The Problem of Corruption in Peacemaking

In the 90's I worked for or consulted with many organizations engaged in peacemaking. The first was a group called the International Center for Peace in the Middle East - my first real job in the NGO sector. Like many young people with decent English, I was tasked with helping to write grant applications and reports on how we spent funds already received.

Most of the funding came from American foundations and European governments. Often, the agreement to grant us funds would come as a result of shmoozing done by my boss, but the grant application had to stand up to scrutiny. Donors liked grants that were specific programs, limited in time, with a built in measures that allowed everyone to declare that the project was a success.

For example: we organized a few trips of Israeli and foreign journalists to Gaza. For many of the Israelis, this was the first time they were the guests of Palestinian hosts as well as the first time they were in Gaza. The trip includes a few diplomats and Palestinian officials as well, which made it an excellent relationship building exercise. All in all, a worthwhile effort that could only have been facilitated by a super shmoozer like my boss.

I remember getting instructions on how to fudge the financial reports for the purpose of claiming program funds for the administrative side of the operation. It wasn't entirely clear to me what I was doing until well after I left that place. There is an argument for why it was necessary - so many of the funders only wanted to fund discreet projects, there wasn't an easy way to fund the real and necessary administrative costs.

A few years after I left the ICPME, former Meretz MK Zehava Galon became the executive director. She found out that my boss had been claiming tens of thousands of dollars worth of receipts that were for personal expenses. Sort of like an unofficial raise that might be doubling his take home pay, which was already substantial. In the end, she was 'forced' to file a police complaint against her predecessor, if only to try and salvage the credibility of the organization for future donors.

While working there, the staff gossiped openly about the boss cheating on his wife with the professional contacts that surrounded the organization. Attractive young journalists seeking access and impressed with the heroism and bravery of the peacemakers, junior diplomatic staff, and god knows who else. I even heard from a long time staff person about nights of debauchery, where the boss would entertain Palestinian officials from the PA in Tel-Aviv, which involved serious drinking and the provision of women. I can't say that the officials and the women had sex, only that it was all very unseemly in the eyes of the staff that knew about it. [Thank you foreign donors!]

The Oslo period saw a flowering not only of the purest altruism of the peacemakers, but also business deals between former Army officers who used to run the occupation, and newly empowered thugs carving out empires for themselves within the Palestinian Authority. I was personally witness to peace leaders speaking of Palestinians in the most racist language; the diversion of thousands of dollars of grants from their intended purpose; self dealing; nepotism; projects that took place only on paper; and efforts to ensure that boards of directors of nonprofits never found out what was really being done within the organization.

The funders knew it. In more that one instance, diplomats and employees of funders let me know that they knew. Some of them felt bad - but had to follow political dictates. Others were constantly shifting money around to try and get it to the cleanest groups, only to realize that it was all relative. Finally there was the dilemma that a group that might be utterly corrupt might also be really good at providing some valuable service. Those who worked for embassies, foreign aid organizations and international foundations had a strong incentive to prove after the fact that the recipients of thier largesse were indeed worthy of it.

Why is this important? The Israelis and the Palestinians have moved away from the heady days of Oslo, with majorities on both sides feeling the hope. The newspapers were full of reports from various 'people to people' activities, photo-ops of unlikely pairs mugging for the camera. These activities, or news of them, reached many hundreds of thousands of people on both sides. Turns out, they also heard about the corruption, especially on the Palestinian side. It must have felt like the whole world was trying to buy the Palestinian public with trips to conferences and half time salaries for innumerable 'project coordinators.'

The peace camp, the nonprofits and political groups responsible for managing all that peacemaking need our help at this time. I want them to get more support, I wish for them to succeed where others have failed. Part of that success however, must rest on a critical analysis of what went wrong. There is a cadre of NGO and peacemaking leaders that cannot be deposed in elections, and as time goes by they are better able to position themselves as the most experienced veterans of peacemaking, and so best able to turn large grants into useful activities.

I want to believe. But the truth is still out there.