Workshop on "International Aid: a ‘Necessary Evil’ for Development in Palestine?”

On
28 February 2012, the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies
(IALIIS) conducted a workshop entitled: “International Aid: a ‘Necessary Evil’
for Development in Palestine?” The workshop is part of a series the IALIIS organizes
on the Political Economy of Dependence and Independence in Palestine.

In
his opening address, Dr. Asem Khalil, Director of IALIIS, explained the reasons
behind conducting this particular workshop, thanking all those who have
contributed to making the workshop possible.

The first session was chaired by Eileen Kuttab,
Assistant Professor at the BZU Institute of Women’s Studies. During the
session, researcher Alaa Tartir presented a paper entitled: “Aid and
Development in Palestine: Anything, but Linear Relationship. Can Aid Contribute
to Development?”

The second session was entitled “Salam Fayyad’s Plan
to Reduce Dependency on International Aid,” chaired by Dr. Yousef Daoud,
Professor of Economics at BZU. The speaker in this session was Dr. Nasr Abdel
Karim, Professor of Economics at BZU, who presented a paper entitled: “The
Future of International Aid and the Plausible Options to Achieve Financial Sustainability
of the Palestinian National Authority.”

The final session was entitled “Development Programs
and the Anti-Colonial Struggle,” in which Nithya Nagrajan, a visiting scholar
at the BZU Development Studies Center, presented a paper on “Development under
Colonialism?”

Both Dr. Mandy Turner and Sam Bahour commented on the first session,
whereas Ismat Quzmar and Dr. Mahmoud
El-jafari commented on the second session. In the final session,
both Khalil Nakleh and Dr. Husam Zumlot were commentators, followed by an open discussion.
The workshop was concluded by Dr. Lourdes Habash, who
presented concluding remarks and recommendations.

For further details
please visit: http://ialiis.birzeit.edu/etemplate.php?id=275