Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2012
(3) Palestine
The Palestinian issue is at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict that has continued for more than half a century. The 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 nation-building through socio-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 towards 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 the Middle East peace even more difficult. Widening regional disparities and a high unemployment rate driven by Israel's occupation policy and the sluggish economy are destabilizing factors in regional circumstances.
Helping the Palestinian economy stand alone while improving living conditions for people is the most important challenge towards creating an environment where Palestinians can negotiate with Israelis for true peace.
<Japan's Efforts>
Peacebuilding is one of the priority issues in the ODA Charter, and Japan has positioned its assistance to the Palestinians as one of the important pillars of its measures to contribute to the Middle East peace process. In particular, Japan has provided over $1.2 billion in total to the Palestinians since the 1993 Oslo Accords, third-highest behind the European Union (EU) and the United States. Specifically, Japan provides various types of humanitarian aid through international organizations and NGOs to improve the tragic living conditions of the socially vulnerable people on the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and people affected by conflict in the Gaza Strip, and others. Also, Japan proactively and directly supports the Palestinian Authority through institutional reform and human resources development to improve administrative services for citizens and development of socio-economic infrastructure, etc. These efforts aim for preparation for future Palestinian nation-building and a self-sustained Palestinian economy.
Further, since July 2006, Japan has advocated the initiative for the "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity", as its unique mid-to long-term effort for future peaceful coexistence and co-prosperity between Israelis and Palestinians. The initiative aims to promote socio-economic development in the the Jordan Valley area through the regional cooperation among the four parties of Japanese, Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians. Currently, those four parties are working towards the establishment of an agro-industrial park in the suburbs of Jericho city in an effort to realize this initiative. The park aims to process agricultural products grown on the West Bank and distribute the products in and outside of the Palestinian territories and is expected to create around 7,000 jobs in the future.
