LONDON, 29 June 2005 — As Einstein warned us, “We will not solve problems with the same thinking that produced the problem in the first place.” It is right, therefore, that we explore new approaches and out-of-the box thinking to the problem that is so dangerous to world peace and to all our futures. In this instance, the “out of the box” thinking is how can business contribute to peace in the Middle East — and to one of the most intractable elements of the Middle East crisis — Israel and Palestine.
A preliminary point to stress is that this is not about business alone but about the contribution that business might play in partnership with other parts of civil society, academia, faith communities as well as governments and international institutions.
The paper prepared by Dale Lawton, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Peace-Building: A Case for Action in Israel and the Palestinian Territories” is a very helpful starting point for our discussions. Dale rightly emphasizes that corporate social responsibility is about business behavior that goes beyond legal requirements.
One crucial point that we make in these is the importance of adapting to different cultures and traditions.
Insofar as I have understood Islamic values and traditions, it seems to me that there is a very strong resonance with these ideas of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Specifically, the Islamic tradition places great store by brotherhood, fellowship, hospitality, sharing your wealth, tolerance, protection of the weak and minorities and respects learning and ethics. Sustainable development should be a very comfortable idea for a culture that believes in putting back into society more than you take out and in stewardship. In the short-term I would concur with Dale’s argument that business can help cement a peace settlement and/or prevent conflict — what it can’t do is stop a war. Perhaps business can play a role in encouraging the antagonists to look faster for peace by committing to investment if they do. Perhaps leading Israeli/Palestinian businessmen — and maybe Israeli/Jordanian businessmen can put coordinated pressure on their governments to seek peace rather than continue the killing.
Longer-term, as the paper suggests, there are opportunities for business contributing expertise — for example, to building NGOs and better governance. This might also include help for micro-enterprises. It has been my privilege to help, periodically over the last decade, a pioneering fund in Israel which has helped Olim — new immigrants from the former Soviet Union — with finance and mentoring — to start their own businesses. The Shell LiveWIRE program that helps young people to explore the option of self-employment is now operating in nearly twenty companies — including Oman. Similar types of small business development programs will be needed in Palestine.
A crucial part of building peace will be providing incentives to businessmen to move in to the region to invest in desalination plants because water is going to be a crucial factor in a comprehensive peace settlement. Investing in eco-tourism — as a diver who has had the privilege of going on dive safaris in the Sinai — I know there is great potential here. IBLF has a long-running International Hoteliers’ Environment Initiative. And I know from previous visits to Israel and also to some of the cities on the West Bank and from talking to young professionals from both societies, how businesses that generate jobs and a stake in society are crucial peace-builders. This includes pre-recruitment or customized training — the IFC has been running a small-scale pre-recruitment training pilot in Egypt this year.
More broadly, there is a contribution that any business in any part of the world can make to promote diversity. Perhaps I might conclude with a quotation from a book written by Rowan Williams — the next archbishop of Canterbury: “Writing in the Dust — Reflections on September 11th and its aftermath.”
“...We have to see that we have a life in other people’s imagination, quite beyond our control. Globalization means that we are involved in dramas we never thought of, cast in roles we never chose.”
I have no doubt that this will have to include some brave business leaders being prepared to engage in practical projects across deeply divided communities — all I would ask is for a sense of pragmatic idealism in visioning what forms and extent this might take — and in what timescales.
— David Grayson is the director of Business in the Community (BITC), a unique movement of over 700 of the UK’s top companies, committed to improving their positive impact on society (CGNS).
