The role of business in Middle East peace-building

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 emphasises that Corporate Social Responsibility is about business behaviour which goes beyond legal requirements.

One crucial point which we make in these is the importance of adapting to different cultures and traditions. I have already mentioned Israel Business for Social Responsibility. I hesitate - in the presence of such distinguished Islamic scholars - to try and interpret CSR in the context of Islamic values - but let me try. 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 as Islamic Tradition

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 which 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 co-ordinated 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 programme which 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 programmes will be needed in Palestine.

Stability through investment

A crucial part of building peace will be incentivising business 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 which generate jobs and a stake in society are crucial peace-builders. This includes pre-recruitment or customised training - the IFC has been running a small-scale pre-recruitment training pilot in Egypt this year.

More broadly, there is a contribution which any business in any part of the world can make to promoting diversity . In the wonderful surroundings of St George's, 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'7.

'…we have to see that we have a life in other people's imagination, quite beyond our control. Globalisation 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.

by David Grayson, Business in the Community, first published on The Challenge! Forum