The port remains a dream, its steel framework’s center section washed away by a recent storm; the head engineer blames Israel for delays. A new eyesore on a blighted landscape, it is an apt symbol of Gaza’s vaunted rebirth, which looks ever more chimerical. Indeed, Gaza’s 850,000 people now must struggle harder than before to survive. Arafat has even had to slash salaries for police, poorly equipped men who two weeks ago fired on an angry crowd of their own people, killing 14 of them. Overall, the program of economic assistance to Gaza ““is a failure, full stop,’’ says Terje Larsen, the United Nations’ top official there.
Whose failure? Israel blames Islamic fundamentalists, who are now using Lebanon-style terror tactics – kidnappings and car bombings – at home. Retaliatory Israeli border closings have choked off Gaza’s main source of income. Arafat says Israel has been slow to share taxes paid by Palestinian workers and consumers; Israel denies it. The one thing Palestinians and Israelis agree on is that foreign donors, who have provided only $140 million of $720 million promised for this year, must quickly open the spigots to avoid catastrophe. ““If the economic situation does not improve, there will be bombing everywhere,’’ said Mohammed Yaziji, head of a Seven-Up bottling plant in Gaza.
The threat is real. But should those with a stake in Mideast peace throw out their rule books in order to protect the autonomy deal? That will be the core debate at a hastily convened donors’ meeting in Brussels this week. Arafat makes key decisions in secret. He has abrogated the military code under which Israel ran Gaza without replacing it, leaving the enclave without any clear legal system for business or government. Just as bad, from the standpoint of foreign bean counters, he refuses to be held accountable for where the money goes. ““They can’t give receipts or provide proof of how the money is spent,’’ says World Bank spokesman Abdallah Bouhabib. ““There has to be the political machine in place to spend the money, and spend it properly.’’ Critics call that argument shortsighted. Gaza shouldn’t be held to the same standard as established governments, says the United Nations’ Larsen. Why not? ““Peace builders have built a pyramid, but unfortunately it’s upside down and balancing on Gaza,’’ he says. Once again, Arafat’s hole card is the high cost of letting him fail.
