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In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —Lt. Col. (Res.) Ron Shatzberg, Project Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —
08/05/08
Why Did Maliki Call for a Timeline?  —by Christopher Kojm who teaches at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and is a former senior advisor to the Iraq Study Group. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Already Divided

“Even the Arab minority in the city has shown its preference for living under Israeli rule, as many have moved to the Israeli side of the security barrier being built around Jerusalem. Their choice is reasonable, as Jerusalem offers the quality of life of a modern western city while only a few kilometers away the norm is a third world standard of living, chaos and religious intolerance. An undivided Jerusalem is the best guarantee of a better life for all Jerusalemites.”
—Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, July 23, 2008 versus
  • “Those who believe that Jerusalem should not be divided, and mean by that that the Arab neighborhoods should not be separated from the city, should be the first to insist that an active policy be adopted by the government and the municipality to improve the lot of local Arab residents. Barring that, Jerusalem will continue to remain a divided city.”
    —Moshe Arens, former Israeli defense and foreign minister (Likud), “A Story of Neglect,” Haaretz, July 28, 2008

    • Middle East Analysis

    Initiatives

    Promoting Public-Private Partnerships –
    Middle East Progress works to strengthen and develop actors invested in achieving stable and sustainable political outcomes throughout the Middle East. We do so, in part, through practical innovative economic private-public partnerships.

    We seek out individuals, organizations and activities whose efforts we can bolster through our communications, regional, political and/or convening leveraging abilities. We sometimes have a leading role; at other times, we help bolster existing capacity. We encourage others to join us with these efforts, and stand ready to expand our efforts to include similarly worthy projects. To date, our efforts include working with:

    Palestinian Political Risk Insurance (PPRI), led by Middle East Progress (MEP), focuses on developing a political risk insurance product to meet the needs of the Palestinian business community, encourage investment and sustain and create jobs. The idea was born on the plenary stage at the first annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in September 2005, and taken to the next level at the 2007 CGI Annual Meeting. On May 22, 2008, an agreement was signed at the Palestine Investment Conference in Bethlehem, helping the PPRI to establish a facility funded by public and private capital that will include the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII). PPRI will provide affordable political risk insurance covering trade asset damage resulting from political violence.

    Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII), an independent nonprofit organization initiated by the Aspen Institute, formed to help revitalize the economy in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the region by developing specialized financial products to stimulate economic activity, create jobs and expand home ownership.

    MEII is engaged in three programs designed to support the Palestinian economy. Along with its partners, OPIC, the Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF), and CHF International, MEII currently operates a $228 million loan guarantee program for small and medium-sized businesses in the Palestinian territories. MEII also is working to create an affordable mortgage program intended to help Palestinian families finance the purchase of a home, in addition to helping to provide political risk insurance designed to facilitate exports from Palestinian businesses.

    The Aspen Institute’s Middle East Strategy Group (MESG) supports pragmatic economic initiatives that advance prospects for peace. The group includes prominent American, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders in the public and private sectors united by a common vision of a two-state solution to the conflict – prosperous, secure, and democratic Israeli and Palestinian states living side by side in peace – and the desire to help develop programs and policies that create momentum toward realizing that vision.

    U.S. Palestinian Partnership (UPP) launched by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and led by U.S. business leaders, focuses on creating economic opportunities for Palestinians and helping prepare Palestinian youth for the responsibilities of citizenship and good governance.