Newsletter No. 1308
News-Analysis
March 5, 2009

 

The following newsletter has been contributed by John McGlynn (Shingetsu Member No. 199). McGlynn is an independent foreign policy and financial analyst based in Tokyo.

NAKASONE CLEARLY ANNOUNCES JAPANESE BOYCOTT ON TALKS WITH HAMAS

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone has made it clear that Japan will not engage Hamas as part of the stepped-up international drive to deliver aid and money to Gaza, devastated recently by a 22-day Israeli military offensive. In remarks reported by Kyodo News on March 3rd, Nakasone said that talks with Hamas would “give a certain legitimacy to Hamas, which does not acknowledge the existence of Israel and resorts to violence.” [1] Nakasone’s announcement follows on the heels of pledges of more than US$4.4 billion to rebuild Gaza made by countries and organizations attending the March 2nd donors conference held in Sharm al-Shaikh, Egypt.

In announcing a boycott on Hamas, Japan aligns itself with the United States, which, in the words of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is a situation in which funds given to Gaza end up in the “wrong hands.” The European Union, Norway (co-host of the Sharm al-Shaikh conference along with Egypt), and other donor countries seem to have reached a consensus on working exclusively with Hamas’ rival, the Palestinian Authority (PA), controlled by President Mahmud Abbas. The World Bank, the world’s leading development organization, issued a report at Sharm al-Shaikh entitled “Fund Channeling Options for Early Recovery and Beyond: the World Bank Perspective,” to instruct the international community on the appropriate aid passageways: Either through the PA or one of Gaza’s municipal agencies funded or managed by the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund in cooperation with the PA.

In response, Hamas has accused these countries of using the donor’s conference to “blackmail” the group into changing its policies and politicizing the aid process. [2] Hamas, which has its strongest political support in Gaza, won control of the Palestinian parliament in elections held in January 2006, and then removed the PA from power in Gaza in 2007 when the PA allegedly made a “part Iran-Contra, part Bay of Pigs” attempt, assisted by Washington, to launch a civil war. [3]

Japanese Foreign Minister Nakasone also said, according to Kyodo News, that contacts with Hamas would “weaken Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’ power base and dampen efforts to build a Palestinian state.” For Japan, such openly stated antagonism toward Hamas is surprising. It also appears to go beyond the EU’s position, which in the wake of the recent Israeli assault on Gaza has taken on a pro-PA—but not explicitly anti-Hamas—coloring. In fact, in recent weeks some EU officials have called for direct talks with Hamas. The usual diplomatic drill in Tokyo is to be circumspect about taking sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The amount Japan pledged at Sharm al-Shaikh was US$200 million, of which US$60 million is to be used for emergency humanitarian and recovery aid, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. The United States offered the largest amount, US$900 million, but a State Department spokesperson later explained that the breakdown of this amount was US$300 million for “urgent humanitarian needs” in Gaza, US$200 million to help the PA meet its budget, and US$400 million for the PA’s programs to improve governance, security, and economic development. In other words, none of the US funds will be used for rebuilding in Gaza.

How and when buildings and homes in Gaza can be rebuilt is unclear (15,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Israel’s offensive, leaving 100,000 Palestinians homeless). Israel has imposed a blockade on almost all aid into the territory. At the moment, only basic relief supplies (food, blankets, etc.) are allowed through, in amounts declared dangerously inadequate by UN organizations and humanitarian NGOs. The international community, including the United States, has pressed for looser aid restrictions, but Israel’s view seems to be that cement, glass, metal, and other materials needed for reconstruction may find their way into the hands of Hamas for use in constructing rockets or other homemade weapons to attack Israeli territory, and therefore cannot be allowed in.

Notes

[1] Kyodo News, “Japan Will Not Negotiate with Hamas: Nakasone,” March 3, 2009.

[2] AFP, “Hamas Accuses Gaza Donors of ‘Blackmail,’” March 3, 2009.

[3] David Rose, “The Gaza Bombshell,” Vanity Fair, April 2008.