Aspen – While legions of Israelis abandoned their homes along the Gaza Strip as Sunday’s pullout deadline loomed, Steve Grand and Toni Verstandig were enjoying fresh mountain air under sunny skies here on the patio of the Aspen Institute’s restaurant, Plato’s.
The gentle weather and casual conversation were a welcome respite from the dizzying pace of the past several months, which has put them at the late Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority compound in Ramallah, in front of Israeli vice premiers and high-level Palestinian negotiators, and in the crossfire of the Middle East peace process.
The Aspen Institute Middle East Strategy Group, which Grand directs and Verstandig advises, on Aug. 6 passed a resolution approving in concept a $225 million loan fund to support businesses in Gaza and the West Bank.
Although Aspen and Gaza seem like worlds away, they are firmly linked through the institute’s fledgling strategy group.
The new initiative is striving to bring sensible solutions to move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward.
Members of the strategy group include former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, U.S. Sens. Chuck Hagel and Diane Feinstein, Queen Noor of Jordan and other distinguished and highly influential officials.
“Aspen has played a very important role in hosting and facilitating for a long period of time,” said Verstandig, the former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs under President Clinton.
The strategy group’s latest call to action is intended to provide cash and guaranteed loans to new small- and middle-sized businesses in war-torn Gaza.
“It’s that middle sector that’s key to the economy,” said Grand, adding that even though Palestinian banks are flush with capital, they typically grant loans to the upper class and are unwilling to take on the political and financial risks associated with the lower and middle classes.
The Aspen Institute loan-fund program would work with commercial banks, microfinance lenders and other businesses to foster economic growth.
Verstandig called the plan “a recognition that the true engine of stability and growth is the private sector.”
The program creates “peace stakeholders,” she said.
The strategy group plans to officially announce the arrival of its loan-fund program in early fall. The program is expected to be active by the end of the year.
The Bush administration has been supportive of the Aspen Institute’s efforts, Verstandig said.
“They’re involved. They’re supportive. Time is very short and we all need to be working in concert,” Verstandig said.
“This initiative has been well received.”
In addition to the loan fund, the strategy group is heavily involved in a number of construction and employment projects in Gaza.
