"Getting beyond slogans of Palestinian victimization"
This week, the members and staff of the International Development Committee in the British House of Commons are scheduled to come to Israel and the Palestinian Authority for a fact-finding tour. Such committees have a great deal of weight in the British political system, and their reports, including the recommendations, can lead to changes in funding levels and policy. The views expressed by the groups and individuals with whom the members of this committee meet can have a major impact on the report that they issue.
This committee oversees and evaluates the funding policies of the Department for International Development (DFID), the arm of the UK government that supports development assistance for what is referred to as "Occupied Palestinian Territories" (a widely used political term in Europe). DFID has allocated 30 million ($57 million) for the Palestinians in 2006/07, of which half is channeled through the UN
Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
