HomeOld_PostsIf only building were as easy as destroying

If only building were as easy as destroying

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OVER the weekend, international donors pledged US$5,4 billion for the Palestinians at a conference in Cairo. The Palestinian Authority has asked for US$4 billion.
The seven-week Gaza conflict killed more than 2 100 Palestianians, most of them civilians, the UN says, along with 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel.
This week The Telegraph revealed that it will cost US$7,8 billion to rebuild Gaza after the seven-week war with Israel.
In a comprehensive assessment of damage caused by Israel’s arsenal, the Palestinian Authority has revealed that whole neighbourhoods and vital infrastructure have been flattened.
The cost of building 17 000 Gazan homes razed by Israeli bombings would be about US$2,5 billion; more than 100 000 Gazans lost their homes.
While the energy sector needs about US$250 million after the Gaza Strip’s only power plant was destroyed by two Israeli missiles, much of the territory’s infrastructure was damaged.
As winter approaches, thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes need urgent help.
Correspondents say that some neighbourhoods in Gaza resemble earthquake zones because of intense bombardment.
But the question that has been circling in everyone’s mind is whether or not foreign donors should give money towards the rebuilding of Gaza given that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is yet to be resolved.
Why rebuild something that could be destroyed in two, three, six months down the line.
The cycle of destruction and rebuilding is proving to be a great deal of futility. In the midst of this terrible cycle, there are some 1,8 million Palestinians trying to survive and make a life in Gaza.
The solution to this destruction lies with those that feed into this cycle of destruction.
By combining their financial clout and political pressure, the EU has the potential to push both Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate, because we all know the Americans are not impartial on the matter.
According to a report by Judy Dempsey presented to Carnegie Europe, a stable, independent Palestinian state with four million well educated and business minded Palestinians who would provide opportunities for Europe.
In 2009, after the round of fighting, Nathan Brown, a senior associate in Carnegie’s Middle East Programme, together with Michele Dunne, presented a paper titled: ‘Gaza’s Sisyphean Existence’, in which they claimed that “…if we now step in again to rebuild without an accompanying political strategy, we may find ourselves doing the exact same thing a year or two down the road.”
It took a full three-and-a half years until the next round of fighting and again the cycle of destruction and rebuilding continued.
The Financial Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief, John Reed, recently weighed in saying that the EU should pay to rebuild Gaza for two reasons: humanitarian imperative and for self interest.
While the debate rages on, what to do in regards to rebuilding Gaza and finding a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, some in Israel believe that rebuilding of Gaza should not be on anyone’s priority list.
In an article titled ‘Is rebuilding Gaza more important than halting Ebola?’, Michael Freund says that “billions of dollars are being lavished on Gaza” instead of fighting Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Israel was not invited to the conference in Egypt. The country’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that any rebuilding efforts would need his Government’s consent. Rebuilding depends on Israel allowing in the movement of materials into the Gaza Strip.
After 50 days of war, Gaza needs over US$7 billion, I wonder how much Zimbabwe will need to rebuild after over a decade of sanctions. It is interesting that as Zimbabweans we are very much aware of the financial effort needed to rebuild our country and the time it will take; unfortunately most of us just want to wake up one day to a restored Zimbabwe.
Those of us in the Diaspora have become accustomed to the amenities that come with living in the developed world and when one looks at the ‘Zviri kufaya’ videos that created a storm on the web a short while ago, one gets the feeling that Zimbabwe is beyond repair.
The reality is that some of us watched gleefully as the country went down the drain, they rejoiced forgetting that the country did not belong to ZANU PF but to the people.
Some 15 odd years down the line, they reminisce about the old Zimbabwe, some even dream of the cheap beer they used to buy in the Rhodesia era.
Zimbabweans could begin by looking inwards when it comes to rebuilding.
Instead of pointing fingers, or sitting on our hands we could come together and chart a way forward.
No one is going to come to our aid unless we show that we have the potential to make something out of ourselves and this country.
Goading each other on the internet that Zimbabwe has no running water, potholed road, constant power cuts; while being hilarious does nothing to improve our circumstances. It’s like shooting oneself in the foot.

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