We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, November 19, 2010

What Kind of Palestinian State in 2011? Neoliberalism and World Bank Diktats

by Rafeef Ziadah from CADTM

The article reports on the recent activities spearheaded by the World Bank and the IMF to promote neo-liberal plans for the integration of Palestinian territories into Israel and the Empire. Their actions illustrate some of the common tools of ruling classes that are used to impose their will on a people, whose labor and resources they want to control, such as divide and conquer and co-optation. See if you can spot the current use of these methods in this article.
Understanding the logic of the Fayyad Plan is critical to assessing the current state of the Palestinian struggle. Often the analytical emphasis is placed on Israeli action, while internal Palestinian politics are ignored. However, the shifts taking place within the Palestinian Occupied Territories such as the increased power of a Palestinian elite class, and the hand-picking of Fayyad to implement neoliberal reforms, are vital to understand because they pose significant obstacles to Palestinian prospects for self-determination.