Free Republic

Members of Congress and foreign policy experts alike have urged for defunding of UNRWA. [United Nations Relief and Works Agency]. The lack of financial transparency, members of Islamist terrorist organizations on UNRWA's payroll, are only two of the legitimate reasons why UNRWA should be defunded. But the U.S. State Dept. has just increased by $20 million a financial aid package for the Hamas terrorist population in Gaza.

An Iraqi policeman from the Maysan province distributes first aid kits to the families of Abu Rummanah during a combined humanitarian operation with Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cav. Division in Amarah Jan. 23. Photo by Pfc. Todd Rogers. FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARRY OWEN — Iraqi Police from the Al Hussein Station, assisted by Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, joined forces during Operation Goodwill to send a positive message to the citizens in Amarah Jan. 23. “We have a lot of things to coordinate between us and...

National Police Lt. Col. Sattar Jabbar Awda hands out humanitarian aid to locals in his sector of Basrah, Jan. 14, 2009. The Iraqi National Police are complimenting their security mission by helping out the community by building soccer fields, painting schools and cleaning cemeteries. Photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Thacker, Multi-National Division South East. BASRAH — The winter chill was broken for some Iraqis as a company of Iraqi National Police recently distributed blankets, heaters, flashlights and other items to Basrah residents. This is one of several humanitarian events the National Police, 1st Battalion, Basrah Brigade, 4th Division have provided...

<p>George W. Bush has been singled out as the American president who has done the most for Africa. So where's the recognition, both in the media and the black community, of this worthy achievement?</p> <p>Bill Clinton might have been America's first black president, but it seems he didn't do as much for Africa as Bush has. Bob Geldof, Irish rocker and Africa activist, says the Texas oilman, who is wrapping up his second trip to the continent, "has done more than any other president so far."</p>

(IsraelNN.com) The IDF announced early Tuesday morning that it would hold its fire from 09:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon for the three-hour daily humanitarian ceasefire period in which Gaza residents come out to stock up on free food and medical supplies. The full shipment of 100 truckloads of humanitarian supplies is expected to make its way through the Kerem Shalom Crossings, according to IDF Major Peter Lerner, spokesman for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). However, there appears to be a real question as to how many of those supplies are actually getting to the residents once they...

AL-ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq — Marines from 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5 and Police Transition Team 4 teamed up Dec. 26 to help Iraqi Police from the Port of Waleed to form good relationships with their new neighbors in the town of Walej. Over the past six months, nomadic shepherds and their families, destitute from drought and disease which ravaged their herds, were forced to move from the desert into the town of Walej. Located in a remote region of western al-Anbar province near the Syrian border, Walej was an Iraqi Army compound prior to 2003. It...

WASHINGTON: Even as the current US' monetary aid to Pakistan has drawn flak from various quarters, the Pentagon has said that the Central Command is working on a plan which will involve more funding to the Pakistani military for countering terrorism. A senior Defence Department official, however, said that the idea is still in the nascent stage and not flagged through the Secretary of Defence and Capitol Hill yet. "... right now we've got, in addition to the coalition support funds and the foreign military financing, there is a proposal coming out of CENTCOM to provide some additional financial assistance...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2008 – An Afghan woman and her seven-month-old son, who were severely injured by militants during an operation in Kapisa, Nov. 20, were released from a Coalition forces hospital in Bagram this week. The woman and child, whom Coalition forces believe lived with the militants, were injured when one of the militants detonated a hand grenade inside the compound. Coalition forces provided medical care on the scene, however; their injuries were so severe, that forces evacuated them to a military hospital in Bagram for further treatment. The woman and child both sustained head trauma and fragmentation...

Where I come from in West Africa, we have a saying: "A fool at 40 is a fool forever", and most African countries have now been independent for over 40 years.

Iraqi children thank an Iraqi Policeman with smiles after receiving a case of bottled water in the 9 Nissan district of eastern Baghdad, Nov. 20, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Jeremy Todd, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs. FOB RUSTAMIYAH — Iraqi Police (IP) officers and U.S. Soldiers attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, teamed up to distribute humanitarian aid to those who needed the assistance in eastern Baghdad, Nov 20. The IP and Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, attached to 4th BCT, 10th...

The government kicked off a program Wednesday that aims to prevent foreclosures by letting an estimated 400,000 troubled U.S. homeowners swap their mortgages for more affordable loans.

