Response to interpellation 2024/25:411 on the aid strategy for the Middle East and North Africa
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that the new aid strategy is better adapted for market economy development, trade, and strengthened institutions 1. M emphasizes that the government is investing concentrated efforts on economic development, health, and reforms for democracy in Palestine 2. M argues that the support to UNRWA is channeled to other organizations, but that the government has doubled the support to 800 million kronor 3. M wants to focus on reforms for growth and entrepreneurship 4. V argues that the Israeli occupation is the biggest obstacle to peace and should be mentioned in the strategy 5 6. V criticizes that the government has removed the special strategy for Palestine and is withdrawing support to UNRWA and rights organizations 5 6. V argues that the government must resume support to UNRWA, rights organizations, and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has asked me in what way I work to ensure that Palestine does not become a deprioritized area in the aid, even though the country is no longer the subject of any own strategy, and why I have not worked for the Israeli occupation to be mentioned in the aid strategy for the Middle East and North Africa.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has further asked me in what way I and the Swedish government can guarantee that Swedish aid is not used to cover costs that actually fall on Israel to bear, and against what background I and the government have decided on abolished support to Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations, despite that the government's reform agenda highlights strengthened capacity for good governance, democracy and the principles of the rule of law as well as accountability and promotion of a two-state solution in accordance with international law.
When the government in March 2024 decided on a new regional aid strategy for the Middle East and North Africa, including specific funds for Palestine and Yemen, a proper rethink was made. For Palestine's part, we are investing more concentrated efforts on economic development, supporting activities to manage the major health challenges in the wake of the war, and promoting reforms for democracy and good governance. This includes continued significant support to civil society and contributes overall to strengthened conditions for a two-state solution in accordance with international law. The activities shall also counter extremism, Islamism, and antisemitism. The level of support to Palestine within this strategy is the same as in 2023.
Sweden and the EU are clear towards Israel regarding its responsibility. Neither Sweden nor the EU has recognized the occupation as legal. The Government is furthermore clear that the settlements and the settlement policy violate international law, undermine the two-state solution, and contribute to an elevated level of conflict. We are convinced that the only long-term sustainable solution to the conflict is a negotiated two-state solution based on international law where Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace and security.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to my interpellation.
The fragile ceasefire in Gaza is broken, and the Israeli bombs are falling again over Gaza. Hospitals, schools, and homes are already in ruins. Children who are already severely traumatized can no longer sleep peacefully at night due to worry for their own and their family's safety. At least another thousand dead can be added to the 50,000 who have already lost their lives in this brutal genocide. The situation is more than catastrophic.
At the same time, the situation in the West Bank is worsening every day. Settlers and the Israeli military threaten, kill, and drive Palestinians into exile. 30,000–40,000 people have been displaced from refugee camps in the northern West Bank by the Israeli military, and their homes are being leveled to the ground.
In a situation where support for Palestine is more important than ever, Sweden chooses to stop the support to the UN agency UNRWA and reduce the support to important rights organizations. It is a death blow to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in refugee camps all around the region. The Swedish government also chooses to remove the special strategy for Palestine and instead incorporate Palestine into an aid strategy for the Middle East and North Africa. This means reducing the focus on Palestine as an area while at the same time aid funds to Palestine are cut.
In the new strategy, the occupation is not mentioned at all, which is extremely strange. Economic development is emphasized while at the same time the minister says in his answer that Sweden has not recognized the occupation. That is good. But why is the Israeli occupation not mentioned in the strategy? The occupation is the biggest obstacle to peace, freedom, increased democracy, and sustainable economic development in Palestine. It is not possible to talk about entrepreneurship, trade, and development without having the occupation at the center. The occupation hinders economic development in Palestine every day.
When I visited Palestine a few years ago, I met a beer brewer who told me that he had to reload every single crate of beer time and again from one truck to another in order to get past different obstacles and roadblocks. It was, of course, incredibly expensive. It is just one concrete example of many.
Promoting economic development on the West Bank is important, but it must be linked to accountability and countering the concrete daily consequences of the occupation, for example, that people are prevented from reaching their land, their school, or their business. If the strategy cannot name the occupation, one lands completely wrong in the work. Why is the fundamental cause of the conflict not mentioned in the strategy? I want an answer to that question.
The new strategy places a great focus on economic development and health together with human rights and accountability. In this, another problem arises because it is an occupying power that bears responsibility for the civilian population's basic needs, not foreign aid.
