PAKISTAN

SOCIETY: CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD?

Umar Bacha Published 

November 26, 2023 

These young children spend whatever time off they get collecting firewood to sell at a market in Dara Manaf Khel | Photos by the writer


We are on the way to Shalkho, a tourist destination in Alpuri tehsil in Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when we come across Nazia Feroz, 9, carrying a bAundle of firewood on her head. She is walking with five other children from the mountainous Shalkho jungle in Dara Manaf Khel.

We meet them on a Sunday, their day off from school, but these children are working, bringing firewood from the mountainous jungle to sell at a local market to make ends meet.

Nazia’s father, Feroz Khan, has been bedridden for the last three years due to a pulmonary illness. Nazia and her two siblings are enrolled in the government primary school in Dara Manaf Khel but, after school, and over the weekend, they bring firewood to sell in the Kuz Alpuri bazaar. They also use the firewood as fuel to burn in their home.

“My father used to work for years as a coal miner in Hyderabad, Sindh, where he became ill and was diagnosed with black lungs,” says Nazia, adjusting her scarf after placing the bundle of firewood on the path

Many children in impoverished Shangla district have to work to support their families, where all adult males have either moved out to other areas to work in coal mines or returned seriously ill

Every Sunday, they go to the Shalkho jungle with a group of her relatives, mostly school students, and bring firewood and sell each bundle for Rs 250. From their earnings, they buy food and other essentials on their way back home.

Nazia is a third grade student at the sole primary school for the 4,000 residents of village council Manaf Khel. A local school teacher claims that 90 percent of the men of the village work as coal miners in different provinces. The Shangla Coal Mine Workers Rights Association, however, estimates that figure as 70 percent. It claims, every year, around 50 men die and more are crippled or injured due to pulmonary diseases.

Coal miners face grave risks in this field of work. Aside from lung diseases caused by inhaling coal soot, debilitating injuries, such as to the spine, are common. And then there’s the constant risk of death on the job.

Nine labourers were killed and four injured in a explosion at a coal mine in December 2022 in Orakzai tribal region of Doli, a few hundred kilometres south of Shangla district. Two years earlier, three miners from Shangla were killed and 10 injured at an explosion in a coal mine in the Boya area of Orakzai. Mine accidents are reportedly common due to the build up of flammable gases.

Government officials regularly promise to look into coal miners’ issues, including reviewing proper working conditions at coal mines and whether, for example, they receive safety equipment while working. However, nothing substantial comes of their statements.

Because of the extreme poverty in Shangla district, the locals, particularly young men, prefer to work as coal miners, because they usually have links to some relatives already employed in the profession, however risky it is.

Salih Khan, the head teacher at the aforementioned government primary school, says that, as soon as winter vacations are announced, most middle, high and college students leave for coal mining work in other areas and remain there until school resumes.

Replying to a question regarding his students collecting firewood after school and on weekends, Khan says it is common, as these children grow up under great hardship. They do this work to be able to run their homes and buy school stationery, because most of their fathers are away working in coal mines.

Nazirullah is one of the children among the group we meet, carrying a bundle of heavy firewood; he looks at us curiously. Where are you from, he asks us in Pashto.

Nazirullah is in the first grade and his elder brother, Zaibullah, in the fourth. Both boys carry heavy bundles of firewood to their home and tell us they dream of becoming doctors and serving the poor villagers of their area.

Nazirullah, dressed in his blue school sweater and wearing a shawl on his head as a turban tells us about his father Gul Baz, who works as a coal miner somewhere in Punjab. They have no one else in the house to help them bring firewood they can use for cooking or heating their homes, he informs us.

Before Nazirullah can complete his sentence, however, his brother interrupts and says it is the season for collecting firewood and they have to collect as much as possible to store before snowfall, because they will not be able to walk in harsh weather.

“We get tired and fall ill carrying firewood and then food from the bazaars on our shoulders,” says Nazirullah, saying they have to walk for hours through harsh and narrow terrains. “But we can’t say anything to our mother, as we know we have to do this to make a living.”

Every child we meet has a similar story of hardship.

Shabirullah, a fifth grade student, tells Eos he is the only boy at home and has to deal with such challenges, as all the males in his family older than 15 years are away. He says that, after passing middle school or Matric, boys from the village leave for work because of poverty and a lack of work opportunities in Shangla.

The children’s head-teacher, Salih Khan, tells us the student body at the government school is 433 and, along with himself, there are seven teachers in total. The village has three police constables for the village council of 4,000 people; the rest of the adult men have moved out for work.

Dara Manaf Khel is a village council of the district headquarters, the Alpuri Union Council, but has no girls’ primary school. So the 157 girls of Dara Manaf Khel are also enrolled in the boys’ school.

Khan says 50 percent of his students work to collect firewood and other chores usually done by adults, adding that their young lives are filled with miseries and hardship. He admits the kids are weak in their studies because of the hardships they face, which makes it difficult for them to focus on their schoolwork, for example.

He adds that their mental wellbeing has also been affected by these challenges, especially if you compare them to students from cities, who get to focus on their studies during their weekends and holidays. Those students can also participate in extracurricular activities.

Meanwhile, these children, who want a better education, cannot avail of additional tuition even during their winter vacation, because they cannot afford it. Although many aspire to graduate, they do not go beyond middle school, as they have to begin working to support their fathers.

Abid Yar, the spokesperson of Shangla Coal Mine Workers Rights Association, tells Eos that every coal miner’s child faces these challenges, but the number of orphans is also very high in the district; they are more vulnerable and face tougher challenges.

Abid Yar says they have been demanding a ‘Working Folks Grammar School’ in Shangla, as set up in other districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the first government of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. But this has not happened yet. Neither have authorities initiated any scholarship programme for children of coal miners or even initiatives for their welfare, though the government makes massive revenue from coal, he says.

