Tight-fitting 900 million euros. This is the official number of Development assistance (ODA) provided by Spain to the Palestinians in the last three decades through various Cooperation programs implemented and coordinated by the State.
The presence of Spanish Cooperation in Palestine began in 1994with the signing in Tunisia of the “Memorandum of Understanding about Spanish-Palestinian Cooperation”, accompanied by constant financial support from Public Administrations.
So, Between 1994 and 2018, financing in Spain exceeded 777 million in euros, especially highlighting the period between 2008 and 2010, under the Government of former President RodrÃguez Zapatero, when Spain became the first European donor and the third in full terms in Palestine (in reference to East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza).
The outbreak of the economic crisis suffered by Spain in those years resulted in a significant reduction in aid, to the point of representing in 2013 a sixth of the amount registered in 2010. However, the provision of public funds has increased since then. .
ago Country Association Framework (MAP) between Spain and Palestine, which corresponds to the period 2015-2019, includes an amount of official assistance of more than 100 million euros. 70% of these funds are administered by the central government. The remaining 30% corresponds to Decentralized Cooperation and Universities, highlighting the contributions of the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia and the Basque Country, followed by Catalonia and the Valencian Community.
And for the recipients of the money, 32% of the aid is managed by NGOs, Palestinian and Spanish as well as international, 25% by Multilateral Development Organizations through multi-bilateral aid, 14% by institutions linked to the Palestinian authorities and 16% is allocated to budget support, that is, the funds directly managed by the Palestinian Government.
Agenda 2030 in Palestine
For his part, the new MAP 2020-2024 prepared by the Government of Pedro Sánchez including another 100 million euros in aid to Palestine. The main innovation in this case is that the Spanish Cooperation will be allocated, above all, to the achievement by the Palestinians of some of the goals of the famous Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
Specifically, this new Framework of the Association aims, among other objectives, to improving the status of women in the social, political and economic fields; contribute to the creation of employment and “inclusive” economic growth; protect the “human rights”; and development of “transparent, participatory and effective public institutions based on respect for the democratic freedoms and rights of the people.”
Therefore, the goal of this new program is to work with Palestine “in the search for peace, gender equality, economic viability and good public administration and respect for human rights, with the aim of seeing the birth of a Palestine , finally master of his destiny,” explained the aforementioned document.
To do this, the Palestinian Government, which in this case is divided between the factions of Al Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, is committed to “offering its citizens basic service which guarantees a healthy and full life”; “end poverty”; “enhancing food security”; “access to quality health services”; “improving the quality of education and facilitating the transition of young people from education to work.”
The Palestinian authorities are also committed “ending inequality eliminating structural barriers that prevent women’s participation in public and economic life”; Protect the environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; expanding access to drinking water and sanitation services; or expanding the electrical connection and the use of renewable energy sources.
Another priority is to “achieve economic independence” through policies that contribute to the reconstruction of the “Palestinian productive sector, especially industry, agriculture and tourism, as well as the reconstruction of the private Gaza sector.” According to the document prepared by the Sánchez Government, the Palestinian authorities will go to “creating decent job opportunities for all”with a “favorable environment for foreign investment” and “for business.”
And all this, without forgetting that “the main priority of the Palestinian Government is to create the conditions for the establishment of a independent Palestinian statecharacterized by national unity, an effective government focused on its citizens, living peacefully with neighboring countries”.
Violence, misery and repression
However, such goals are at odds with reality. And, despite a million dollars in subsidies and aid received by the Palestinian authorities, these territories continue to be one of the most violent, miserable and restricted places in the world. To begin with because they are ruled by terrorist organization such as Hamas, which does not hesitate to carry out violent attacks against the civilian population of Israel and whose purpose is wipe the jews off the map.
However, in addition, no democracy; dominates the Sharia and the basic rights and freedoms of the individual are not respected, especially in the case of women and homosexuals; THE per capita income is one of the lowest on the planet, ranked 169th in the world, unemployment exceeded 23%; THE extreme poverty affects more than half of the population; Its inhabitants have a very low standard of living; they lack infrastructure and basic public services; ranked 117th out of 190 for ease of doing business; and the corruption It is an endemic evil.
Women deserve special mention, because they suffer with special intensity from economic impotence and violence, since Sharia establishes by law the social and institutional inequality of women in the ownership of assets, in social participation and in access to resources. Therefore, because of these bad results, all the aid that Spain has given to the Palestinians for decades has been little or nothing.
