Christmas Newsletter from ARIJ

 Click to see ' The Xmas Olive Tree Card ' …! 

2002 was a very hard year for the Palestinian people and its institutions by and large, and ARIJ was no exception. During this year, Bethlehem governorate was subjected to six consecutive re-occupations by the Israeli army. The governorate was under siege all throughout the year and was placed under curfew for 138 days during which the curfew was lifted 40 times for a number of hours. The next table summarizes these events: 

Table 1: ARIJ in 2002  

For many, the words siege and curfew need further clarification. During siege, the Israeli army withdraws from area 'A' in Bethlehem to the outskirts but entering or leaving Bethlehem is prohibited or restricted. Area ''A'' here includes the cities of Bethlehem, Beir-Sahour, Beit Jala, Doha and al Khader as well as the refugee camps of Dheisheh, Aida and al Azzeh. Consequently, people living in the besieged area are somehow free to move within the besieged area. For ARIJ, this means that it can open its offices and employees from the besieged areas can come to work. Those living outside the besieged areas are restricted or prohibited from entering the besieged areas. The following map outlines the spatial implications of siege. See Map 1

Under curfew conditions, all the inhabitants are not allowed to leave their homes. The Israeli occupation army controls the whole area and its patrols are constantly roaming around arresting people and imposing house arrest on the total population. For ARIJ, this means that the institute is completely closed and inaccessible to any of its employees or visitors. The following map illustrates spatially what curfew conditions look like. See Map 2 

ARIJ had to face the new challenges and to continue its mission under adverse conditions. How did ARIJ cope?

The staff of ARIJ decided to stand for the challenges and defy the constraints imposed by adopting a series of measures. The first measure was a decision to get to ARIJ every time the curfew is lifted. For many this may appear easy but in reality, lifting the curfew is an opportunity for people to shop and do their essential business such as hair cutting, paying electricity bills, withdrawing money from the bank or going to a doctor or dentist. But ARIJ staffs were determined to seize every opportunity to meet and discuss their work. In research, teamwork is essential and thus the lifting of curfew for 3-4 hours provided a needed opportunity for the staff to exchange ideas and findings as well as planning for the next step.

The second measure was a staff decision to make up for the missed days by working on Fridays and Sundays as well as wavering the annual vacations they are entitled to. The third measure was to work at home for those who can or to work in an alternative site that was rented in the city centre in Beit-Sahour where people can get there even under curfew. Another alternative site was established in Beit-Jala where a number of GIS staff was able to work. Of course, working in the alternative sites carried some risks for the staff as they had to sneak and avoid being caught by the occupation army patrols but it was a calculated risk that the staff was willing to take under the prevailing conditions. On average, the alternative sites in Beit-Sahour and Beit-Jala absorbed 17 people, which allowed ARIJ to function satisfactorily, even under such harsh conditions. The computer staff was very innovative and cooperative in maintaining the computer system, transferring data, securing network connections and email facilities in the alternative sites and in staff homes. It may be worth mentioning here that even presentations and lectures were made during the curfew for those visitors who were ready to defy the system and get to the alternative site through alternative roads.

  The following table outlines ways by which ARIJ staff coped with the situation?  

A = Administrator, RA= Research Assistant, SR = Senior Researcher SS = Support Staff.

Fieldwork under such conditions is severely curtailed. Yet, it is extremely essential for ARIJ. Thus, innovative measures were taken to conduct fieldwork under conditions of restricted mobility. Instead of the traditional driving to destinations daily, ARIJ staff opted for spending a number of days in each destination site to conduct the necessary fieldwork. While this involved some inconveniences regarding where to stay and time management, yet it was perhaps the only viable option considering the circumstances. In addition, ARIJ contracted a number of field workers in various districts and trained them to conduct the necessary fieldwork. The use of Internet and fax ensured continuous and efficient communication. Needless to say, ARIJ staff enjoys the feeling of satisfaction at their ability to defy the system and continue their work even under such conditions.

ARIJ activities

Considering the prevailing political conditions, ARIJ has adapted its program to meet the new needs of the Palestinian society but at the same time, ARIJ believes that relief and emergency should not replace its basic research program that is essential for promoting sustainable development in Palestine. Consequently, ARIJ's program will be a combination of both regular research programs as well as provision of services addressing both short term and medium term needs. ARIJ is embarking on launching a new set of projects that aim to create the linkage between scientific research and the well being of the society. ARIJ intends to introduce pilot projects that could be further expanded and implemented in other areas in Palestine. At the same time, ARIJ has not restricted its activities to the local Palestinian scene and is already involved in a number of regional and international activities.