It seems the welfare and future of these poor children is as much a priority for governments as Shangla is removed from the corridors of power.

The writer is Dawn’s correspondent
in Shangla. X: @umar_shangla

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 26th, 2023

ZIONISM, IMPERIALISM AND THE PALESTINE ‘QUESTION’

The history of the Palestinian people’s subjugation at the hands of Israel stretches back decades.


Qasim A. Moini 

DAWN

Published November 26, 2023 

The constant barrage of bloody, violent images emanating from Gaza are mind-numbing. In particular, the pictures of dazed minors and tiny bodies wrapped in shrouds have shaken people across the world — all except Israel’s staunchest supporters in numerous Western capitals, and the potentates and strongmen of the ‘ummah’.

The latest assault on Gaza has highlighted the plight and victimhood of the Palestinian people, and the righteousness of their cause, while exposing the unmitigated brutality the Israeli state unleashes against the most defenceless and vulnerable of populations.

As various commentators have noted, the conflict — and the decades-old suffering of the Palestinian people — did not begin on October 7, with the Hamas attack on Israel. This sorry tale of subjugation, violence and humiliation goes back over a century.

To understand what the ‘Palestine question’ is all about, we must examine the history of the area from the beginning of the 20th century, which can help explain and put in context the grave injustice the Palestinians have been subjected to for over a 100 years, as well as the Zionist appetite for expansion and destruction, and the slavish Western support for Tel Aviv’s unforgivable actions against innocent civilians.

As per Zionism — Israel’s founding ideology — Israel, as it is known today, is the biblical ‘Promised Land’ of the Jewish people, a land that was reclaimed by the Jews after 2,000 years in 1948 (after displacing the Palestinians). However, the focus of this write-up is not the theological arguments for or against Israel — that is a different subject altogether — but instead the historical and geopolitical developments of this region over the last 100 years.

While many in the Western world are painting the tragedy unfolding in Gaza as a consequence of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the history of the Palestinian people’s subjugation at the hands of Israel stretches back decades

A dispassionate analysis along these lines will only strengthen the view that the native population of Palestine was dispossessed of their land thanks to colonial intrigue and Zionist brutality, and that the Jews of Europe built a homeland in Palestine in a land that was not theirs.

Furthermore, the evidence points to the fact that empire, the heirs of empire and the Zionists have formed an unbreakable bond going back a century, which explains the callousness of Western states, particular the US and European nations, which have stood by Israel like a rock, even as it has butchered over 5,500 Palestinian children in just six weeks.

A map of Palestine that was published in 1947, a year before the Nakba| National Geographic Magazine



THE GENESIS OF A CONFRONTATION

Perhaps the genesis of the Palestine question can be traced to World War I and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. The Sublime Porte, once a force to be reckoned with across Asia, Africa and Europe, was now in a terminal phase, uncharitably dubbed the ‘Sick man of Europe’, as Europe’s colonial powers sought to divvy up the remnants of the Sultan’s empire.

Adhering to the dictum of divide et impera — divide and rule — the British urged Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Makkah and ruler of Hijaz (whose descendants today rule Jordan), to rise up against the Ottomans. What transformed into the Arab Revolt served as a deathblow to Ottoman rule over Arab lands, which would be instrumental in the British occupation of Ottoman Palestine, and the creation of Israel three decades later.

While the British were promising the Arabs lands of their own to rule, they were also assuring Europe’s Jews that Palestine was theirs for the taking, never mind the fact that Britain had no locus standi — it was giving away land it would soon occupy, land that did not belong to it.

In the infamous Balfour Declaration of November 1917, Arthur James Balfour, then British foreign secretary and a former prime minister, told Lord Walter Rothschild, a prominent British Zionist, that, “His Majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this objective”, while adding the quid pro quo that nothing would be done to prejudice the rights of “existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”

These few lines would change the course of history, and spell the beginning of the long Palestinian nightmare that continues till this day, and which the people of Gaza are living through.

Arab villagers fleeing from an unidentified area in the Galilee region in October 1948 | Reuters


CAPTURING JERUSALEM

Just a month after the Balfour Declaration, Jerusalem would fall out of Ottoman hands, and into British control. Upon entering the holy city, Edmund Allenby, the victorious British general, is reported to have said: “The wars of the Crusades are now complete.”

In an interesting and somewhat related anecdote, when French general Henri Gouraud occupied Damascus in 1920, he reportedly went to Salahuddin Ayyubi’s tomb and remarked “Saladin, we have returned.”

The fall of Ottoman Palestine would result in the formation of Mandatory Palestine, a British-occupied territory under the League of Nations that saw increased Jewish immigration from Europe, aided by the rise of fascism in that continent. However, relations between the native Arabs and the new arrivals were fraught.

As Ahad Ha’am, himself a Zionist, observed of his compatriots, “They treat the Arabs with hostility and cruelty, deprive them of their rights, offend them without cause and even boast of these deeds.” Things would only get worse, as the Zionists, and later Israelis, would do much worse to the Arabs, as the pummelling of Gaza has proved.

Former British prime minister Arthur Balfour (centre) and the first president of Israel Chaim Weizmann (third from the right) visiting Tel Aviv in 1925 | AFP

AN IMPERIAL OUTPOST

While many of Europe’s elites sought to encourage Jews to immigrate to Palestine so that they could ‘cleanse’ their countries of the community, the Zionists also offered their services to empire in return for support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

For example, Chaim Weizmann, who would later become the first president of Israel, had said in 1914: “… Should Palestine fall within the British sphere of influence, and should Britain encourage a Jewish settlement there, as a British dependency, we could have in 20 to 30 years a million Jews out there — perhaps more; they would … form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal.”

