MarcGopin.com

Folks, I published this with Common Ground News Service. Here is a version of it from the Bali Times.

A Practical Path to Justice and an Independent PalestineAugust 16, 2010

By Rabbi Marc Gopin

The creation of an independent Palestine has been a dream dashed many times, but there may be a practical path forward emerging from a surprising place. I often heard the phrase “business is business” growing up in the 1960s among gritty American Jewish immigrants; my father said it all the time. It reflected old Jewish instincts to do whatever it takes to survive and feed “the family,” even when it meant dealing with people who disliked you – a lot.

What floored me is when my Palestinian partner, Aziz Abu Sarah, with whom I recently founded MEJDI, a social enterprise (business designed for a social goal), told me exactly the same words from his father! Aziz’s family and mine are not involved in our new business venture, but every innovation has implications for the political situation in Palestine, and we seek advice and reactions. I have been shocked by the positive reception in my right wing family to the idea of honest business as a bridge. And every time I asked Aziz, “Are you sure your family is ok with Jews and Arabs doing business given their terrible troubles? They know how Jewish I am?” The answer came, “Business is business.”

I feel very much at home with people who love their families, who see the virtue of work, who when facing an unjust situation recognise that practical and ethical people sometimes prevail. Sometimes honest work eases the way to a sane political vision that overwhelms self-destructive patterns of enemy systems and wounded peoples.

There is a lot of good news on the business front. There is a Palestinian prime minister, increasingly popular, who is revolutionising the infrastructure of Palestine, preparing for prosperity and statehood. Saudi Arabia, the most conservative state in the region, has just announced a US$400-million project for Ramallah. Many Western countries are pouring in huge funds for the private sector.

Will these investments benefit most Palestinians? We are all haunted by “the last time,” by the Oslo years of large funds – and large corruption. But thankfully a recent economic conference in Palestine, which included an American presidential delegation headed by Senator George Mitchell, slated $950 million for small- and medium-sized businesses.

My partners and I at MEJDI want more, however. We argue that more is needed to place justice at the centre of Palestine’s future, and to discourage an investor tendency to make a few wealthy and most miserable. All the incoming funds are good but we should explicitly support socially responsible business in Palestine.

Although there is no ultimate solution for Palestine without an end to the Occupation, small businesses are needed to form the backbone of a viable state. Small businesses generate a middle class that depends on the rule of law and democratic values, whereas countries supported only through large corporations and government control rarely emerge as democracies. Palestinians deserve a democracy at the end of their long struggle.

Here is an example of what we are doing as a social enterprise. We are pioneering both tours and academic seminars where almost every dollar spent is going to support and patronize businesses with a clear reputation for fair wages. Profits are also re-invested in lecturers and tour guides who are well known activists for positive social change.

This is just one example of the intersection of small business empowerment and social change. Our other major innovation is the distribution in the West of products made by poor but innovative Palestinian small businesses paying only fair wages. I have learned after 27 years of peace activism that ignoring inequality and poverty is disastrous and it violates every tenet of the region’s religious traditions and values. The un-sustainability of the average Palestinian family makes old ways of coexistence work inadequate. Serious attention to fair wages, however, and financial support for Palestine’s social change activists help engender support for Palestine’s nascent non-violent struggle.

Generations, even centuries, of Muslims and Jews, built mutually prosperous and equal relationships; we are merely recovering their legacy. There have been many times of misery in the long history of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim relationship, but there were also many good times, golden ages. Honest business based on good wages and equal relationships may be one glue that has bonded Middle Eastern cultures before, and may help make inevitable the political path forward towards a just and equal two-state solution.

Rabbi Dr. Marc Gopin, author of To Make the Earth Whole, is a principal of MEJDI LLC (www.mejdi.net).

via A Practical Path to Justice and an Independent Palestine.

The creation of an independent Palestine has been a dream dashed many times, but there may be a practical path forward emerging from a surprising place. I often heard the phrase ‘business is business’ growing up in the 1960s among gritty American Jewish immigrants; my father said it all the time. It reflected old Jewish instincts to do whatever it takes to survive and feed ‘the family’, even when it meant dealing with people who disliked you – a lot.

What floored me is when my Palestinian partner, Aziz Abu Sarah, with whom I recently founded MEJDI, a social enterprise (business designed for a social goal), told me exactly the same words from his father! Aziz’s family and mine are not involved in our new business venture, but every innovation has implications for the political situation in Palestine, and we seek advice and reactions. I have been shocked by the positive reception in my right wing family to the idea of honest business as a bridge. And every time I asked Aziz, “Are you sure your family is ok with Jews and Arabs doing business given their terrible troubles? They know how Jewish I am?” The answer came, “Business is business.”

