Palestine/Israeli Conflicts and Negotiations

Michael S. Hahm, Executive Secretary for Justice and Advocacy at the General Board of Global Ministries, reported on Palestinian-Israeli conflicts and negotiations in a historical context. The Oslo Declaration of 1991 was to inaugurate a five-year period of negotiations during which Israel was to withdraw first from the Gaza Strip and Jericho and then from unspecified parts of the West Bank. In return, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was to cooperate in suppressing terrorism. However, not until the 1994 Cairo Agreement was the interim period (expiring in May 1999) actually inaugurated. This agreement also limited the Israeli withdrawal to 65 percent of the Gaza Strip, defined the extent of Jericho, and established the Palestinian Authority as the governing body in the evacuated territories.

A further agreement in 1995, Oslo II, divided the West Bank into three areas: A, B, and C. The Israelis withdrew from (and the Palestinians assumed control of) only Area A, representing 3 percent of the territory. In Area B, accounting for 23 percent of the territory, joint Israeli-Palestinian patrols have maintained internal security. But Area C, consisting of 74 percent of the territory, has remained under full Israeli control. All of the 145 settlements and new Jewish neighborhoods in and around East Jerusalem are in Area C.

From 1992 to 1996, the Israeli government constructed a vast network of bypass roads, providing easy access to the settlements in East Jerusalem. There, the Jewish population grew by 22,000 to over 170,000, in violation of international law and the Oslo principles. Israel systematically violates human rights in the Occupied Territories, Hahm reported. Palestinians cannot go to Jerusalem without Israeli permission and are not permitted to use the Israeli highways. The huge Jewish settlements monopolize the area's water resources. And many Palestinian houses in Hebron have been bulldozed. The continuing Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, land confiscations, and the construction of bypass roads have undermined the economic promise for Palestinians. Meanwhile, Hahm pointed out, United States foreign aid provides a third of Israel's $80 billion budget.

The General Board of Global Ministries hopes to create a website on Palestinian issues. Brochures will also be prepared for Christian tourists visiting the Holy Land in the year 2000, advocating alternative tourism conducted by Palestinian Christians rather than Israeli guides.

Policy Recommendations on North Korea

Continuing his briefing, Michael S. Hahm, Executive Secretary for Justice and Advocacy at the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), commented on the complex and difficult situation surrounding US relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (the DPRK, usually referred to as North Korea). Noting that the continued US engagement policy with North Korea was increasing the potential for the longstanding conflict to be resolved--particularly insofar as it was providing DPRK leaders with opportunity to make adjustments in their system without losing face--Hahm recommended that the GBGM support this policy. He also recommended actions that the United States and the GBGM should take.

In 1993, he recalled, North Korea showed signs of an attempt to create an atomic bomb. Thus, in a 1994 agreement--the Agreed Framework--the United States promised to provide an annual supply of heavy fuel oil to North Korea and to support South Korean and Japanese financing for light-water reactors (to be developed by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Office) as a means of discouraging North Korea from developing nuclear reactors. Unfortunately, this agreement has been implemented slowly, but there is a strong possibility that William Perry, President Clinton's envoy, has made a proposal to North Korean officials during his recent trip to Pyongyang.

Now a new proposal has been made in Paris: that the United States would lift economic sanctions against North Korea and establish some level of diplomatic relations in exchange for North Korea's ceasing work on a bomb and stopping the export of missiles to Iran and Iraq--currently North Korea's only source of ready cash.

Hahm's specific recommendations included the following:

• The United States and other countries should continue to supply food aid through the World Food Programme. Currently, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is providing food, along with Church World Service, Action by Churches Together, the World Council of Churches, and many other organizations.

• Helping North Korea rehabilitate and modify its economy--especially the agricultural sector--is the long-term solution to the food crisis. This will require investment in both agricultural infrastructure (including irrigation systems and farm machinery) and the industrial infrastructure that supports agriculture (including fertilizer and machinery factories, repair shops, and the like). Given the well-educated and hard-working population and the national system for communicating technological information, new plans and procedures could be implemented quickly in North Korea if the resources were available. The United States could help by supporting the Agricultural Recovery and Environmental Protection plan of the UN Development Program or by providing assistance through bilateral channels.

• Given the understanding that the North Korean government will not fall, as was once expected, economic development and increased contact with the rest of the world seems to be the best way to bring about positive change in North Korea. North Koreans, expecially those in mid-level positions, could be sent to Hong Kong or to the West to study economics and to observe thriving economies. Affording North Koreans more opportunities for communication and dialogue with Western societies is vital. Since 1986, the GBGM has sent delegations to North Korea for dialogue with government officials and in solidarity with Christians. Our Board has also received delegations from the Korean Christian Federation in the United States. Delegations from North Korea can be matched with exchange delegations to North Korea, allowing US residents to have first-hand experience of the country and personal contact with North Korean citizens.

• The United States should relax or remove economic sanctions against North Korea, since such sanctions limit the DPRK's engagement with the global market economy and hamper foreign investment in North Korean infrastructure.

• The United States should continue to comply with the Agreed Framework by supplying heavy fuel oil and supporting the financing of light-water reactors.

• The United States should support South Korea's sunshine policy toward North Korea. The Republic of Korea (the ROK, or South Korea) is encouraging private as well as official contact with the North.