Indeed, Weizmann’s words would prove to be prophetic, as his political descendants lived up to their end of the bargain, by eagerly participating in the Suez War of 1956.

By the end of World War II, Jewish immigration to Palestine had increased considerably, as had tensions between the Arabs and the Jews. The British Empire, weakened by two world wars, decided to wash its hands of the Palestine question and ended the Mandate in 1948 after the matter had gone to the United Nations (UN), and the global body had called for a partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.

The Arabs rejected the plan, while the Jews declared independence, leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Barefoot and pushing their belongings in prams and carts, Arab families leave the coastal town of Jaffa, which became part of the greater Tel Aviv area in the state of Israel | United Nations

ISREALI EXPANSIONISM

‘Greater Israel’ is often dismissed as a concoction of conspiracy theorists and YouTube cranks. Yet the fact is that expansionism, and the occupation of other people’s land, is contained within political Zionism’s DNA.

Theodor Herzl, the father of political Zionism, in his diaries had written that Israel’s boundaries should stretch “from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates”, while other Zionist thinkers had also dreamt of including parts of Lebanon, Syria and Transjordan. Certainly, Zionism’s heirs in modern Israel have faithfully stuck to the vision of their elders, whether it is through the establishment of settlements in the occupied territories, considered illegal by the international community, or the continued occupation of Syrian (the Golan Heights) and Lebanese (Shebaa Farms) territory.

Through the various Arab-Israeli conflicts since the establishment of Israel, Tel Aviv has sought to extend its territory through occupation. For example, in the 1948 Nakba (literally ‘Catastrophe’, but meaning the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians) that came with the establishment of Israel, the Zionist state is said to have occupied 80 percent of the territory that was supposed to be divided up between both sides by the UN partition plan.

An Israeli military vehicle driving towards the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on June 7, 1967 | AFP

In 1956, when Gamal Abdel Nasser dared to nationalise the Suez Canal, the UK, France and Israel ganged up to attack Egypt. Just over a decade later, in the 1967 War, Israel would occupy Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Sinai from Egypt, as well as Golan from Syria. In 1982, it invaded Lebanon, an occupation that would be ended by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in 2000, as the Israelis vacated South Lebanon.

As is illustrated by the aforementioned facts, Israel has a voracious appetite for other people’s land, and has often been aided in its forays by its Western friends. Until the Suez War of 1956, it was principally the UK which was Israel’s chief patron, while France helped Tel Aviv with its clandestine nuclear programme.

But after Suez, America, the heir to the European empires of the old world and the new global hegemon, would be Israel’s principal foreign benefactor, providing tens of billions of dollars in aid to Tel Aviv, and a staunch diplomatic defence of Israel at all global fora.

Israeli soldiers bring back a portrait of Gamal Abdel Nasser as a souvenir after their invasion of Egypt and Gaza in 1956 | AFP

THE BACKING OF THE WEST

It was not always like this. The Dwight D. Eisenhower administration of the US had actually sponsored a UN resolution denouncing the tripartite attack on Egypt. But perhaps due to Cold War calculus, and the increasing power of the pro-Israel lobby and Christian evangelicals in the US, from the 1967 war onwards, US defence of Israel was “iron-clad”. In fact, in the 1973 War, the US rushed men and weapons there to ensure Israel survived the Arab blitz.

This “iron-clad” support has manifested itself even as Israel has mercilessly butchered over 13,000 Palestinians since October 7. Following the Hamas attack, European and American leaders made a beeline for Israel, warmly embracing Benjamin Netanyahu and assuring the Israelis that ‘we’ stand with ‘you’ against ‘them’.

Palestinians surrender to Israeli soldiers in June 1967 in the West Bank | AFP

This theatre of the absurd continued even as hundreds of thousands of people marched in Washington, London and Paris calling for stopping the butchery of civilians. Here, in the reaction of the Western political elite, the pieces of the 100-year-old puzzle seemed to come together, as the Western elite’s unconditional love of Israel, and contempt for the Palestinians, manifested themselves very clearly.

Israel was birthed and nursed by empire. It has been supported and defended by the successors of empire. Of course, this was a two-way affair, as Israel had also provided valuable services to empire, as its loyal outpost in the Middle East. Therefore, after the dust settles, it would be folly of the highest order to expect the West to offer lasting and judicious solutions to the Palestine solution.

If anything, an equitable solution — acceptable to the Palestinian people, all of them, not just the ruling clique in Ramallah — is likely to emerge from the ascendant Global South, members of which have themselves been victims of empire. There is far too much historical baggage that the Western states are unable to shed where Israel is concerned, and this has been proved throughout the Gaza massacre.

Palestinian girls returning home from school pass a line of Arab men being frisked by Israeli soldiers in Gaza in 1986 | Reuters


Looking back at history, British historian Arnold J. Toynbee’s sharp and succinct analysis of the Palestine question in 1968 offers clues for a possible solution:

“If Palestine had remained under Ottoman Turkish rule, or if it had become an independent Arab state in 1918, Jewish immigrants would never have been admitted into Palestine in large enough numbers to enable them to overwhelm the Palestinian Arabs in this Arab people’s own country.”

History cannot be rewritten. Yet we can learn from it, if we choose to. An unfair and unjust normalisation will not end the Palestinians’ suffering, nor will the brutal violence targeted at Arab men, women and children dull their appetite for freedom and basic dignity.

Only justice for generations of Palestinians will help bring peace to this tortured land.

Header image: The aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp in Northern Gaza | AP

The writer is a member of staff

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 26th, 2023

Amid the crisis in Gaza, people are calling for boycotting ‘Israeli’ goods. But do they work?

Empty restaurants or products being taken off shelves should not be seen as the end goal of boycotts.

Mahira Sarfraz 

Published November 27, 2023 

Recently, McDonalds Pakistan found itself in the line of fire when the fast food chain’s Israeli franchise announced it was giving away thousands of free meals to the Israeli army, stirring debate on whether certain brands are culpable for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.