I feel very much at home with people who love their families, who see the virtue of work, who when facing an unjust situation recognise that practical and ethical people sometimes prevail. Sometimes honest work eases the way to a sane political vision that overwhelms self-destructive patterns of enemy systems and wounded peoples.

There is a lot of good news on the business front. There is a Palestinian prime minister, increasingly popular, who is revolutionising the infrastructure of Palestine, preparing for prosperity and statehood. Saudi Arabia, the most conservative state in the region, has just announced a 400 million dollar project for Ramallah. Many Western countries are pouring in huge funds for the private sector.

Will these investments benefit most Palestinians? We are all haunted by ‘the last time’, by the Oslo years of large funds – and large corruption. But thankfully a recent economic conference in Palestine, which included an American presidential delegation headed by Senator George Mitchell, slated $950 million for small and medium sized businesses.

My partners and I at MEJDI want more, however. We argue that more is needed to place justice at the centre of Palestine’s future, and to discourage an investor tendency to make a few wealthy and most miserable. All the incoming funds are good but we should explicitly support socially responsible business in Palestine.

Although there is no ultimate solution for Palestine without an end to the Occupation, small businesses are needed to form the backbone of a viable state. Small businesses generate a middle class that depends on the rule of law and democratic values, whereas countries supported only through large corporations and government control rarely emerge as democracies. Palestinians deserve a democracy at the end of their long struggle.

Here is an example of what we are doing as a social enterprise. We are pioneering both tours and academic seminars where almost every dollar spent is going to support and patronize businesses with a clear reputation for fair wages. Profits are also re-invested in lecturers and tour guides who are well known activists for positive social change.

This is just one example of the intersection of small business empowerment and social change. Our other major innovation is the distribution in the West of products made by poor but innovative Palestinian small businesses paying only fair wages. I have learned after 27 years of peace activism that ignoring inequality and poverty is disastrous and it violates every tenet of the region’s religious traditions and values. The un-sustainability of the average Palestinian family makes old ways of coexistence work inadequate. Serious attention to fair wages, however, and financial support for Palestine’s social change activists help engender support for Palestine’s nascent non-violent struggle.

Generations, even centuries, of Muslims and Jews, built mutually prosperous and equal relationships; we are merely recovering their legacy. There have been many times of misery in the long history of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim relationship, but there were also many good times, golden ages. Honest business based on good wages and equal relationships may be one glue that has bonded Middle Eastern cultures before, and may help make inevitable the political path forward toward a just and equal two-state solution.
Published in Common Ground News Service, http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=28228&lan=en&sid=0&sp=0&isNew=1

Dear friends,

I am proud to announce the formation of my new business, MEJDI LLC along with my wonderful partners, veteran Palestinian peacebuilder Aziz Abu Sarah and experienced banker Mr. Scott Cooper.

MEJDI LLC is a socially responsible corporation that supports economic justice and equality through wealth creation as an effective response to violence and war.

Our mission at MEJDI is to innovate conflict-sensitive approaches to wealth creation in the Middle East, in order that opportunities for peace and economic justice may flourish.

MEJDI’s Products and Services include:

1. MEJDI’s unique mix of business and conflict resolution experts creates professional tours to Palestine, Israel, and other regional destinations, in full collaboration with our clients. MEJDI then conducts only the tour that fits the specific needs and interests of each client and group. Clients can include interfaith groups, churches, synagogues, mosques, corporations, NGO’s, or universities.

• Our unique approach concentrates on undoing the damage of the past by empowering only honest business people and socially responsible change makers on both sides of the Green Line, featuring them in seminars, promoting their work, and paying them properly.
• Uniquely, we have a network in place of honest vendors for every aspect of our business in Israel and Palestine. Our business then pours back a percentage of our profits into cutting-edge Middle East peacebuilding ventures through the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

2. MEJDI imports, promotes and sells products made by Palestinians at Fair Wages, or products made in equal collaboration between Palestinians and Israelis or Jews.

3. MEJDI provides consultancy services to connect investors together with socially responsible businesses in Israel and Palestine.

How can you get involved?

• Work with us to initiate a tour to the Middle East from your area or for your network.
• Sponsor a MEJDI fair wage trade show in your community. Ask us how to use this as a fundraising tool for your favorite non-profit or charity.
• Do good by doing well! Become a MEJDI Account Executive. Market MEJDI tours and products.
• Schedule an investment consultation. Modest investment inquiries are welcome!

Contact us at mejdi.net@gmail.com

Christiane Marie Sarah writes on Jewcy about the complexity of the Christian Jewish Relations and the importance of new ways of engagement:

Jerusalem was busy last week as thousands descended on the city for Sukkot and the annual Jerusalem March. This year’s march drew around 70,000 people, up from the 35,000 who participated in 2008. 20,000 police stood by on Tuesday to oversee the controversial event, after what has already been a tense week in Jerusalem. Thousands of Christians also took part in the march, attending as part of a Feast of Tabernacles celebration hosted by the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ).

