Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Wolfensohn established his career as an international investment banker with a parallel involvement in development issues and the global environment.

In his nine years as President, Mr. Wolfensohn has traveled to more than 120 countries to better understand the challenges facing the Bank’s 184 member countries. In addition to visiting development projects, he has met with the Bank's government clients and representatives from business, labor, media, non-governmental organizations, religious and women's groups, students, and teachers.

Under Mr. Wolfensohn’s leadership, the World Bank Group has redoubled its efforts to monitor and combat corruption, give voice to clients living in poor communities, and magnify the return on development investments, including sponsoring a global dialogue on Scaling Up Poverty Reduction, which culminated in a major conference in Shanghai in May 2004.

Further, during Mr. Wolfensohn’s tenure, the Bank has become the largest external financier of primary education, basic health, HIV/AIDS programs, the environment and biodiversity.

Internally, Mr. Wolfensohn has transformed the World Bank Group, greatly increasing decentralization, bringing the Bank forward technologically, and turning it into a far more open and transparent organization. Externally, Mr. Wolfensohn has helped forge strategic partnerships around culture and peace, faith and development, and communications technology, including the Global Distance Learning Network and the Development Gateway.

The Bank’s original mandate of post-conflict reconstruction became an increasing focus from the late 1990s to today, with the institution becoming involved in war-torn areas from Afghanistan to Bosnia to Rwanda. Understanding that poverty cannot be eliminated without peace, Mr. Wolfensohn has encouraged further exploration of the linkages between economic opportunity and human security, with the idea that increasing social and economic stability can foster the prevention of conflict.

In a speech to the 2003 World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting in Dubai, Mr. Wolfensohn highlighted the growing gap between "the haves and have-nots" between and within countries. He called for "a new global balance" with donor and developing nations both taking urgent steps to ensure the United Nations Millennium Development Goals are met.

"We must rebalance our world to give everyone the chance for life that is secure," Mr. Wolfensohn said, "with a right to expression, equal rights for women, rights for the disabled and disadvantaged, the right to a clean environment, the right to learn, the right to development."

In September 2003, Mr. Wolfensohn participated in a dialogue with 100 youth leaders from 70 countries whose organizations represent more than 120 million members worldwide – among them rural youth, street children, children orphaned by AIDS and civil conflict, Roma youth, and youth with disabilities. Mr. Wolfensohn noted that while people under 25 already account for more than half the population in most developing countries, their concerns, which commonly include education and unemployment, are not being given the urgency required to build a more secure world. The Bank is now establishing youth teams in Bank offices, and advocating for more active engagement of youth, including in developing anti-poverty strategies.

In 1999, Mr. Wolfensohn introduced the Comprehensive Development Framework or CDF, emphasizing country ownership of poverty reduction strategies and strong partnerships among government, civil society, and the private sector. The CDF called for a broader approach to development, moving beyond economics and stressing social concerns as equally important to tackling poverty.

In 1996, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, or HIPC, the first comprehensive debt reduction program. As of August 2004, 27 of the world’s poorest countries were receiving substantial debt relief under the program that will amount, over time, to more than $53 billion.

Before joining the Bank, Mr. Wolfensohn was President and Chief Executive Officer of James D. Wolfensohn Inc, an investment firm that advised major international and U.S. corporations. He relinquished his interests in the firm upon joining the Bank.

Mr. Wolfensohn served as Executive Partner of Salomon Brothers in New York and head of its investment-banking department, Executive Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Schroeder’s Ltd in London, President of J. Henry Schroeder’s Banking Corporation in New York, and Managing Director, Darling & Co of Australia.

Mr. Wolfensohn has participated in a wide range of cultural and volunteer activities throughout his life, especially the performing arts. In 1970, he became involved in New York's Carnegie Hall, first as a board member and later, from 1980 to 1991, as Chairman of the Board. During this time, he led its successful effort to restore the landmark New York building. He is now Chairman Emeritus of Carnegie Hall. In 1990, Mr. Wolfensohn also became Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. On January 1, 1996, he was elected Chairman Emeritus.

Mr. Wolfensohn has been President of the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies and Director of the Business Council for Sustainable Development. He also served both as Chairman of the Finance Committee and Director of the Rockefeller Foundation and of the Population Council, and as a member of the Board of Rockefeller University.

In addition to serving as President of the World Bank Group, he is Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. Mr. Wolfensohn is also an Honorary Trustee of the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Century Association in New York.

Born in Australia on December 1, 1933, Mr. Wolfensohn is a naturalized United States citizen. He holds a BA and LLB from the University of Sydney and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Prior to attending Harvard, Mr. Wolfensohn was a lawyer in the Australian law firm of Allen Allen & Hemsley. He served as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, and was a member of the 1956 Australian Olympic Fencing Team.

Mr. Wolfensohn is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Philosophical Society. He has been the recipient of many awards for his volunteer work, including the first David Rockefeller Prize of the Museum of Modern Art in New York for his work for culture and the arts.

In May 1995, he was awarded an Honorary Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the arts. The governments of Australia, France, Germany, Morocco, Norway, and Russia have also decorated him.

He and his wife, Elaine, an education specialist and a graduate of Wellesley, BA, and Columbia University, MA and MEd, have three children—Sara, Naomi, and Adam.