The BDS — Boycott, Divest, and Sanction — movement is inherently a non-violent movement that calls for the boycott of corporations “complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.” One such example is that of Hewlett-Packard (HP), which has been accused of aiding Israel’s surveillance of dissidents and Palestinians in general through a biometric ID system. The BDS is a tactic more so than an organisation and “works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law”.

Of late, the BDS movement has been gaining traction in countries like Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt due to the support of the Palestinian cause among citizens.

Consumers in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Malaysia and Pakistan, among others, have spurned brands that are allegedly complicit in the oppression of Palestinians. In Pakistan, there have been calls to boycott various brands such as Dominos, Carrefour, McDonalds, Coca Cola and PepsiCo on social media.

Boycott Mcdonald’s poster.— photo courtesy Palestine info centre/X

Certain retail stores, like the Imtiaz superstore chain in Karachi, have actively taken what were believed to be Israeli products or products by companies linked to Israeli conglomerates off their shelves. Local restaurant chain Kababjees took beverages such as Pepsi and Coca Cola off its menu. Celebrities like Ushna Shah and Usman Khalid Butt have been increasingly vocal about the crisis and the importance of boycotting products that have been identified by the BDS movement.






Why are boycotts used?

The idea of boycotting as an act of activism stems from the efficacy of such tactics during the South African apartheid regime, where sanctions were employed until it led to its eventual downfall. What is important to note here is that South African exports were consumer-oriented and could be substituted.

Boycotts have been a popular choice when it comes to getting a state or a corporation to change their stance. The second case of boycotts used in the Muslim world was in 2005 when a Danish newspaper decided to publish a controversial cartoon, prompting a global boycott of the Danish brand ‘Arla’ by Muslim countries. Although ineffective on the newspaper itself, it did take Arla two years to rebuild its image in Muslim countries.

According to Harvard Business Review, for boycotts to be effective, they must fulfil these four factors:Customers care passionately
The cost of participation is low
The issues are easy to understand
Mass media is correctly utilised
Are boycotts really effective?

Even if these factors are met in the current scenario, one should not expect boycotts to hurt Israel’s economy or change its stance directly— when it has already displayed its readiness to weather such pressure time and again. This is primarily because Israel’s economy relies on its technological exports more so than consumer goods. According to Brookings Institute, the Israeli economy is less vulnerable to boycotts today than it was at the beginning of the regime. What this means is that Israeli exports are highly differentiated and not as consumer-oriented as one might think. In short, Israeli products are difficult to be replaced.

Per Dr Akbar Zaidi, political economist and executive director at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), “Israel is a major exporter of software, spyware, drones and military ammunition. No country that buys from them will boycott them, they will vote against them in the United Nations General Assembly but they won’t ever boycott them.”

“Money and war go hand in hand, where there’s war, there’s money to be made.” He cited the example of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the fact that Russia was able to withstand sanctions given Europe’s reliance on its gas. “Money is the most powerful ideology. People compromise whatever faith or belief they have when it comes to money,” Dr Zaidi added.

The recent Russia-Ukraine war is one such example of why boycotts have an indirect impact rather than a direct one. During the initial stages of the Russian invasion, companies such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, BP and Shell pulled out or temporarily put a halt to their operations in Russia. However, Russia was able to sustain its invasion.

Via Friends of Al-Aqsa website


But there is another side to this. Even if boycotts do not pose a direct threat to the state’s economy or a company’s sales, they still communicate discontent among stakeholders, and investors may see this discontent as a threat to a firm’s standing.

David Vogel, in his book, ‘The Market for Virtue’, notes that the satisfaction of labour and consumers is crucial to uphold successful production and distribution practices. When either one of these becomes unhappy with the services of or their treatment by the firm, resource flows may be disturbed. These issues are likely to have more weight than others.

Another study published in the Academic Management Review argued that certain corporations may be more vulnerable to boycott influence because they do not have other information to offer investors that would ease concerns about the financial health of a company. The image of a business is a crucial indicator — if tarnished, it can adversely impact investor confidence.

The other argument is that the threat posed by movements to a company’s finances is indirect; it is through reputation and opinion of consumers. For example, researchers Bartley and Child found that corporations boycotted by anti-sweatshop protesters were more likely to receive concerned ratings from MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International), which in turn diminished financial returns.

Boycotts are effective in other ways, according to Brayden King, an IPR associate. He finds that while boycotts rarely hurt profits, they can damage a company’s name, especially by generating negative media attention which can ultimately lead to changes in corporate policies.

In the past, the BDS movement has effectively divested pension funds in Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Norway from Israel.

In 2018, Adidas stated that it would no longer be supporting the Isreali Football Association(IFA), following an international boycott and a petition of over 16,000 signatures. BDS demands on Puma to follow the same trajectory.

However, King cautions that due to short attention spans, the momentum is often short-lived. There is still no long-term impact on a company’s revenues.

Dr Huma Baqai, professor and rector of the Millennium Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship (Mite), speaking to Dawn.com said, “I completely understand the desire for people to do something, because in the present situation, the powerful international community and international organisations that are responsible for humanitarian law and human rights — acting the way they are — there is discontent across the globe.”

She added, however, “From a purely statistical point of view, grand boycotts appear to exert minimal influence on the target nation’s economy or conflict behaviour.”

“So a judgement call is: yes, the boycott makes you feel good, but I don’t see it impacting Israel’s economy or conflict behaviour.”

She asserted that even though the efforts may be a drop in the ocean, the fact that the streets are so alive against Israel’s incursion of Gaza, it can’t entirely be in vain.