As preparations were taking place for the WTO conference in Doha, ARIJ worked with the Arab development NGO network on developing a paper on the challenges facing Arab agriculture in a globalized world. The institute also participated in the international conference held in the Iraqi capital in July 2001 commemorating the 20 years since the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor and submitted a paper addressing the environmental degradation in the Middle East. ARIJ also published two papers in the Arab journal for sciences, published by the Arab league for education, Sciences and culture. Moreover, ARIJ participated in the regional meetings for the dryland agrobiodiversity project, which was held in Latakia, Syria where ARIJ made a presentation on the requirements for integrating and homogenizing the GIS data. ARIJ also participated in the regional workshop for priority setting of agricultural research in the region, which was held in Icarda headquarters at Aleppo. In addition, ARIJ embarked on launching joint research in cooperation with research institutes and universities in Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Italy, and published an article on the environmental conditions in Palestine in the Lebanese social and scientific research journal.

ARIJ promoted further cooperation and joint work with the Palestinian ministries and national institutions. Close cooperation developed between ARIJ and the Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD) during which the Director General participated as a technical advisor in ''Taba'' negotiations, which took place in January 2001. Later, ARIJ participated in the formulation of the Palestinian position paper on water and environment. In addition, ARIJ prepared a study on the infrastructure in Jerusalem, which later was integrated into a position paper concerning Jerusalem. ARIJ continues to provide NAD (Negotiations Affaires Department) with the latest information concerning settlements expansions and other related aspects.

Moreover, ARIJ continued its work with the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in preparing the agrobiodiversity strategy and policy through the regional dryland agrobiodiversity conservation project, which is funded by the Global Environmental Facility and implemented by ICARDA ad UNDP. In this project, three sites have been selected for in situ conservation and ARIJ is responsible for developing the spatial data and linking it to the socioeconomic database. In addition, the director general worked on evaluating the capacity building project in the Ministry of agriculture, which is supported by the Netherlands government through UNDP. MOA nominated the general director to participate in the food security conference held in Bonn. Moreover, ARIJ held a joint training course for nature reserves rangers in MOA with support from Heinrich Boll Foundation. A manual on irrigation management has been completed in corporation with the ministry and will be disseminated to the farmers through a couple of workshops. ARIJ also worked with the ministry on the regional project to develop dryland agriculture, which is supported by the Danish government, and ARIJ has outlined the requirements for building a computerized spatial regional database that could be used in the future to build a decision support system to develop this sector.

.ARIJ is cooperating with the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) in exchanging data concerning settlements, land use changes, transportation, poverty report and long term planning. ARIJ worked with the Palestinian team responsible of preparing the poverty report, by hosting the project team responsible for the field survey in Bethlehem district, and participating in formulating the work plan, and finalizing the questionnaire to ensure that it is comprehensive and addresses both the direct and indirect causes of poverty. Moreover ARIJ worked with the World Bank team responsible for preparing the economic report in Palestine, by linking the database with spatial data and a socioeconomic map for Palestine, which was valuable for determining the hot spots and interference priorities. ARIJ wrote a paper for UNDP on the relationship between poverty and environment.

ARIJ was contracted by the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government (MLG) to develop a climatic zoning map for Palestine to be used in the housing specification At the same time, ARIJ is working with Bethlehem governorate to construct a computerized spatial database for land ownership and use. ARIJ provided the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) with the ground water model for the Western aquifer, which ARIJ had developed in its study on the sources of water pollution in the West Bank. ARIJ also provided PWA with information on endangered plants and animals in Hebron and Bethlehem districts within its environmental impact assessment of water projects in these areas. In addition, ARIJ worked with PWA in specifying the crops types according to water quality.

