Aid Hurting Palestinians    • by Jillian Kestler-DAmours
(ramallah, occupied west bank)   • Thursday, February 28, 2013
• Inter Press Service  "Our vision is a food sovereign Palestine
where we're economically independent, we use our local resources
and we support each other. That leads to human development. It's
local economy. Through a local economy and a local food system,
that's how you build community," said volunteer and Sharaka co-
founder Aisha Mansour.  Mansour said that while it has often
been a struggle to convince both Palestinian farmers and
consumers to participate, Sharaka has organised several
successful farmers' markets in Ramallah, and continues to raise
awareness about the benefits of eating locally.   "It's a broken
system. Everybody knows that," Mansour told IPS, about the
international aid and development model currently in place.
"Local people who know their community, who want to develop and
support, they do things. That's how they develop. That's how
development happens; it's not an