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Background Papers

German-Palestinian Cooperation

Political Relations

In close cooperation with its partner countries in the EU, the German Government does its best to support a reduction in potential conflicts as well as to promote the further development of the Middle East peace process. The Palestinian Authority is one of its main partners in this endeavor.

Germany expanded its relations with the Palestinian territories after Israel and the PLO mutually recognized each other in September 1993. Intensive contacts began after the creation of the Palestinian Authority on July 5, 1994, and the resettlement in Gaza of its president, Yasser Arafat, who has visited Germany numerous times since December 1993.

High-ranking German politicians have also undertaken visits to the Palestinian territories. Foreign Minister Fischer visited the Palestinian territories most recently in December 2003. During his visit, he underlined Germany's commitment to the vision of two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian, living side by side in peace and security, as laid out in the Quartet Road Map for peace. Minister Fischer stressed that Germany will continue to support the Palestinian Authority in its quest for democracy and reform.

Official contacts with the Palestinian Authority are maintained by the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Palestinian territories, which opened in August 1994 and was the first of its kind. In 1998, the office moved from Jericho to Ramallah. The PLO Representation in Germany was upgraded in December 1993 to the Palestinian General Delegation.

EU and Bilateral Development Cooperation with the Palestinian Territories

The EU Commission and EU members states made available roughly $4.1 billion to the Palestinian territories from 1994 to 2001. With a total of $380 million, the European Union was the largest international donor of financial assistance for the Middle East peace process in 2002. In 2003, the Palestinian territories received a total of € 255 million from the EU.

Against the backdrop of the intensifying political and economic crisis in the Middle East, EU aid, to which Germany contributed 22.6 percent in 2003, serves an important stabilizing function. The Palestinian Authority was threatened with financial collapse after Israel halted the transfer of customs and tax revenues to the region following the outbreak of the second intifada. To ensure the payment of salaries, particularly in the Palestinian education and health care sectors, the EU provided the Palestinian Authority with € 112 million in 2003. Financial assistance is tied to conditions, which the IMF monitors for compliance. In addition to oversight of the use of funds, the conditions cover political, administrative, and fiscal reforms. Indeed, the financial sector is now among those areas where the Palestinian reform efforts have made the most visible progress.

In 2003, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East received some € 86.12 million from EU funds for education and health care programs.
€ 58 million in humanitarian and food aid was also spent in the Palestinian territories in 2003.

German Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid

In 2003, the German government provided a total of € 10.56 million in direct support to the UNRWA. That same year, the German government pledged € 40 million to the Palestinian territories as part of its bilateral development cooperation. The pledged funds are project-related. In addition to focusing on water issues, the projects are concentrated primarily on promoting the private sector and building efficient administrative structures. Extensive humanitarian aid is also being offered. One example of the effort to establish public institutions is Germany's support of the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem and the Technical College in Nablus.

Five German political foundations conduct programs for the Palestinian territories and maintain their own offices there. The foundations work in the fields of adult education and vocational training, media, and democracy and are viewed as a valuable part of the German-Palestinian cultural and development cooperation.

Bilateral Economic Relations

Due to the political situation, economic relations have dramatically worsened for the Palestinians over the past years. Consequently, German companies are able to invest and conduct trade only to an extremely limited degree. German-Palestinian trade continues to drop. In 2002, imports from the Palestinian territories to Germany totaled merely € 500,000, while German imports to the Palestinian territories came to € 11.6 million. Ongoing construction of the Israeli security fence in the West Bank particularly impedes any economic development and cuts off many Palestinian workers from their jobs.

In such a poor investment climate, the representative for German business and industry in Ramallah was only very little able to contribute to a positive development in German-Palestinian economic relations.

Cultural Cooperation

Since the outbreak of the second intifada in October 2000, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ubiquitous and influences every sphere of public and private life. Cultural life is barely possible under the enormous adverse conditions of curfews, the demise of the Palestinian economy, and severe shortages.

Despite the difficult situation, German cultural institutions try to maintain as high a presence as possible through many programs and projects.

German-Palestinian cultural cooperation focuses on advancing the cultural dialogue between Germany and Europe and the Palestinians, educational and scientific cooperation, and showcasing Germany as a location for academic study and scientific research. This includes the awarding of scholarships and cooperation agreements between German and Palestinian universities. Palestinians who return to the region after studying in Germany assume an important role in building the civil society there.

Promotion of the German language is also a centerpiece of Germany's cultural work. German-language instruction has a centuries-old tradition at a host of private church-run schools. The Goethe Institutes also make an important contribution to teaching the German language. The Goethe Institute for the Palestinian territories is located in Ramallah and, in cooperation with the former German Cultural Center in Gaza, offers German classes in Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Work is currently being done to establish a joint German-French cultural center in Ramallah. This cultural center illustrates the intensifying European integration process and makes the institution culturally more attractive to the interested public by expanding its services.

Status as of January 2004.