Money for Nothing
- 03.26.2008 - 1:35 PMThe news came last week that the United States would commence the transfer of some $150 million to the Palestinian Authority. This week, the European Commission announced that it, too, was turning on the cash spigot and releasing an astonishing €300 million — about $473 million.
Perhaps someone has a mischievous sense of humor. Today Haaretz reports that the American military officials responsible for monitoring compliance with the Road Map have made it known — you’re sitting down, aren’t you? — that the PA hasn’t really attempted to do anything about Palestinian terrorism:
[T]he Americans are concerned that the PA does not engage in the full spectrum of counterterrorism activities, including arrests, interrogation and trial, as it would if it were trying to eradicate the armed wings of Islamic terrorist organizations. Instead, it makes do with trying to “contain” terror — to prevent specific attacks, and to keep Hamas from growing strong enough to threaten Fatah’s rule in the West Bank.
The PA security services do occasionally arrest members of Islamic organizations, but they do not then follow up with the other steps in the “chain of prevention”: interrogations, arrests of additional operatives, indictments and trials. Trials generally take place only if the PA is under external pressure…And when they do take place, they are generally hasty affairs.
Well, maybe the influx of over half a billion dollars in foreign aid will help the PA finally get its security operation into better shape. I kid, I kid.
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March 26th, 2008 at 2:13 PM
the EU and now the US are simply in denial. they don’t want to accept clearcut evidence that the PA is neither capable nor willing to act against terror because the implications are too hard to contemplate. jiziyah and appeasement are the only solution they know and want to know.
never in their wildest dreams did the arabs imagine that their strategy as using the palestinians as a weapon for the destruction of israel would be actually funded by zillions of dollars by the infidels, while they swim in zillions of oil money with which they fund jihad against the west. now THAT’s useful idiocy to infinite power.
as far as I am concerned the west deserves what it will get out of this.
oao
http://fallofknowledgeandreason.blogspot.com/
March 26th, 2008 at 2:13 PM
It is hard to fault the USA when Israel’s Defense Minister ,the genius who engineered the turning of South Lebanon over to Hizbolla, has now decided to turn over more arms and “security vehicles” to the PA and to allow 600 “policement” trained in “security” to move from Jordan to Jenin. Where are the thousands of automatic weapons and millions of rounds that not so long ago were given to the PA?It is really insane.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:16 PM
A few troubling things strike me about this account:
1) the State Department still doesn’t realize (or more likely doesn’t care) that it is not the PA’s lack of means to fight terror, it is its will, and thus sending them more weapons and training is just an effort in training and arming more terrorists;
2) we are encouraging a John Kerry model of terror fighting i.e. indictments and trials as the way this anamistic culture will meet its obligations. No mention of the incitement to jihad in the official state media, in Abbas’ actions of honoring terrorists like Arafat, Habash and the Mercaz Herav murderer. Of course in the end, even when Palesintians are convicted of “armed reisistence” (which is only a crime in lollipop land because it is “against Palestinian interests at this time” they go to a prison with a revolving door. Oh, well except for collaborators with Israel in fighting terror who are sentenced to death for, helping Israel stop terror, the thing the PA is supposed to be doing.
Condi is really not going to like hearing any of this, she will be really angry at . . . no, not the animals who are not meeting their obligations, but the people bringing her this message which contradicts her belief that there is no more important legacy than the creation of Palestine, which is “frankly” long overdue in her mind. Don’t these messengers know, Condi will not have anyone interfereing with her carefully crafted efforts to pretend the PA is a peace partner.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:18 PM
Well said RayS. This race to appease and fund the enemies of Israel will not end until the Israeli government takes the lead (and probably not even then), but I agree we cannot expect the “world community” to care more about Israeli security than the Israeli government. It is tempting to want the US to rescue Israel from its bad leaders, but the US is not the only culpable party here.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:40 PM
We can’t just get around the clear fact that most Palestinians really do want to wipe Israel off the map.
We said, let them vote, and they voted for Hamas.
We said, let them suffer under Hamas, and they’ll change their tune, and they send rockets after rockets into Israel.
We said, eventually they’ll get tired of blowing themselves and Jews up. That was how many years ago?
March 26th, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Reward terrorism and you get more terrorism.
The Palestinians popularized airplane hijackings and suicide attacks—on 9-11 hijacked planes flew suicide missions into the WTC.
The money we give to the Palestinians now could eventually come back to us in ways we don’t want.
March 26th, 2008 at 4:13 PM
Aren’t there some subprime lenders and borrowers more deserving of this confidence- money?
March 26th, 2008 at 4:32 PM
Let’s not forget that Israel isn’t above reproach.
This week (right before the report in Ha’aretz) Israel approved the transfer of 25 armored vehicles to the PA. Of course, there are limits to Israel’s trust. It only allowed the transfer after it was ascertained that there would be no automatic weapons mounted on the vehicles.
And now the Israeli government is allowing even more equipment to the PA.
Israel’s defense minister has agreed to transfer police cars, rubber-coated steel bullets and night-vision equipment to Palestinian security forces, officials said Wednesday.
Of course these “gestures” aren’t much appreciated:
The gestures are meant to help peace efforts by strengthening moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his standoff with the Hamas militant group. But Palestinian officials say the Israeli moves are not nearly enough.
“Not nearly enough?” Perhaps if the PA was actually fighting terror. But since it’s not, what Israel’s agreed to is likely quite a bit more than enough.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Well put, soccer dad. But at least equipment like police cars can’t be used for terrorism (not so much for NVG’s). The half a billion dollars, however, is far more worrisome.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:50 PM
terrorism is structurally and culturally so ingrained in palestinians that they barely know anything else. take the security forces and militias out nd what are you left with? all that this money funds is those two. that’s what a palestinian state has and will have more and more of. with zillions now being dumped, why bother to do anything else?