A local Iraqi woman receives a humanitarian assistance package from an Iraqi Army Soldier in the Shulla community in northwest Baghdad, Sept. 10, 2008. Photo by 1st Lt. Christopher Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers partnered with Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers conducted a humanitarian assistance (HA) drop in the northwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Shulla, Sept. 10. Iraqi security forces (ISF) and Coalition forces (CF) have conducted numerous HA drops throughout Shulla, but this one was unique because it was planned and executed by the IA with minimal CF...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2008 – The Pentagon will send an assessment team to Georgia to determine what role the U.S. should play as the nation’s military rebuilds after clashes with Russia, a Defense Department official said today. “The Department of Defense is sending an assessment team to Tbilisi later this week to help us begin to consider carefully Georgia's legitimate needs and our response," Eric S. Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. After the assessment, officials will review how the United States will be able to support the reconstruction of Georgia, including...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2008 – With the off-loading of 17 tons of humanitarian supplies from the USS Mount Whitney over the weekend, the Defense Department’s part in providing relief to Georgia is over, Pentagon officials said here today. The Mount Whitney – the flagship of the U.S. fleet in the Mediterranean – delivered the supplies to the Georgian port of Poti over the weekend. The USS McFaul and Coast Guard Cutter Dallas had previously delivered supplies to the port of Batumi. DoD delivered 1,145 short tons of relief to Tbilisi via 62 air sorties since Russia invaded the Caucasus republic...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2008 – The United States will provide $1 billion in recovery aid to Georgia, President Bush announced today. Russia invaded the Caucasus republic in August and still has troops in the country in violation of a cease-fire agreement reached Aug. 13. Through Operation Assured Delivery, the U.S. military has delivered more than 2 million pounds of humanitarian supplies to the former Soviet republic. Bush said the new funds will help meet Georgia’s humanitarian needs and support its economic recovery. “More than half of these funds will be made available in the near term and will support reconstruction...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2008 – U.S. military aircraft and ships continue to bring humanitarian supplies to Georgia, defense officials said today. The humanitarian need still exists in the former Soviet republic, and the United States will continue sending help “as long as it’s needed,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Russian troops continue to be in violation of the cease-fire agreement signed in August, Whitman said. “There has been some progress, but they remain in violation,” he said. So far, 62 air sorties have flown humanitarian aid to Georgia, and two ships – the USS McFaul and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter...

Israel's extraordinary help for the Arab "Palestinians" should overshadow any consequences in it's war on terror stemming out of "Palestinian" initiated violence      Let alone current contributions and aid, even in the years that the "Palestinians" love to refer to as "occupation", just How "bad" was it really for them?   1967 - 1993   * Economic prosperity, Israeli investment in "Palestinian" business, industry and infrastructure helped the PA GNP grow 13% annually between 1967 and 1980, per capita income grew tenfold, unemployment dropped from 40% to below 5%.   * Standard of living soared, Health gains: Israel built 166...

Iraqi children wait for their turn in line during an aid drop to the people of the industrial zone in Adhamiyah, as Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers provide security Aug. 25, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Philip Klein. BAGHDAD — Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, provided food packs, soccer balls, backpacks and pencil sets for residents of an Iraqi apartment complex Aug. 25.The aid drop was spearheaded by the Iraqi Army Civil Affairs Team, the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion and Soldiers from Multi-National Division-Baghdad to provide relief to a working class neighborhood around the Adhamiyah industrial zone.The aid...

"The European Union is now helping pay the salaries and pensions of Palestinian Authority workers. On August 20, officials in Brussels announced that the EU will be providing the PA with an extra €40 million ($58.8 million) in financial aid. This money comes on top of the €440 million ($650 million) in aid the EU pledged to the PA at a donors’ conference in Paris last December." "In addition to covering some of the Palestinian Authority’s salary and pension costs, a part of this European cash has been earmarked for the construction of a new Palestinian security force headquarters in...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2008 – The Coast Guard Cutter Dallas has finished off-loading humanitarian relief supplies in the Georgian city of Batumi and has left port, a Defense Department official said here today. Since Russia invaded Georgia on Aug. 9, all of the U.S. aid that has gone to the nation has been humanitarian relief, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. Defense officials said that Russia still has troops in Georgia and is not living up to the terms of a cease-fire agreement. The Dallas unloaded 34 short tons of aid at the port, raising the U.S. total to 947...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2008 – The Defense Department and U.S. European Command stand ready to assist as required to save lives and alleviate human suffering during the humanitarian crisis in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a senior EuCom official said yesterday. “Working side by side with the republic of Georgia and international organizations, U.S. European Command is providing immediate life-saving support and restoring essential life-support systems as part of a coordinated interagency effort,” Michael Ritchie, EuCom’s director of interagency engagement, said in a teleconference with bloggers and online journalists to discuss the relief effort dubbed Operation Assured Delivery. Operation...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2008 – The U.S. military has delivered more than 1 million pounds of humanitarian relief supplies to Georgia. Georgian soldiers, working with U.S. soldiers, assist in delivery of humanitarian assistance supplies to the people of Georgia Aug. 21, 2008. Defense Dept. photo by Marine Maj. Rob James  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. As of Aug.22, 36 missions had been flown by Air Force C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 Hercules transport aircraft as well as Navy C-9 Skytrain, C-130 Hercules and C-40 Clipper aircraft, U.S. European Command officials said. Two U.S. ships are on the way,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2008 – Although some movement of Russian troops in Georgia has occurred, it’s difficult to determine whether it’s an indication of withdrawal or just a repositioning of forces, a Defense Department official said today. “There have been some movements around [the town of] Gory, but it’s unclear whether that is the beginning of a significant withdrawal,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. “The only movements we’ve seen are relatively minor.” The Defense Department remains steadfast in its support to Georgia as officials work to determine whether Russia is commencing with the drawdown terms it agreed to or is...