• Finally, the United States needs a consistent, bipartisan, long-range policy regarding both North Korea and South Korea. Policies that effectively engage the government of the DPRK and that promote change and moderation will stand a greater chance of resolving the present crisis and bringing North Korea into the world community.

Talking Points on Social Security "Reform"

Susanne Paul, founder of Global Action on Aging, enumerated the myths being perpetrated about the US Social Security system by those who would like to privatize it. She contrasted those myths and claims with the economic and social realities, pointing out that a tremendous propaganda campaign was under way to persuade people that Social Security would not be there for them. Those creating the propaganda, she said, have trillions of dollars to make off privatization.But in Latin America, where some Social Security programs have been privatized, the result, Paul said, has been a little wealth for the few and deprivation for the many.

Urging people of faith to engage in battle to protect Social Security and prevent privatization, Paul pointed out 10 myths.

Myth # 1: Social Security will have to stop payments in 2032.
Reality: There is a possible shortfall of only 2 percent. This could easily be fixed by raising the cap on contributions. Because only the first $72,000 of earnings is taxed, low earners are taxed the most. Charging Social Security tax on incomes up to $250,000 would easily cover the shortfall.

Myth # 2: Recipients would do better if Social Security were replaced by individual private accounts.
Reality: Social Security provides a government-guaranteed lifetime income, adjusted for inflation. It is a form of insurance, not a fixed-amount annuity. It is not based on how lucky--or unlucky--an investor might be in the stock market. Not only does it provide monthly income after retirement, it also protects against disability, the death of a spouse, and high inflation during retirement. It is insurance against the danger of outliving one's assets.

Myth # 3: The Social Security Administration is a big bureaucracy that wastes taxpayers' money.
Reality: The administration of benefits costs less than 1 percent of benefits in the Social Security system, compared with costs of 12 to 14 percent of benefits for private companies.

Myth # 4: The Social Security Trust Fund is a big accounting gimmick.
Reality: The Trust Fund buys US treasury bonds, just as private investors do who are seeking safe returns. Baby boomers have been putting a lot of money into the Trust Fund. When the boomers were born, US taxpayers supported this huge cohort of children by providing new schools, hospitals, and other needed services without a problem.

Myth # 5: Unprecedented economic growth is needed to keep Social Security from going bust.
Reality: For the past 20 years, we have exceeded the level of economic growth that would be needed to keep Social Security solvent. Many factors would meet the projected 2 percent shortfall in 2032.

Myth # 6: There will be many more nonworking people and fewer workers to support them.
Reality: While the number of dependents for every 100 workers will increase from 71 in the 1990s to 79 in 2030, this is a modest increase compared with the ratio in 1965, at the end of the baby boom, when there were 95 dependents for every 100 workers.

Myth # 7: Social Security provides a meager payoff on lifetime contributions. Private investments would allow workers to realize a much larger payoff.
Reality: The value of Social Security is enhanced by the value of its insurance protections. Regular investments rise and fall, and mutual funds do not build in a cost-of-living adjustment as Social Security does. In addition, investment accounts do not provide support when a spouse has died or when the worker or a dependent becomes disabled. If the privatization experience of Chile, Brazil, and other Latin American countries continues, and if similar privatization comes to the United States, young people would have to assume the burden of supporting their parents.

Myth # 8: Privatization is positioned to take advantage of stock-market growth.
Reality: There would be a huge drain-off of funds from conservative investments into the speculative stock market. Those who would gain most from this windfall include Wall Street investment firms, mutual-fund companies, and the politicians willing to accept their money.

Myth # 9: African Americans and Latinos benefit least from Social Security because they die earlier than most Whites.
Reality: Far from discriminating against members of less privileged minority groups, Social Security has a very mild but somewhat redistributive effect which benefits them. The 25 to 33 percent of the population that has earned the least tends to get more back. While African Americans represent 12 percent of the US population, they account for 25 percent of children awarded deceased-worker benefits and 18 percent of children whose parents receive disability benefits.

Myth # 10: The elderly enjoy comfortable living standards and would have no trouble without Social Security.
Reality: The average Social Security benefit today is $800 per month. Without it, half of the elderly would fall below the poverty line. In 1994, 66 percent of the elderly relied on Social Security for about half of their income; this means they received on average only $16,000-$19,000 per year. Only 7 percent of the elderly have incomes in excess of $75,000. Today, 10 percent of the elderly are poor, a reduction from 30 percent previously.

Susanne Paul reported that the author of the book Gray Dawn had just set up a $17 million organization to promote privatization. The privatization proponents have the money, she said, but we have the people and the justice on our side.

Handouts provided include "Best Bets on the World Wide Web for Social Security Information"; an article by Trudy Lieberman: "Social Insecurity: The Campaign to Take the System Private"; "Pension Watch," a bibliography of past articles from Global Action on Aging; and an announcement of a Satellite Teleconference, "Society for All Ages," on 1999, the International Year of Older Persons. This teleconference will take place Saturday, October 16, 1999.

For further information on retirement and Social Security: Mission Magazine shows RealVideo® of "Humanity Comes of Age," exploring the challenges an aging population presents to the world and the church.
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For copies of these handouts or for further information, contact Global Action on Aging, P.O. Box 20022, New York, NY 10025. Phone: 212-557-3163; Fax: 212-595-8134; E-mail: globalaging@globalaging.org. Website: www.globalaging.org.