Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2011
(3) Palestine
The Palestinian issue is at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict that has continued for more than half a century. Middle East peace is an issue that has significant impact on the stability and prosperity of Japan and the rest of the world. Japan supports a two-state solution whereby Israel and a future independent Palestinian state live side by side in peace and security. To promote this, it is essential to prepare for the nation-building through social and economic development of the Palestinian Territories, which belong to one of the parties of the peace process. Since the establishment of the Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority based on the Oslo Accords in 1993, the international community including Japan has been proactively extending assistance to the Palestinians.
Although Palestinian people continue to feel significant discontent and antipathy toward the Israeli occupation, many years of occupation have made them economically dependent on the Israeli economy as well as on aid from the international community. These circumstances make the achievement of Middle East peace even more difficult. Therefore, it is the most important to establish a self-sustaining Palestinian economy in order to improve the environment that will enable the Palestinians to negotiate with Israel on equal footing and move toward the true peace.
<Japan's Efforts>
From the standpoint of peace-building, which is one of the priority issues delineated in the ODA Charter, Japan has positioned its assistance to the Palestinians as one of the important pillars of its measures to contribute to the Middle East peace. In particular, Japan has been extending support to Palestinians exceeding $1.2 billion in total since 1993 to stabilize their livings and to ultimately achieve a Palestinian state in the future. The total amount of assistance makes Japan one of the major donors, following the European Union (EU), and the United States, etc.
Further, since July 2006, Japan has advocated the initiative for "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity", as its unique mid-and long-term effort for future peaceful coexistence and co-prosperity between Israelis and the Palestinians. The initiative aims to promote economic development in the Jordan Valley area in the Palestinian Territories through the regional cooperation among four parties of Japanese, Israelis, the Palestinians and Jordanians. Currently, those four parties are working toward the establishment of an agro-industrial park in the suburbs of Jericho city in an effort to realize this initiative. In addition, Japan extended assistance to the Palestinians which amounts to around $100 million in FY2010.
Map of the Palestinian Territories
