Human security and a holistic green economy in Palestine

Oliver Haack

While the occupation has left a great number of Palestinian people both homeless and - seemingly -hopeless, without any perspective for a better future, there are still genuine attempts of improvement and sustainable development coming from within Palestinian society. This short article will introduce Wael al Saad's blueprint of a holistic green economy and will put this conceptual approach in context with the wider normative approach of human security, defined by Mary Kaldor (2007, p.182) as a "new approach both to security and to development". Although, as will be shown, there might be limitations to the comprehensive applicability of a holistic green economy, this concept serves to underline the premises of human security in a fresh and very practical way.

As opposed to traditional military security, human security - a concept that has started to gain on prominence with the 1994 United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report - "is about the security of individuals and communities rather than the security of the states", thereby combining both "human rights and human development" (Kaldor, 2007, p.182). Thus, the focus of human security is on the situation of the individual, which makes it, according to Lucy Nusseibeh (2008), an approach "closer to peace" than military security. Human security can be said to consist of three basic tenets. First, freedom from fear, second, freedom from want, and, third, the right to personal dignity. Nusseibeh (2008) makes clear that these three normative requirements cannot be reached merely by the "absence of conflict". In addition to efforts of states towards genuine peacebuilding, it is necessary that the needs of the people be taken into account, through strategies of empowerment. After all, real and sustainble improvements in the daily lives of the people would make it harder for extremists to gain popularity and support, thus increasing the likeliness of a peaceful environment.

While (people) empowerment - defined by international development scholar Alan Thomas (2007, p.35) as a process that will lead the people to become the "agents of their own development" - comes in many different forms and shapings, the emphasis here will be on economic empowerment, thus on attempts to alleviate economic shortcomings in Palestinian society. It is important to point out that a human security - based approach on (economic) empowerment includes the focus on 'bottom-up' initiatives, as opposed to the too-often-failed "'we know best'" approach towards international development by the (Western) industrial democracies (Kaldor, 2007, p.189). Gaining genuine "knowledge and understanding" (Kaldor, 2007, p.189), after all, is worth more than simply copying (geographically or socially) inappropriate measures of promoting economic development, and, furthermore, helps the Palestinian people who for so long already have got used to constant deprivation and degradation to learn to autonomously build a sustainable future.

It was due to his "sense of responsibility" (Al Saad, 2008) - social responsibility - that led Wael al Saad not only to return to his Palestinian homeland after nearly two decades in Germany, but also to formulate a coherent vision of a 'holistic green economy', based on bottom-up community building respecting principles of both (social) equality and cultural diversity (Al Saad, 2008). More precisely, holistic green economy refers to a diverse range of economic disciplines and branches. Progressive agricultural methods such as dryland permaculture should provide for both secure livelihoods and a sustainable ecosphere. Through these production methods, a wide variety of "Green-Business-Products", contributing "on economic growth and exchange with all possible markets" shall be developed, including herbal medicine, indigenous handcraft or animal food. This new 'green industry' sector would be interwoven with more 'service-oriented' disciplines like Ecotourism or indigenous architecture (Al Saad, 2008). What seems at first glance quite similar to the established Israeli kibbuzim appears - at a closer look - to be a holistic blueprint not only of a way of economic development but, too, of a 'new' society itself. Claims such as the promotion of social equity - and coming with it commitments to a strong civil society and educational needs of coming generations - seems long overdue for a 'stateless nation' desperately seeking perspectives. Therefore, while Wael al Saad's concept potentially fosters a sense of social justice and active community building, it can also give way to a 'boosting' of Palestinian economy through the specialization on home-grown produce, and, finally, promotes ecological stability and sustainability in highlighting permaculture as a way of conducting sustainable agriculture. A holistic green economy fits into the wider approach of human security as a sustainable economy could trigger freedom from want, whereas an empowered society insisting on its right to personal dignity represents an effective actor in efforts towards creating an environment free of fear. As building genuine social unity through strong communities (which form the core of a functioning holistic green economy) is an essential aspect of Al Saad's concept, societal divisions could in the long term be overcome and a strong and proud Palestinian society be built whose members don't only value the individual but also the environment around them. Not "militarization of (...) society" (Nusseibeh, 2008) based on an assumed need for violent resistance against occupation and humiliation, but active and progressive change, led by the people themselves, - a crucial aspect in human security - is thus found in Al Saad's vision.

Certainly nobody, however, would deny the gravity of this task and the range of problems its proponents will likely encounter. In order to prevent an unnecessarily optimistic outlook, the following questions must be allowed: Will a human security - based approach around a holistic green economy effectively be able to transcend power games within Palestinian politics and help to create a stable and democratic political system, which then, in return, would support such a socio-economic approach? Will this progressive approach easily fit in the traditional Palestinian social structure? Will there be enough active popular support for the idea of a holistic green economy in order to reach the 'masses' and subsequently implement it all over Palestine?

These questions are neither intended to discourage those who seek a progressive approach nor to devaluate the obvious strengths of Wael al Saad's concept. They are only put here to point to some of the challenges the idea's proponents could likely encounter. Taking into account that these considerations apply to human security in general, it could be concluded that as the concept of human security hasn't yet (in many areas) transcended the 'normative', our attention needs now to be drawn to practical initiatives that underline the human security framework.

REFERENCES

Al Saad, W. (2008) 'Co-Create Holistic Green Economy in Global Palestine', http://www.wiserearth.org/resource/view/f529bcd0176bb10a8898c78188534d71 (accessed 17 September 2009).

Kaldor, M. (2007) Human Security: Reflections on Globalization and Intervention, Polity Press, Cambridge.

Nusseibeh, L. (2008) 'Why Human Security Is Relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict', Palestine-Israel Journal, Vol.15, No.3.

Thomas, A. (2000) 'Meanings and Views of Development', in Allen, T. and Thomas, A. (eds) Poverty and Development into the 21st Century, The Open University, Milton Keynes, in association with Oxford University Press, Oxford.