Thematic Priority 1: Decolonization
The March 2024 document reads:
Centering decolonization efforts enables us to confront historical injustices that havepersisted. As civil society organisations, we have the opportunity to foster dialogue andreconciliation around these issues. It is imperative to address these historical injustices asthey are ingrained within the systemic structures that perpetuate inequality anddisadvantage.
● Marianne from Podium Voor Palestina brings advocacy experience forPalestine, which is directly relevant to the thematic priority. Her expertise in raisingawareness and mobilizing support can contribute significantly to addressing the priority.
●Kees from the Arab West Foundation possesses deep knowledge in development sociologyand Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt. This expertise can provide valuable insights intounderstanding the societal dynamics relevant to the thematic priority.Needed: robust educational and awareness-raising initiativesDutch government policies promoting cultural exchange and tolerance may informinitiatives aimed at fostering understanding among diverse communities.
● NIOD – aninstitute for war, holocaust and genocide studies has researched decolonisation verythoroughly.Related government policies include international agreements promoting peace andcooperation, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),particularly Goal 16 on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies.
Comments AWF for discussion: The statement “robust educational and awareness-raising initiatives,” is nice but is thisfeasible for our network? Colonization resulted in “historical injustices that have persisted. ”But how do we apply this to Israel and Palestine? We are dealing here with conflicting narratives. Where most Jews for ages have been speaking about return to their ancient land, most Palestinians speak of colonization. Both views have strong faith related connotations. The British mandate policy was deeply politically biased resulting in numerous injustices. At the end of World War II the newly established U.N. adopted after a lot of talking, resolution 181to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate (1947). The aim was to create independent but economically linked Arab and Jewish states with a proposal for a”Special International Regime” for the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings. The rejection of the partition proposal on the side of Palestinians and neighboring Arab states led to theIsraeli war of independence that resulted in the Nakba and as wel caused the devastationof many kibbutzim. The state of Israel was recognized by a majority of UN memberstatesand in 1949 became a full member of the UN. In the June 1967 war Israel occupied Gaza,part of the Golan and the Jordanian annexed East Jerusalem and West Bank. None of theseoccupations were recognized by the world community.
The Arab-West Foundation,therefore, does not deny injustices of the past but beliefs in the right of existence of theState of Israel within the borders of June 4, 1967, and also in the recognition of a Palestinianstate in the West Bank and Gaza with a special status for Jerusalem. The Arab-WestFoundation would like to see the revival of a real peace process. Of course, all attempts tomake the two-state solution impossible should be opposed. The Arab-West Foundationbelieves the current Israeli government is a disaster and we hope that in the next electionsIsraelis will vote for political parties that will make a two state solution a reality.
The March 2024 document on decolonization reads:
● Action plans or strategies involve initiatives to address specific challenges within thethematic priority, such as programs targeting youth empowerment or cultural exchange.Some of these examples contain: educational reforms/curriculum reforms which meansthe inclusion of more comprehensive education about the colonial history as well as museum initiatives e.g.
Potential partners could include universities such as the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University and research institute Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde withexpertise in the relevant fields.
Comments AWF: These are suggestions without any development in contactinginstitutions. Student protests at different academic institutions hardly had an effect on thecooperation between Dutch and Israeli universities. It is, therefore, unlikely that vaguelyspeaking of decolonization with regard to Israel and Palestine will appeal them to cooperatewith the Dutch network of the Anna Lindh Foundation.
The March 2024 document on decolonization reads:
● Their added value lies in their diverse perspectives, resources, and networks, which canenhance the effectiveness and reach of interventions related to the thematic priority. Someof our individual members have experience with these topics, e.g. a Palestinian filmmaker and another individual member Maartje who is a podcast maker and addresses topics inrelation to decolonisation. ElHizjra, which is also one of our ALF members also promotesthese issues through addressing the importance of literature.
Comments AWF: Is is unclear who Maartje is. ElHizjra does excellent and important work.
The Grote Midden-Oosten Platform responded to the following question in the ALF questionnaire
“Please identify potential national and international funding opportunities related to this.”
The GMOP wrote:
National funding opportunities may be available through government grants for cultural exchange programs, educational initiatives, and community development projects. These are unknown at the moment.
Comments AWF: We made inquiries with Ms. Baukje Dijkstra of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was not aware of national funding opportunities. We also made inquiries at the The Hague Municipality and also here no funding opportunities exist for decolonization activities.
The March 2024 document reads:
“International funding opportunities may include grantsfrom multilateral organisations, philanthropic foundations, and donor agencies supportinginitiatives aligned with the thematic priority.”
Comments AWF: We found this very vague. We are not aware of these international funding opportunities.
Conclusion: Centering decolonization efforts enables us to confront historical injustices which isimportant but the focus on decolonization with Palestine brings us to conflicting narrativesas explained above. We believe the combination of the ALF Road to Inclusive NarrativesProject (much needed with the current conflicting narratives) with peacebuilding anddialogue between cultures (thematic priority 2) could yield better results. The ALF Road toInclusive Narratives Project is sadly still a pilot project in which the Netherlands does notparticipate.