Boycotts are useful when they are sustained and enough media coverage is given. Most large firms tend to lie low during such boycotts. Moreover, the reasons for why certain boycotts may not be as effective today is that corporations today have an intricate structure which is shrouded from the public eye. Consumers get confused about what to boycott, what company is complicit with Israel, and who exactly benefits from their money.

Regarding the structure of multinational corporations, Dr Zaidi explained it has become difficult to identify ownership of corporate structure now, unless they say they are an Israeli company. Today, anyone can be a shareholder of a company. So the notion of ownership and eventual culpability in capital is now a very grey area; it is difficult to determine.
Do boycotts hurt the local economy?

So should Pakistanis boycott goods and products by companies that are believed to be somewhat linked to Israel? According to Dr Zaidi, Pakistanis can boycott to their own disadvantage since such companies not only provide employment but also are the largest tax contributing sector to the economy.

Dr Adil Nakhoda, an economist and associate professor at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), who frequently comments on Pakistan’s economy, agreed with Dr Zaidi, stating that expecting massive economic disruptions to various stakeholders may be far-fetched for a small economy like Pakistan, without analysing the whole chain of ownership and investors and the impact on them.

“The targeted stakeholders may not feel the financial impact as intended; rather boycotts may hamper economic activity and reduce the current demand of goods in Pakistan.”

Another argument put forth by those in favour of boycotts is that if one were to use local products, it would even help the economy. Dr Nakhoda disagrees, arguing that local products by and large lack the quality due to the non-existent certification and standards regimes involved in production.

Moreover, multinational chains also buy local and therefore, local industries are affected. One example is of McDonalds fries which are a specific type. In order to not import, they went ahead and developed that technology in Pakistan.

Dr Nakhoda highlighted that Pakistan already has import restrictions in place that should encourage local producers. However, such restrictions have often failed to create local alternatives to cater for the needs of the population.

Dr Baqai too noted that boycotts in Pakistan can be a double-edged sword as with other Muslim countries such as Turkey. “In our economies, this investment means employment. It also means options, choices, and alternatives in the market. Can we really afford to lose them? There has been an effort to come up with counter products, but we all know that is kind of a compromised way forward.”

As far as boycotts go in Pakistan, Dr Akbar Zaidi noted that they are rather like gimmicks, which work for a short while. He gave the example of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who have not outright banned anything that comes or goes to Israel. They have made a lot of noise about it but nothing ever happens.

To note, the conflict has been ongoing for the past 75 years, it only receives occasional attention. He pointed out that countries bought Israeli products before and they will buy Israeli products once there is a ceasefire — which there will be eventually.

“I don’t think this has any impact except on social media,” said Dr Zaidi. “They are making a point but it will last a really short time.”

Dr Zaidi’s point about the short attention span of such movements is reflected in the search entries from Pakistan about these products. The graphs show how interest in these products suddenly spiked on Google Search entries from Pakistan — as people sought to know more about them — and then tapered off, soon after.


Interest over time in the term “McDonalds” in Pakistan via Google Analytics




Interest over time in the word “Coca Cola” in Pakistan via Google Analytics




Interest over time in the word “Pepsi” in Pakistan via Google Analytics



When it comes to Pakistani boycotts making a difference, Dr Zaidi minced no words: “We are nothing in this world, we don’t even have self-importance. We are a nation that has completely decimated and crashed in its potential and in its economy.

“We beg and borrow from Saudi Arabia every day — and from the IMF — we don’t have any standing, we have no sovereignty, we have no freedom, we have no independence. We should not talk about things we can’t do, we can’t challenge even Afghanistan, let alone Saudi Arabia or Israel.”

Dr Zaidi was of the opinion that it is very important to show solidarity but it is ineffective. Protests do not have a massive impact because different governments have their own agendas.

States that could have had an impact — such as the US and Canada — were the ones who voted against a ceasefire. This provides Israel enough leeway to do what it wants to do and to stop whenever it thinks it needs to stop.

As far as the intent behind boycotts, he admitted that “it is good to protest; it shows that there is concern. It shows that there is some odd, weak notion of solidarity. Beyond that, there is nothing.”

The essence of boycotts lies in the fact that they garner sympathy for the cause, they remind people of the cause and that they play into people’s conscious. And perhaps public opinion may get politicians and corporations to react if it is sustained and collective enough and it is not just for a moment of people hopping onto the social media bandwagon.

Boycotts work when they are sustained and enough coverage is given to them. Most large firms tend to “wait out” such boycotts. Moreover, one should also bear in mind that Israel has over the years mastered the art of navigating restrictions placed by the Muslim world.

To rejoice at empty restaurants or products being taken off shelves would, therefore, be ill-advised. Hampering economic activity in one’s own country should not be seen as the end goal of boycotts, keeping in mind Pakistan’s own economic standing. The end goal of boycotts should be to raise awareness about the growing crisis in the Middle-East.

As people become more aware of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza globally, civil voices against Israel’s actions grow stronger but the momentum should be sustained and it shouldn’t just be companies that are held accountable.

Palestinian-American model Gigi Hadid says Israel sees any Palestinian as a ‘terrorist’

Hadid slammed Israel for being the only country in the world that keeps children as prisoners of war.

Images Staff
25 Nov, 2023

Palestinian-American model Gigi Hadid has again raised her voice, drawing attention to the ongoing Israeli atrocities in her homeland of Palestine and emphasising that these injustices began long before October 7.

Hadid, whose father is a Palestinian, shared a series of stories on Instagram calling out Israel. “Israel is the only country in the world that keeps children as prisoners of war. Abduction, rape, humiliation, torture, murder of Palestinians years and years and years before October 7 2023,“she said, sharing a picture of Ahmed Almanasra, a 20-year-old who was part of the 39 women and children who have been released from Israeli jails as a part of a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas. Almanasra was only 12 years old when Israeli authorities detained him.






In another post, Hadid shared a touching video of a young Palestinian boy happy about the four-day truce. The boy appreciated the quiet sky over Gaza without warplanes and hoped the truce would last beyond the four days. Hadid commented, “Every child deserves peaceful, joyful days—no matter where they were born.”






“Israel sees any Palestinian as a ‘terrorist,’ anyone supporting Palestinian rights as an ‘antisemite,’ and any Jew opposing the government’s action as ‘self-hating’ — even telling them to denounce their Judaism,” she said, referring to a Sky News interview with Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK.

“So everyone’s lying and wrong, except Israel?!!” Hadid wrote, adding “If it was not so evil and disturbing, it would be comedic.”






Hadid and her family have been very vocal in their support for the Palestinian cause.

Arab states, EU agree on need for two-state solution

Reuters Published November 28, 2023

US actress Cynthia Nixon (centre), accompanied by state legislators and activists, launches a hunger strike calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, in front of the White House in Washington, on Monday.—AFP

BARCELONA: Arab states and the European Union agreed at a meeting in Spain on Monday that a two-state solution was the answer to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell saying the Palestinian Authority should rule Gaza.

Borrell said all EU members attending the meeting of Mediterranean nations in Barcelona and almost all attendees had agreed on the need for a two-state solution.


The Palestinian Authority (PA) must hold elections as soon as possible to gain further legitimacy and improve its functioning, as the only “viable solution” to the future leadership of Gaza, currently run by Hamas, he said.







“I believe it is the only viable solution, but it will be viable if the international community backs it. Otherwise, we will see a power vacuum that will be fertile ground for all sorts of violent organisations,” Borrell said at a press conference.

An initial four-day truce has been extended by two days, mediator Qatar said, in the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since the Hamas raid on Oct 7.

Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombing of Gaza and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said any talk of administration of Gaza after the conflict should focus on the West Bank and Gaza as one entity and that the Palestinian people should decide who rules them.







A two-state solution envisages a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al Maliki said the PA, which lost control of Gaza Strip in a 2007 power struggle with Hamas, had no need to return to Gaza, adding: “We have been there all the time, we have 60,000 public workers there.”

They were speaking at the conclusion of a meeting of the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona, a 43-member grouping of European, North African and Middle Eastern countries. Israel did not attend the summit.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke as a representative of a group of ministers from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

“We delivered our message, it’s important that we have a ceasefire immediately, that we build on the current truce that is in place,” he told reporters after the conference.







German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the absence of Israel due to apparent concern over “one-sided hostility” underscored “deep rifts”.

“That is precisely why I am here today, even though these meetings were not previously given a high profile by Germany. Precisely because the rifts are getting deeper, we have to sit together, we have to talk and hear each other out,” she said.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023

Freelance photojournalist’s drone confiscated in Gaza

Dawn Report 

Published November 28, 2023 

Palestinian men set up a structure amid the destruction caused by Israeli strikes in the village of Khuzaa, east of Khan Yunis.—AFP

MOTAZ Azaiza, a freelance photo journalist, alleged that Israeli forces hacked his drone while he was documenting the events in the Gaza Strip. On Monday, during his coverage of the atrocities, he recorded a video showing his drone being seized. This information was shared through his Instagram story.

In a series of Instagram stories, the initial one depicts the drone being pulled towards the Israeli border, with Motaz and his colleague conversing and laughing.



In the second video, Motaz and his colleague Ahmed Al Danaf can be observed pursuing the drone amid a series of completely demolished buildings. In the third video, Ahmed is depicted attempting to trace the drone’s destination, and in the last video, Motaz affirms that his drone has been confiscated by the Israeli forces. “Israeli forces don’t allow drones,” he said in the video.

Motaz has been actively documenting the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza. Additionally, he provided coverage of the Israeli aggression in both 2014 and 2021.

Motaz graduated from Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, which now lies in ruins due to Israeli bombings. Like many other graduates, he struggled to secure a job as a photographer after completing his education. Consequently, he opted to pursue a career as a freelance photojournalist, originally aspiring to showcase the beauty of Gaza — a dream now overshadowed by the continuous Israeli aggression.

“It was a paradise, now it is hell. I desperately dream of the days before, when I documented my people and my land. That’s all I can think about at the moment,” he said.

He has made statements like these on several occasions and he has been constantly trying to show how awful the situation has gotten for Gazans.

His account has pictures of Gaza that were taken before Israel took over and it is a combination of colours and life. He has taken pictures of markets, coffee shops and other beautiful places which are now a painful reminder of what this city used to be.

He recently also uploaded a video of himself, surrounded by kids who smile brightly for the camera. He captioned it, “We teach you life people”.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023

PAKISTAN
Faults found in foreign-funded power projects

Khaleeq Kiani 

DAWN

Published November 28, 2023 

Senate Standing Committee on Power Chairman Saifullah Abro presides over the committee’s meeting at Parliament House, Islamabad on Nov 27. — Senate website

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Monday found fault with the procurement of foreign multilateral-funded projects in the power sector and ordered the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) not to sign a final agreement with a local firm till a conclusion because of suspicious circumstances.

A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Power presided over by Saifullah Abro took up the matter of Nespak on non-implementation of its orders regarding the submission of a re-evaluation report and status for Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded project regarding ACSR Bunting Conductor.

A Nespak team told the panel that the domestic preference given in the financial evaluation was based on the EDB (Engineering Development Board) letter issued in February 2015. It conceded that the clarification should have been sorted out for the usage of the 2015 letter and the evaluation had been done for the year 2022, which was not an appropriate action. The committee was further informed that the said letter was valid for a period of six months.

The committee observed that Newage Cable was given domestic preferences on the basis of an outdated letter, which put the whole procurement process in doubt. The committee after deliberation at length unanimously resolved that the matter should be taken with the ADB and the Nespak in consultation with the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) should send a note to the ADB and inform them of the letter based on which the contractors were technically qualified.

It should be noted that the letter issued in 2015 was valid for only six months, and therefore held no ground as it became infructuous due to a lapse of five years.

The committee, however, deferred the matter with the directions that the Nespak and NTDC should share with it the draft note meant for the ADB within three days. It was also informed that though the ADB had issued a no-objection certificate to Newage Cables, the committee recommended that the agreement should not be signed until the reevaluation process is completed in light of the committee recommendations.

NTDC apology

In the matter of adverse remarks by NTDC and its board of directors against the Senate panel on non-implementation status and non-serious attitude on clear recommendations of the committee, the Power Division officers apologised for the inappropriate letter to the Senate Standing Committee on Power.

The officials further explained that the letter was written by the then NTDC chairman and the board did not approve the draft. The chairman later resigned from his position and the NTDC board members apologised for the previous letter and officially withdrew it.

The committee was told that members of the BoD highly valued the Senate panel’s input on the oversight of the ministries.

The committee also took up the Dasu Hydro Power Station to Islamabad transmission line contract funded by the World Bank. A Turkish company SA-RA Energy which was the second lowest bidder told the committee that the award of the contract to Chinese Sinohydro was not appropriate since it did not have any relevant experience and should have been disqualified.

“There are glitches and major mistakes in the submitted contract documents,” a representative of SA-RA Energy said. The panel was also informed that SA-RA had already held meetings with the NTDC and the Power Division and was ready to take the contract and complete it in time.

The committee was also informed that the matter was sub judice in the court. The committee deliberated at length the irregularities in the Transmission Line Contract of the Dasu Hydro Project and decided that NTDC should be allowed to give their point of view.

The SA-RA representatives said the company had also taken up the matter with the World Bank’s top management and established irregularities in the procurement.

The committee decided unanimously to hold an in-camera meeting soon with all the stakeholders on the issue because of the involvement of external factors.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023

Sachs on Pakistan’s economy
Ashraf Jehangir Qazi

DAWN

Published November 25, 2023

‘Koi khwaab na ho to bataen kya?’ (When no dreams stay what can one say?) — Athar Nafees (sung by Farida Khanum)

ON Nov 21, Dr Jeffrey Sachs, the renowned development economist of Columbia University, addressed the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad. He began by referring to the general “failure of political systems to address people’s needs” and referred to the militarist global policy of the US as a prime example.

He noted US strategic policy was motivated more by “jealousy” towards China than concern for Americans. He observed if there was peace between India and Pakistan, the people of the subcontinent could benefit enormously.

Sachs noted that, according to IMF “diagnostics”, the Pakistan economy appeared “stuck” in low growth and that this year, negative growth was likely. Moreover, “there was no clear prosp­e­­ct of change”. Domestic investment at 14 per cent of GDP last year was “barely enough to co­­ver depreciation.”

The twin disasters of the devastating floods and the Covid pandemic had further exacerbated the situation. China, Pakistan’s gre­at friend and neighbour had, in contrast, sustained a domestic investment rate of 40 to 50pc since Deng Xiaoping’s Opening Up and Reform in 1978! Pakistan was simply “not investing in its future”.

As for school education, an essential ingredient of developing human capital, the situation in Pakistan was just as bad. The School Life Expectancy, ie, the number of years an average child spends in school in Pakistan, was just eight years according to the World Bank.

If technical and vocational education and training are also considered, the situation becomes much worse. Moreover, government revenue, which is the primary source of finance for development and human investments, was a mere 12pc of GDP.

If Pakistan is to achieve the educational and technical standards it absolutely needs to develop its economy, it would spend 83pc of its current government revenue. This would leave practically nothing for everything else.

Pakistan’s economic crisis is as much a political as it is an economic challenge.

Sachs noted that there was no way the private sector would or could make up the gap and the same held true for the healthcare sector — an equally vital ingredient of human development. To make matters still worse, the budget deficit of Pakistan in the fiscal year ending in 2023 was 7pc, contributing to an annual inflation rate of 30pc. In view of such statistics, Sachs bluntly observed, “a significant lifestyle change in Pakistan was required”.

Sachs also noted Pakistan had gone to the IMF for another bailout. And what did the IMF demand? Cut spending! At a time when Pakistan’s spending on critical ingredients of human and economic development was already too low!

In answer to Pakistan’s protests, the IMF command was: Be quiet! Don’t make a crisis! Austerity, Sachs admits, is needed, but it is not a solution. So what is to be done? A national investment plan is needed.

According to Sachs, the Chinese followed the right model, and as a result, have doubled their national income five times, resulting in a 32-fold increase in their GDP since 1978! While Sachs did not expect Pakistan to match China’s performance, he clearly suggested it should try to follow its example, even though “it won’t be easy”. Pakistan had no alternative but to make the attempt.

Where should Pakistan invest? Sachs reiterated his well-known six areas of education, healthcare, energy (decarbonised), sustainable land care use (land reforms), urban renewal (where half the population now resides), and digital transformation (5G is indispensable.) To even begin this odyssey, Pakistan would need to raise its revenue collection to 25 or 30pc of its GDP — essentially doubling its current rate.

This would require a similar raising of the savings rate, including household savings, even from poor households for which the banking system would need to be appropriately redesigned. Pakistan’s national debt at 35pc of GDP was not very high. But it was short-term rather than long-term debt, which created a liquidity problem and deterred international investment.

Accordingly, a debt management strategy was essential in order to attract public and private international lenders. All of the above, Sachs concluded, was difficult but possible. Pakistan’s performance needed to convey its development commitment to the global investment community.

Comment: One of Pakistan’s respected economists noted there was nothing “new or surprising” in what Sachs had said. This was not a criticism. It was a recognition that resolving Pakistan’s economic crisis was as much a political as it was an economic challenge. Textbook economics and IMF panaceas at best provided insufficient and short-term answers.

Other economists said the quality of investments was more important than the quantity of investment and the breaking of international production chains had disrupted Pakistan’s economic policies. There was a view that Sachs’ presentation was “too macro, as the devil lay in the details”.

Another view stressed that a significant percentage of Pakistan’s government revenue was spent in interest payments. As for foreign direct investment in Pakistan, it was observed that it was relatively short-term, the profits of which were repatriated in foreign currency. (In this regard, Sachs said Pakistan had to attract long-term loans and investments from international financial institutions and the global investment community, thereby suggesting the need for radical structural reforms. China is, in fact, the only country that has made long-term investments and granted longer-term loans to Pakistan. This upsets the US and it has, accordingly, put our ruling elites on notice.)

Conclusion: Prof Jeffrey Sach’s presentation was a breath of fresh air. The implications were clear. Pakistan has to first get out of the failing state syndrome before it can hope to respond to the challenges he identified. How will it do so? This can only be answered by actions, mobilisation, movements, organisation, pro-people governance, etc.

Our externally dependent, internally hostile, and fearful power and political elites, however, will never facilitate this. This is the challenge our middle classes have the primary and historic responsibility to confront. Otherwise, Pakistan is history.

The writer is a former ambassador to the US, India and China and head of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan.
ashrafjqazi@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2023

Climate resilience

Editorial 

DAWN

Published November 28, 2023

THE IMF’s advice to Pakistan to use its resources more effectively and efficiently to build a climate-resilient infrastructure and strengthen its ability to attract climate finance is timely. Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change and the authorities are looking for international support to meet their climate finance targets.

Formulating sound public investment policies and aligning them with national climate adaptation and mitigation goals would be a step in the right direction. The Fund wants the next budget to be a “turning point” for planning mechanisms and investment portfolios based on climate adaptation. At the moment, Pakistan’s capital stock and efficiency of public investment are low.

The IMF has underscored the need for improving transparency on climate-related actions in the budget documents by providing information on key aspects of the public investment programme.

It wants the Planning Commission, together with the finance ministry, to come up with a proposal that, after approval, can be included in the next budget, and is encouraging the government to publish its climate-related spending for the ongoing fiscal year.

Pakistan has experienced several climate disasters caused by global warming. The World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Report has estimated that 6.5-9pc of GDP will likely be lost by 2050 to climate change, unless the challenge to lessen the impact of increased floods and heatwaves, which are reducing farm yields, destroying infrastructure and lowering labour productivity, is addressed.

Last year’s devastating floods, which displaced millions of people in the country and wiped out crops and infrastructure worth over $30bn, sharply demonstrate the need for greater investments in climate-resilient infrastructure.

With temperatures rising and unpredictable rainfall patterns increasing the risk of floods, cyclones, droughts and heatwaves, it is imperative our policymakers formulate sound development policies to mitigate the risk.

Transparent investments based on demonstrable needs in climate-resilient infrastructure are crucial to alleviating the impact of climate change and the increasing natural disasters the country is witnessing.

Unfortunately, in spite of significant understanding among policymakers about the threats presented by rapid global warming to economic and financial stability, it is disappointing to find that the country is least prepared to deal with the fallout of climate change.

Pakistan’s people and its economy have suffered massively due to bureaucratic inertia, policy ad-hocism, and a reactionary response to climate disasters. Notwithstanding the official claims, no concerted effort has thus far been made to plan and align public investments with national climate mitigation and adaptation goals.

With Pakistan just one more natural disaster away from yet another human and economic catastrophe, it is critical to ensure climate resilience of the economy through sound climate-related public investment management.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023

PAKISTAN; FUEDALISTIC FEMICIDE
Condemned to die

Editorial 

DAWN

Published November 28, 2023 


ANOTHER day in Kohistan, another jirga-mandated murder of a girl. 

Her ‘crime’: dancing with boys in a video that went viral on social media. The harrowing incident bears a stark resemblance to the 2011 Kohistan case where five women were filmed clapping as a man danced. They were all reportedly murdered with a jirga’s approval. For such grisly crimes to continue more than a decade later raises alarming questions about parallel justice systems and the precarious state of women’s rights in Pakistan. The jirga, an assembly rooted in tribal traditions, operates outside the legal set-up, at times sanctioning murder. The state’s response often fails to make a lasting impact. The filing of an FIR in the recent case is a necessary step, yet is it sufficient to deter future killings? After all, the culprits of the 2011 crimes remain unpunished, while the man who brought the matter to light was gunned down, despite stating that his life was in danger. The plight of women in such scenarios is particularly distressing. Dubbed as ‘honour’ killings, these acts are, in fact, barbaric crimes that rob women of their dignity, agency, and ultimately, their lives. Women — in general, but particularly in these instances — are not seen as individuals with rights and freedoms but as mere bearers of communal honour, vulnerable to the most extreme forms of punishment for perceived transgressions.


The role of social media in exacerbating these situations cannot be overlooked. In an age where content can be rapidly disseminated and manipulated, the need for digital literacy and ethical standards in content sharing is more acute than ever. However, the solution does not lie in restricting digital freedoms but in educating and empowering communities to use these tools responsibly. Most importantly, there is a need for comprehensive reforms to ensure that jirgas, which have been upheld as illegal by the apex court, are replaced by state-sanctioned legal fora that uphold the principles of justice, human rights, and gender equality as enshrined in the Constitution. The state must assert its role in protecting its citizens, especially the most vulnerable, from parallel systems that perpetrate injustice and inequality. Our resolve must be to fight for a society where no individual lives in the shadow of an unjust verdict, and where the dignity and rights of every woman are upheld.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023