Have We Begun Building Our Institutions from Where Others Left Off?

·        The title of our article today summarizes the story of a homeland that still lives with a gap between words and deeds, between dream and reality, awaiting to truly begin from where others finished, not to repeat its beginnings every time!

·        First of all... let it be known that a reader of the reports of the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) in Palestine, and of its observations and recommendations, is certain that there are some centers of responsibility and their administrative structures in public work that contravene the laws and regulations that govern and organize the work of these centers, either through laxity and negligence in performing their responsibilities, or through feigned ignorance in exercising responsibility, one tool of which is silence about the violations occurring in the directorate, or the authority, or the ministry, or the public institution; an example of that is some administrative control units scattered in every corner of centers of responsibility in the public sector..!.. But this does not mean that all centers of responsibility including their administrative structures are in violation!.. for there are those that work, monitor, and carry out their responsibilities in the fullest manner!

·        Have we truly begun to build our institutions from where others finished?... This question we have long repeated, and we have heard its answer from the owners of white collars, or boasted about it before the public when we are entrusted with the responsibility of founding a directorate or launching a new project. The phrase condenses the work of predecessors, their expertise, their experiences, and what they achieved over many years, yet repeating it to people did not grant it credibility.... when we return to reality after the passage of years, we find that the facts say the opposite of what we repeat!

·        Work here sometimes proceeds from where others began, not from where they finished! We have not yet learned from the mistakes of those who preceded us, nor from their correct experiences that could have been a guiding beacon for us; we did not make good use of what was right to emulate it, nor of what was wrong to overcome it, but remained captive to traditional patterns of thought and habits of routine and social hypocrisy! The phrase condenses the experiences of those who preceded us and summarizes their effort in a passing sentence, as if we are a people condemned to re-invent the wheel every time, without learning from our falls or from our moments of success!

·        We still believe, for example, that a cup of coffee can solve part of our problems, and we repeat with naive faith that “so-and-so’s position” will solve the knot, as long as his father had prestige and power! So we expect good from the incoming official, not because of his competence, but because of what his name, lineage, or companions symbolize!

·        We see and hear that those "owners of white collars" are sent on advanced courses to donor countries that cover the costs of the courses for them... and when such people return to the homeland after those courses and trips... we expect them to offer us much of what they reviewed and learned in the sponsored courses: technology, modern management, innovative solutions, scientific theories and discoveries, modern management methods, etc., to overcome our pains and problems!... However, those (the owners of white collars) begin by telling us about their amazement... at what they saw of progress, modernity, and technology... but they usually conclude their speech by saying that their host enabled them to make unforgettable enjoyable visits to some sites in those countries... for example, a visit to "Swan Lake" in Switzerland!.. Here they conclude their words... with promises to work on employing such courses for the benefit of our public institutions... but many of them, as they say... close the notebook!.. and continue their work in the directorate or authority or ministry... according to what they see fit!... and in ways of their own invention!

·        When we compare this reality of ours with countries that believe in genuine democracy and practice it in word and deed, where the office is seen as a mandate to serve the people, not an honor for the self, and every official is held accountable no matter how high his rank, those countries were not built by compliments or flowery words, but by institutional accumulation and the belief that correcting an error is nobler than denying it.

·        As for democracy here, the official swears it is the society’s tent and that he prides himself on it before the mightiest nations! Hypocrisy in our institutions is abundant, false praise more so, and the employee who exaggerates in glorifying his boss does so out of a desire for security, not out of love for excellence!

·        “Have we really begun to build our homeland from where others finished?” — a question that exposes a sick reality that reproduces itself generation after generation!... Our society still revolves in a closed circle of mistakes and repetition, where notions of prestige, tribalism, and regionalism prevail at the expense of competence, justice, and transparency, and personal relations, “cups of coffee,” and mediations remain the keys to influence and decision-making. These phenomena have entrenched administrative corruption and social hypocrisy and pushed the homeland away from the shore of safety, while the ordinary citizen remains the permanent victim of this structural malfunction!

·        There is a paradox between the official discourse and actual practice: the official talks about the dignity of the citizen and the justice of the system, while reality reveals the restriction and suppression of freedoms, the monopolization of opportunities, and the exploitation of positions. Democracy—as they describe it—manifests in slogans raised for boasting rather than for application, where praise and hypocrisy become means of survival rather than a culture of work and excellence.

·         We have been shackled by tribal loyalties as we noted, and our vision has been blinded by the dominance of money and the buying of consciences. After every failure we resort to the phrase “God grants respite but does not neglect,” which is undoubtedly part of our faith, but it does not absolve us of our duty to strive for change; matters do not change by prayer alone, but by conscious action and real reform!

* Freedom creates creativity!

·        It has been said before: If we do not correct the mistake in acknowledgement we will repeat the mistake in a new form