The chamber of commerce in Bethlehem organized a conference to present its assessment of the damages in the governorate and ARIJ submitted a paper outlining the agricultural, environmental and infrastructural damages. Bethlehem governorate was designated as a disaster area that needs an immediate emergency and rehabilitation program. ARIJ responded to the initiative of the new governor in Bethlehem, which called for stronger cooperation between the governmental and non-governmental institutions. ARIJ is actively involved in the work of the emergency and the strategic planning committees besides being. ARIJ was asked to prepare the agricultural, environmental and infrastructural files in cooperation with the relevant departments and submit an action plan for future interventions in these domains. The director general made a presentation to the members of the Mitchell's Committee concerning the settlements expansions in the Palestinian territories and provided the committee with a comprehensive report on this issue which had impact on the committee's findings as evident in its final report which demanded total and immediate freeze on all settlement activities in the Palestinian territories.

As for cooperation with other civil society institutions, ARIJ assumed a pioneering role in the establishment of the Palestinian environmental non-governmental organizations network (PENGON), which now enjoys the membership of more than 20 institutions. ARIJ was elected as the secretary of the network and worked towards a joint Palestinian paper to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which was held in Johannesburg in September 2002. ARIJ, the Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG), the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) and the Water and Environmental Research Centre (WERC) are working together on submitting a joint research project on water management, which may be considered as a qualitative leap in institutional relations. In addition, ARIJ continues to work jointly with the land research center (LRC) of the Arab Studies Society (ASS) on monitoring settlements expansion in Palestine with support from the European Commission. In average, two case studies are published every week on the joint website in addition to monthly and quarterly reports.  The website became a main source of information concerning settlements expansion as evident by the number of hits to this site . ARIJ and LRC are regularly briefing the EU consuls and representatives on the latest settlements expansions. ARIJ also worked with Badil in producing a number of maps that were presented in the International Conference against Racism that was held in Durban. ARIJ continues to host delegations from all over the world that come for presentations concerning the issues of settlements, water and environment. A number of ARIJ staff became proficient in making such presentations, which are growing in demand. Many ARIJ staff members were invited on speaking tours in USA, Italy, Belgium, France and the UK.

 Current research projects at ARIJ

1. Urbanization and its impacts on natural resources (phase two):

Through funding from the International Development Research Center in Canada, this project aims to assess the effects of urbanization on Palestinian natural resources. This project aims to continue phase one activities in southern parts of the West Bank and by studying the urbanization phenomenon in the central and northern parts of the West Bank in an integrated framework. This includes specifying the changes of land use in these areas through analysis of satellite images and fieldwork and estimating the social and economic effects of these changes. The final report will contain urban land use for West Bank as a whole. 

2. Improving field crops in the West Bank (Phase two):

ARIJ will continue its demonstrations with farmers to improve field crops in the marginal areas in the West Bank through a grant from the Food Security Cash Program of the Canadian Food Grains Bank. This year, 300 dumums have been planted and the number of beneficiaries reached 63 farmer families. The purpose of these activities is to enhance the sustainability of the rain-fed farming system and improve food security.  

3. Creating compost: towards improving food security in the Bethlehem District:

ARIJ has secured funding from the EU Food Security Program for launching the first pilot project to produce compost from domestic waste. In general, organic waste comprises 70 % of the domestic waste in Palestine and so far, has been dumped together with domestic waste in dumping sites. The project aims at introducing a semi automatic but still labor-intensive waste separation system to be followed by an aerobic system of compost production. The local farmers to restore soil fertility and improve food security in the target areas will use the compost. The beneficiaries from this pilot project will be 25,000 inhabitants living in five communities in Bethlehem governorate. This project will be implemented in cooperation with the municipalities and village councils involved. One component of the project will also include a public awareness program and the possibility of introducing separation at source. It is hoped that this project will demonstrate the urgent need for integrated solid waste management in Palestine, which so far has been lacking. Of course, ARIJ will, through this project, collect accurate information about the composition of domestic waste in Palestine and assess the feasibility of the technology used.

4. Ambient air quality assessment

ARIJ will follow up the regional air quality project funded by MERC in partnership with Department of Meteorology- San Jose State University – USA and Graduate School of Applied Sciences – The Hebrew University – Israel. In cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Affairs, ARIJ will establish three units for measuring air quality: in Gaza, Nablus and Bethlehem. An inventory of CO2 emissions in Palestine and creating a model for movement of pollutants will be made.

