Opinion | Columnists
Build ties through healthcare
A US-Palestinian health partnership would be a successful work for peace. To establish this partnership, the Bush administration should host a medical aid summit.
- By Anwar Dudein, Michael Morse and Yahya Shawar
- Published: 23:42 July 27, 2007
Fifty years ago, US president Dwight Eisenhower asserted that American leadership in international relations could not be secured exclusively through military strength. In Eisenhower's view, relying primarily on military efforts would be a "tragic mistake", because it would ignore the roles of diplomacy, trade and economic development in making and maintaining peace.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration has made this very mistake in its policy towards the Palestinians. It has neglected opportunities to strengthen US-Palestinian relations through diplomacy and development and thus has lost much of its capacity to lead Palestinians and Israelis towards a better future.
An American-Palestinian partnership to improve Palestinian healthcare would help to rebuild these relations and could help the United States to re-establish leadership in the region.
Throughout his administration, Bush has forsworn decisive diplomatic action to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace. Most Palestinians, who believe that the US is the only power capable of stemming Palestinian and Israeli bloodshed, see this diplomatic inaction as a betrayal of trust.
The administration further undermined trust when it decided to halt Palestinian aid in response to the 2006 Palestinian elections.
This aid embargo has devastated the Palestinian economy and damaged the Palestinian health system. It has hastened a serious deterioration in Palestinian society, creating conditions that encourage extremism to flourish.
In this manner, the embargo has undermined the security of not only Palestinians and Israelis, but also Americans. In his speech recently, Bush expressed a desire to play a more active role in development and diplomacy.
To regain a position of leadership, however, the administration must make efforts to rebuild its relationship with Palestinians. The administration should begin to re-establish trust by investing in humanitarian development projects - what Eisenhower called "works of peace"- that will transform Palestinian quality of life.
As a first step, the US should commit to partnering with Palestinians to improve the Palestinian healthcare system.
Three reasons
There are three reasons that a US-Palestinian health partnership would be a successful work of peace. First, cooperation on medical projects is likely to succeed even during politically tumultuous times.
Regardless of the surrounding political milieu, Palestinian and American physicians share an unwavering commitment to improving patients' health. This commitment provides a strong foundation for joint action.
Second, joint US-Palestinian efforts to strengthen the Palestinian healthcare system would appreciably improve Palestinian welfare.
American investment in building medical infrastructure coupled with a full restoration of embargoed medical aid would build on the existing network.
Such investment would rapidly translate into improved healthcare quality and would benefit all Palestinians, making it a valuable first step towards improving Palestinian conditions.
Third, US-Palestinian medical cooperation would improve relations between America and the Arab world. The plight of Palestinians is a major concern of Arab governments, and American efforts to improve Palestinians' circumstances would be appreciated from Cairo to Riyadh.
A result of this partnership could therefore be increased Arab cooperation with the US on issues that are important to Americans, such as advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace and US national security.
To establish this partnership, the Bush administration should host a medical aid summit in Washington. At the summit, Palestinian physicians, administration officials, and American physicians would discuss Palestinian health needs and shape the partnership to address them.
Such a summit would send a powerful signal to the Arab world that the US seeks to mend strained ties and re-establish a leadership role in advancing Palestinians' wellbeing.
In his recent speech, Bush explained that the administration seeks innovative ways to build Palestinian institutions and advance Palestinian welfare.
The president should draw on Eisenhower's wisdom. For Eisenhower understood that the trust which results from international cooperation "creates an atmosphere in which real understanding and peace can flourish".
America should invest in works of peace that have the potential to strengthen its relations with the Palestinians, improve US standing in the Arab world and advance prospects for peace and security.
Anwar Dudein MD, is Dean of Al Quds Medical School in East Jerusalem. Yayha Shawar MD, is President Emeritus of the Palestinian Medical Association, and Michael Morse is currently completing a joint MD/MPP degree at Harvard Medical School and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
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