Christian presence is a by now a familiar part of the Sukkot milieu, but Israelis have yet to decide what to make of these “friends of Israel.” Rabbi Tovia Singer has warned that the Christian congregants want to “prey on” rather than “pray for” Israel, and in 2007 the Chief Rabbinate forbade Jews from taking part in the march and other events with ICEJ presence. Minister of Tourism Stash Misezhnikov, however, has justified the event, stating that the Feast of Tabernacles is the largest annual tourist event in Israel, and is expected to generate between $16 and 18 million in revenue.

Who are these “Christian Zionists,” and should they be welcomed by Israelis? These questions return each year, and have also surfaced occasionally during events like the death of Christian fundamentalist Jerry Falwall in 2007. Israeli journalist Evan Goldstein at the time pointed out that “philo-Semites, like Falwell, seem to relate to Jews more as mythical figures from the Bible than as real living, breathing people.” His analysis was based on the thoughts of German philosopher Ernst Bloch, who wrote that a “philo-Semite is an anti-Semite that loves Jews.”

To read the complete article, click here.

©Aziz Abu Sarah and Marc Gopin

Two years ago, Aziz joined a panel of Palestinians speaking to Jewish rabbinical students about the Palestinian point of view. Among the speakers was a Palestinian-American businessman who moved to the West Bank after Oslo, hoping to invest in a developing area. He shared his experience working with the Palestinian telecommunications company Jawal, and his job with the new Al-Wataniyah Company that was to compete with Jawal in the mobile market.

Just recently Al-Wataniyah sent a letter to the Palestinian Authority, asking the government to pay back the company’s registration fees plus 200 million dollars in investment damages. The company is demanding these remunerations because Israel has not given them the airwaves to start the company, even though in 2007 the Israeli government agreed to allow the company to operate after long negotiations and the interference of former British Prime Minister Blair, the World Bank, and American officials.

The cost of this failure is hundreds of millions of dollars and over 3000 potential jobs in the West Bank. This is a lost opportunity for Palestinians, but it is just one example of the Palestinian Authority’s lack of control over its own air waves, water and other national resources. All projects must be approved by the Israeli Administration, which makes it look as though the Palestinian government is operating as an arm of the Israeli occupation. This lowers the credibility of the PA in the eyes of the Palestinian public.

After Mr. Netanyahu won the elections in February, he promised to work to improve the Palestinian economy. However, so far there are no indications that there will be any changes in Israel’s policy in the near future. This is crippling to the PA, as economic development is a critical aspect of national stability and is intertwined with the success of a viable Palestinian state. The lack of growth in the Palestinian private sector is quickly crushing Palestinians’ hope for the future. As a whole, this damages the PA’s effectiveness, since the Palestinian government will never be able to enforce the rule of law if there is no prospect of prosperity for its citizens.

These economic policies and the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are mutually detrimental to both the Israeli and Palestinian communities, and are creating a perfect nest for future extremists. Unemployment in the Palestinian Territories is increasing and is often over 30%; the poverty rate is at 68%, according to the UNDP. Educated and successful Palestinians often find themselves forced to leave the Palestinian territories, leaving behind poorer and more frustrated communities.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict also stunts economic growth in Israel’s industries. Consider that Egypt had 12.8 million tourists last year, while Israel had only 3 million tourists. This is only one of many examples. In addition, Many investors are still hesitant to invest in Israel because of the political instability in the region.

Although economic hardship threatens to exacerbate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, economics can also speed the end of the conflict. Business cooperation on an equal and empowering basis, that focuses on businesses, such as tourism, that employ thousands of people, not just enriching a few, can be a catalyst for further collaboration between Israelis and Palestinians.

We propose to the Obama Administration that, in addition to pressuring the sides for rapid progress at the political level, they also strong encourage, even insist upon popular, people to people, business initiatives between the two sides. A synergy will be created that will naturally create grassroots pressure from private businesses in support of peace. Also, once a peace agreement is reached, economics will continue to play a large role in maintaining peace. Any peace agreement between Israeli Jews and Palestinians must maximize equal business cooperation between the two sides, and should not bring a total divorce between the two communities. We have witnessed business partnerships become the key to new friendships at a profound cultural level, in addition to creating prosperity for everyone.

An Israeli friend of Aziz used to be strongly right wing, and they often disagreed on politics. However one thing he always said, “If there is peace we will be eating with golden spoons as a sign of our prosperity.” The reality is business opportunities and financial growth speaks to everyone and presents an appealing future even to those currently opposing the peace process.