5. GIS capacity building for Municipalities,

 Local Government and village Councils in Bethlehem governorate and the establishment of a GIS Service Unit in Bethlehem District

This project came about as a natural outcome of ARIJ's work with the governorate of Bethlehem in emergency preparedness. It has been developed in cooperation with the municipalities, local government and village councils in Bethlehem governorate and submitted to the Italian Government for potential funding. It aims at developing GIS Service Unit and to provide training in the fields of GIS data integration, analysis and modeling for the governorate of Bethlehem.  More specifically the project will provide the institutes with the tools necessary to conduct the following activities:

• Establish an integrated digital map database for the municipal and rural areas;

• Utilize GIS as a tool to support urban and rural spatial planning policies;

• Use GIS as a tool in the decision-making process concerning land use and natural resource management; and

• Perform GIS computer analysis and modeling to select and rank potential sites for water and solid waste collection and treatment. 

6. Assessing waste management policy in Palestine

This project, which is funded by Tamkeen aims to assess the status of waste management in Palestine covering domestic, hazardous and industrial waste. This will be followed by policy analysis and the provision of alternatives for better waste management.

7. Monitoring Israeli Settlements (phase two).

This project is a continuation of phase ''I'' of the project, which was supported by the European commission and came to a successful completion by 18 February 2002. ARIJ implemented this project in cooperation with the Land Research Centre of the Arab Study Society. The project's second phase aims to resume the activities of phase ''I'', which included analysis of aerial photos, satellite images, field trips, and case studies that show the dimensions of settlement policies and their effects on the Palestinian environment.    

8. A  village profile for Artas Village

This project which is supported by the Finnish government aims at producing a comprehensive database covering social, land use, natural resources and economic conditions that will be integrated spatially with GIS.

Publications

Despite the critical situation in the Palestinian areas, ARIJ managed this year to publish scientific papers, articles and books in many local and international fora.

• Jad Isaac (2002), Towards a sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians, In the name of security, A sociology of peace and war in Israel in an era of change, Majid Al-Haj and Uri Ben-Eliezer editors, Haifa University Press.
• Jad Isaac and Nadine Hassassian (2002), Arab agriculture in a globalized world; constraints and potentials, presented to the World Forum on the WTO, organized by the Arab NGO Network for Development. Beirut 5-8 November 2001.
• Jad Isaac and Mohammad Ghanayem (2002), The scientific and technological gap in the Arab world from a regional and global perspective, The Arab Journal for Sciences, Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Sciences (In print).
• Mohammad Ghanayem and Jad Isaac (2002), Scientific Research in Israel, The Arab Journal for Sciences, Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Sciences ( In print)
• Jad Isaac, and Mohammed Ghanayem (2002), Environmental degradation and the Israeli Palestinian Conflict, in Voci dal conflitto: Israeliani e Palestinianesi a confronto, Ediesse, Roma.
• Jad Isaac et al(2002), Impact of Urbanization on land use and Local Palestinian Communities in Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates, Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem.
• Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (2002), The Palestinian agricultural and wild plants wall Calendar (year 2002 â?? 2005).
• Nader Hrimat, Jad Isaac et al(2002), The Agricultural Plant History in Palestine, Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem.
• Roubina Ghattas, Nader Hrimat and Jad Isaac (2002): Status of Forestry in Palestine (County Report). MEDFOREX project, Italy.
• Jad Isaac and Abeer Safar (2002), Environment and human development in Palestine, Palestinian Human Development Report, Beir Zeit University, UNDP/PAPP
• Jad Isaac and Sbeih Sbeih (2002), Poverty and the environment in Palestine, Palestinian poverty report, UNDP/PAPP. 
• Jad Issac and Majed Abu Kubi (2002), Israel's land colonization policy and the viability of the Palestinian State Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture (In press).

ARIJ and the future

ARIJ staff is extremely worried about the future and the lack of justice and peace in the area. They aspire to put their energy in promoting sustainable development in Palestine but they see their efforts strangled by the political conflict as outlined below. See Figure

We see that the facts that are being established on the ground by the Israeli government and the settlers are preempting any potential for a sustainable peace. The separation zone and wall as well as the increased colonization in the West Bank and Gaza are vivid evidence of what to expect. The following map shows the Eastern (purple) and Western (yellow) security zones and the sites of recently established settlements and outposts. See Map 3

We are determined to continue our hard work and keep the torch lit despite all odds. We are grateful to our supporters for their continued interest in our work and activities. Finally, we wish you all a merry Xmas and a happy new year.

Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem