Remarks by Consul General Rubinstein at The Second Mayors’ Roundtable in Jericho

November 23, 2010

Your Excellency, Dr. Kawasmi, Minister of Local Government, Mr. Ghneim, Deputy Minister of Local Government, honorable mayors, our colleagues from CHF and USAID, dear friends, good morning.

First, I want to thank Minister Kawasmi for inviting me, and I especially want to thank all of the mayors who have travelled from all over the Palestinian territories -including the six that are here from Gaza for this important roundtable discussion.

There is much to discuss and a year’s worth of success to be proud of.  As Secretary Clinton noted a few weeks ago in her address to the American Task Force on Palestine, “The pace of reform accelerated this year.  The streets are safer, courts are handling more cases, taxes are being collected more efficiently. In the first half of this year, revenues were 50 percent higher than in the same period in 2009.”

In municipalities all over the West Bank, local governments in Palestinian communities are delivering services and furthering economic growth.  You have initiated the construction of nine service centers this quarter and completed the construction of 56 community infrastructure buildings.  These projects alone have benefited over half a million Palestinian citizens.

An even greater number are benefiting from the improved business climate your local governments have been promoting.  Hundreds of new companies have registered in the West Bank – everything from venture capital funds to local hardware stores.  As a result, more and more Palestinians are finding jobs.  Tourists and business men and women are arriving every day to take advantage of the improved security and economic climate.  You have played a major part in making these important things happen.

While progress at the national level continues to gain momentum under Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s two-year plan, I want to highlight how critical your success has been to helping the Palestinian Authority move forward to build a new reality.  Services provided by the central government are important; however, the services provided at the municipal level are often more visible to the average Palestinian citizen.  These are services required on a daily basis, and both the municipalities and the Palestinian Authority will be judged by how well these services are delivered.

As the famous American politician Tip O’Neil used to say, “All politics is local.”  The local level of political representation – mayors such as you and other officials – presents the face of government to the people every day.  You are the level of government that can respond most immediately and effectively to the demands of the people for the services that mean the most to them.

Enabling citizens to actively participate in decision-making that affects their daily lives is true democracy in action. You have made progress in delivering critical services and providing opportunities for your citizens to participate in the municipal planning process.  You deserve to be congratulated for this.

But for the Palestinian territories to become a viable, independent, and democratic state, local governance needs to be constantly reinforced.  It is at the local level that people feel capable and empowered to participate in their own government.  Around the world, including the United States, we find examples of national leaders, including President Barack Obama, who first found their voices and demonstrated leadership in their own communities, serving as community activists or serving on school boards, town councils, and other local representational bodies, and then went on to elected office at local, state, and national levels.  As I look around this room, I am fully confident that a new generation of Palestinian leaders is preparing to follow the same path.

I commend you all for the strides you have made over the past year in implementing participatory planning mechanisms in your cities and towns that encourage citizen engagement in local government and help you to respond better to the needs of your constituency.  Your advancements in strategic planning and forward thinking for your cities and towns are a model for the entire region.

The United States Government continues to support the advancement of a free, independent, democratic Palestine that can live in peace and security with Israel and all of its neighbors.

You are on the forefront of making this vision become a reality.

Thank you again for inviting me to join you all here today.  I look forward to getting to know each of you better in the coming years, and I wish you strength, patience, and tenacity as you go forward to improve local government in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and make it more meaningful and responsive to the Palestinian people.