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Jewish World Review March 23, 2007 / 4 Sivan, 5767

One year ago, the United States and the European Union decided to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority after Palestinians elected Hamas, a U.S. and E.U.-designated terrorist organization, to lead their government. Now, it turns out, Western sources, including the U.S. government, have actually put more money into the West Bank and Gaza since Hamas took over than in previous years.
What happened to Western resolve not to legitimate a bloodthirsty gang of pseudo-politicians who are committed to wiping Israel off the map?
In 2005, the U.S. gave about $400 million in aid to Palestinians directly and indirectly through United Nations refugee agencies, according to recent press reports. In 2006, that amount went up to $468 million. And the E.U. and its member countries gave Palestinians about $916 million in 2006, not counting what they gave through U.N. agencies, up from $711 million in 2005.
U.S. and European officials claim that the increases don't constitute support for the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority since the aid goes directly to individuals or is distributed by international organizations and aid groups.
The idea behind the Western embargo of the P.A. was that Hamas' support among Palestinians would fall if the Islamist political party couldn't deliver services. Some Western governments also hoped that a cut-off in aid — without which the P.A. cannot effectively operate — would pressure Hamas leaders to renounce violence and recognize Israel.
But some cautioned that an aid embargo would backfire if the suffering of the Palestinian people increased — so the U.S. and the E.U. began funneling money through international agencies and private aid groups.
The policy hasn't worked. Hamas is no less militant or violent than ever. Much of the violence recently has been aimed at fighting the rival Fatah movement, which has resulted in more than 100 Palestinian deaths in Gaza since December.
And despite the recent agreement on a unity government between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas leaders remain committed to eliminating the state of Israel, which the group not only doesn't recognize but can't even bear to name.
In a speech to Palestinian lawmakers last weekend, Ismail Haniya, the Hamas prime minister, reiterated that "resistance in all its forms, including popular resistance against the occupation, is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people." In the past, Haniya has talked about the importance of "confronting the occupation," which is just another way of saying that Hamas believes in killing Israelis, including civilians.
But what about the Palestinian people? Have they been helped by the estimated $1.2 billion in aid that the U.N. and International Monetary Fund say they received in 2006? Are they more likely to embrace peace and renounce violence? Are their lives better with more aid flowing in from international organizations?
In fact, the evidence suggests that all our millions have done is to further impoverish Palestinians, turning them into ever more helpless dependents, whose likely response to our largesse will be to despise us further. Palestinian gross domestic product went down by 6.6 percent in 2006, while poverty rose by 30 percent and more than one in three Palestinians were unemployed.
When have handouts ever worked? In the United States, we learned that welfare for our own citizens not only turned into a debilitating crutch, it created a more or less permanent underclass.
At least American welfare recipients weren't using the cash and their free time to build bombs to blow up their neighbors. The same can't be said for the Palestinians who have received Western aid. Israelis found a bomb-making factory in the West Bank town of Nablus just last month.
The Palestinians will never have a better life if they continue their destructive, self-defeating hatred of the Jewish state and its people. Palestinians have developed a culture built on hate. Until they learn to devote their energies into helping themselves rather than tearing down each other and their neighbors, we should not spend one more dime on aid.

© 2006, Creators Syndicate

Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman

Dear Friends,

Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with

-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).

Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.

The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.

“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.

One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.

There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.

The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.

You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].

Sincerely,

Haim Goldman
28.10.2006

REFERENCES:

[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a


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