Bryan Berkett worked for me at Spirit of America, and then left to move back to New York City. A Jewish kid from Beverly Hills, he worked with a Palestinian friend from college to start Shurush, which started as an ad-hoc charity giving out microfinance loans to Palestinians.
I’m an immense believer in microfinance. The “Grameen Bank” type solutions have been shown to work, and the dense social webs that they use and build on not only build economies, but societies as well.
They are working to build a real endowment and take their organization to the next level of stability.
So they are looking for donors, large and small.
A Palestine occupied with entrepreneurial activity would be one that would have very little patience for terrorism. And Palestinians who were personally involved in making their lives better are unlikely to lash out in psychotic rage.
I’m a supporter of Shurush – which means ‘roots’ both in Hebrew and Arabic. If you sent them a few bucks today, that would be good news, too.
A Palestine occupied with entrepreneurial activity would be one that would have very little patience for terrorism. And Palestinians who were personally involved in making their lives better are unlikely to lash out in psychotic rage.
Sounds great. In theory.
But since it doesn’t take into account the true goals of the sundry Palestinian (elected, and non-elected) leadership, and the obstruction that will persist until those goals are met, it’s just another (dangerously?) naive, if well-meaning, maneuver.
On the other hand, it will, one hopes, alleviate Palestinian suffering. After all, why should Palestinians suffer just because they are engaged in a campaign to eliminate Israel?