Sweden's aid should contribute to peace and freedom and not risk covering Israel's costs for the occupation. Swedish support should focus on promoting democratic development, ending the occupation and the illegal settlements, and promoting a two-state solution. Why, then, have you withdrawn support to UNRWA and rights organizations in Palestine and Israel that work for such a development? In what way can the Council of State and the Swedish Government guarantee that Swedish aid is not used to cover costs that actually lie with the Israeli occupying power?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! The government's regional MENA strategy from last spring has entailed a new direction for Swedish development cooperation with the region. It is an aid that is better adapted to mobilize the potential for rising prosperity that the interplay between market economy development, trade, strengthened institutions, and the promotion of human rights entails.
For the Palestine aid, the overall goal is to contribute to a peaceful development by promoting the long-term conditions for a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with international law. This includes both promoting the reforms needed for democracy, good governance and economic development as well as supporting activities to manage growing health challenges, not least in the wake of the war, and strengthening civil society in Palestine.
Swedish development cooperation with Palestine also supports programs and organizations that contribute to an international civil presence in the West Bank with the aim of promoting stabilization and de-escalation. Furthermore, Sweden is a major core donor to several international organizations, for example the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which regularly reports on the situation for human rights in Palestine, including in relation to the Israeli occupation.
The Swedish civilian presence is the EU's crisis management effort, which supports the establishment of a functioning chain of justice and a police force in Palestine. It is also financed with aid funds. We want to support Palestinian economic development, strengthen democracy and contribute to the building of the institutions required to create long-term growth, employment and trade. It is of course central that the Palestinian authority is able to carry out the important economic and political reforms that it has promised.
The new strategy is simultaneously clear that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a decisive obstacle to development in the region and therefore has as its overarching objective to promote a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with international law.
The Israeli occupation is part of the conflict. A two-state solution aims for peace, including an end to the occupation. The government is clear on this position, and in the foreign policy declaration, it is mentioned, among other things, that Israel must address the unacceptable settler violence in the West Bank and cease the expansion of new settlements. This has been conveyed by both I and the Foreign Minister to our Israeli counterparts on a number of occasions, and we raise it in multilateral forums, both jointly with the EU and in our own national capacity.
The Government is convinced that a negotiated two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side is the only sustainable path to long-term peace and, in the long run, also to better economic development for the entire region.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the further answer.
It is good that the Minister stands up for the two-state solution. But the Minister still does not explain why the Israeli occupation is not mentioned in the strategy. It is, after all, absolutely crucial. The occupation hinders all economic development for Palestine. There are many examples of this. Restrictions and revoked work permits have led to nearly half a million jobs being lost in the Palestinian economy since October 7, 2023.
Another decisive factor is the illegal settlers, who often establish themselves in strategic locations where they obstruct Palestinian life, agriculture, and livestock farming. The companion program reports on families who, due to settler violence and harassment, can no longer take their animals out to pasture. Instead, they must keep the animals in pens and purchase feed, which causes them to incur losses and makes it much more expensive.
The settlers' actions are not only a matter of violence but also an obstacle to a future peace solution and to economic development here and now. A prerequisite for all development on the West Bank and in Gaza is that the occupation ends. The Israeli occupation is the fundamental cause.
In the aid strategy, it is emphasized that the bilateral activities in Palestine shall aim for a democratic development and a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with international law. That is good. Therefore, it is incomprehensible that support is being removed for organizations that work precisely for such a development.
UNRWA is completely central in this work. Since 1949, UNRWA has had the UN mandate to assist Palestinian refugees throughout the region. No other organization has the mandate or capacity to replace UNRWA, which has an infrastructure for education, healthcare, and humanitarian assistance that is adapted to the needs of the Palestinian refugees. Sweden should resume support to UNRWA with immediate effect.
Sweden's government has also withdrawn support for a number of important rights organizations in Palestine and Israel. This risks undermining the work on human rights and international law.
Withdrawing aid to rights organizations, as is currently happening, is counterproductive and contradicts both the ambitions in the government's reform agenda and the current aid strategy. In the aid strategy for the Middle East and North Africa, it can be read, for example, that Sida's activities shall contribute to strengthened capacity of human rights defenders, civil society, and media in order to promote democratic development as well as increased respect for human rights and the principles of the rule of law.
The Ecumenical Companion Programme is a programme under the World Council of Churches that has lost its support. They have been on the ground for over 20 years with their international observers from all over the world who come to the West Bank to protect the civilian population, mitigate violence, document human rights violations, and show support for Palestinian and Israeli organisations and individuals working for a peaceful solution to the conflict. Companions have, among other things, walked with Palestinian schoolchildren past military checkpoints on their way to school.
Sida has also withdrawn support for eight Palestinian and Israeli rights organizations that work for democracy, human rights, women's rights, a two-state solution, and a peaceful development. These include, among others, the organizations B’Tselem, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, and several others.
Against what background have the Minister and the Government decided to abolish support to these rights organizations? The Government's reform agenda highlights strong capacity for good governance, democracy and the principles of the rule of law as well as accountability and the promotion of a two-state solution in accordance with international law, precisely the work that those organizations stand for. It is difficult to understand.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! The support for UNRWA was 400 million kronor. That we have now chosen to channel the support to other organizations is a result of Israel's very unfortunate decisions, which complicate and perhaps even make UNRWA's operations impossible. We do not want our money to be stuck in some bank account; instead, it should be out in the field. Therefore, the government also decided to double the previous support of 400 million kronor. It now amounts to a total of 800 million kronor.
Sweden always stands up for international law, which is a cornerstone of our foreign policy. Sweden and the EU have consistently urged all parties to follow international humanitarian law and that the goal must be a two-state solution. The government will continue with this. For the government, it is central that Sweden does what we can so that humanitarian actors can deliver emergency aid on a large scale to the vulnerable civilian population.
It means both to continue to set clear demands for unimpeded humanitarian access and to ensure that our humanitarian partners have the resources to quickly expand the response and maintain the aid over time. Therefore, the government decided in December to allocate 800 million kronor to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the region. In March, a first payment of 300 million kronor was made to support, among other things, efforts for healthcare, sexual and reproductive health and rights, food distribution, as well as protection and emergency housing in Palestine.
Parallel to the development policy and humanitarian efforts, a broad political effort was needed that can lead to a genuine peace process, among other things by addressing the underlying causes of the conflict and contributing to increased trust between Israelis and Palestinians.
All Palestinian groups that wish to play a role in a future government in Palestine must, as the Palestinian Authority has done, distance themselves from violence and terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist and adhere to the agreements that the Palestinian side has entered into with Israel.
Israel must, for its part, stand firm on the two-state solution and cease the settlement policy, which violates international law, undermines the two-state solution and contributes to an elevated level of conflict. We expect both Israel and Palestine to live up to their international commitments and entered agreements.
Israel's actions in occupied territory must be in accordance with international humanitarian law. It is also the responsibility of Israel as the occupying power to provide for the population's humanitarian needs. If the supply is insufficient, the occupying power shall ensure that access is granted for aid from other sources. Together with the EU, we call on Israel to fulfill its obligations, ensure the protection of all civilians and unimpeded humanitarian access, and allow displaced persons to safely return to their homes.
It is central that Israel ensures that all exercise of power in occupied territory is in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! It is a misconception that the money for UNRWA would remain in some bank accounts. That is not true. I met representatives for UNRWA at the beginning of the week, and they could confirm that the money reaches out. The government must rethink and resume the invaluable support to the UN agency UNRWA. No other organization has the mandate or capacity to replace UNRWA. They are completely indispensable.
Also resume the support to Palestinian and Israeli rights organizations that work for peace, freedom, human rights and democracy! And resume the support to the important Ecumenical Companion Program! Ensure that the strategy is revised, and write in that the Israeli occupation is the single greatest obstacle to peace, freedom, increased democracy and sustainable economic development in Palestine!
But to achieve a solution to the long-standing conflict, first and foremost a permanent ceasefire must be established. Furthermore, the occupation of Palestine must end, the illegal settlements must be withdrawn, and Israel's aggression must cease completely.
It is obvious that words are not enough to get Israel's government to listen. The rest of the world must put pressure on Israel through sanctions. Sweden could play an important role here, if the political will existed.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! Since the new MENA strategy partially contains new goals for development cooperation with Palestine, Sida has had to phase out certain supports to create space for new interventions in line with the new strategy goals. We want to see an increased focus on support for reforms for growth and entrepreneurship that can lift the Palestinian people out of poverty and deliver growing prosperity to the entire region.
I also want to emphasize that Sweden, even with these reprioritizations, continues to be a donor to Israeli and Palestinian civil society even under the new strategy. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace and security and have an equal right to enjoy their human rights. This is a central issue that the government will continue to engage in together with the EU, the UN, and regional actors. We will continue to have very extensive financial and economic support to many organizations that work for exactly this.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.