NAPLES, Italy, Aug. 21, 2008 – Two Navy ships and a Coast Guard cutter are transporting humanitarian relief supplies to Georgia. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Weaver and Petty Officer 2nd Class Gary Smith prepare humanitarian aid supplies for loading aboard USS McFaul at Souda Bay, Crete, Aug. 20, 2008. Nearly 55 tons of supplies were loaded as part of the humanitarian assistance for the Georgia following the conflict between Russian and Georgian forces in the former Soviet republic. U.S. Navy Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Eddie Harrison   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. These deployments...

STUTTGART, Germany, Aug. 19, 2008 – U.S. European Command is coordinating sustained airlift support as the United States continues to send humanitarian supplies and medical supplies to the former Soviet republic of Georgia. So far, the U.S. military has delivered more than 270,000 pounds of aid on 12 missions to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, with more relief on the way in the coming days, officials said. Flying out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, the missions are delivering bandages, surgical supplies and medicine, as well as emergency shelters and bedding. The joint effort, with the Army, Navy, Air Force and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2008 – The U.S. military has delivered $2 million worth of humanitarian aid to Georgia in an ongoing effort to relieve the war-torn former Soviet republic that came under Russian attack 10 days ago. In addition to 130 tons of airlifted cargo, U.S. European Command has granted the Georgian government in Tblisi access to a $1.2 million stockpile of disaster relief and medical supplies stored in Georgia. “We are going to continue to flow in assistance,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. “We have been over the weekend, and we will continue this week.” More than...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2008 – The U.S. military flights that have delivered humanitarian assistance to Georgia this week will continue in the days ahead, President Bush said today. American C-17 aircraft began delivering aid to Georgia Aug. 14 in the wake of attacks by Russian forces in two breakaway Georgian regions and other parts of the former Soviet republic. “In recent days, U.S. cargo planes carrying humanitarian supplies have arrived in Georgia. In the days ahead, we will continue using U.S. aircraft and other assets as needed to deliver more humanitarian and medical supplies,” Bush said today in his...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2008 – The humanitarian mission under way in Georgia is intended to alleviate suffering for now and will move into longer-range help in the future, officials said at a Pentagon news conference today. The Air Force has sent two supply-filled C-17 Globemaster III transports into Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi. More flights will follow, officials said, but none are scheduled just yet. Russian troops who invaded Georgia last week are beginning to pull back, Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also spoke at...

TBILISI, Georgia, Aug. 14, 2008 – A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport jet departed Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and landed at Tbilisi International Airport here yesterday, delivering $1 million in humanitarian aid to reduce the suffering of the people of the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Air Force Staff Sgt. Chris Broegemueller, assigned to the 86th Airlift Wing's Contingency Response Group at Sembach Air Base, Germany, helps to push out the first of 16 pallets aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III in Tbilisi, Georgia, Aug. 13, 2008. The humanitarian assistance delivery consisted of $1 million...

North Korea is refusing to proceed further with its nuclear disarmament unless other countries at arms talks guarantee promised energy aid, a South Korean official said Thursday. Seeking to break the latest stalemate at the nuclear negotiations, the five other countries in the arms talks - the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - met with the North on Wednesday in the truce village of Panmunjom in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas. "The North has taken the position that if that (energy aid) is not fully guaranteed, it cannot cooperate in making further steps" at...

MONTERREY, Mexico - U.S. lawmakers will review the language of a US$1.4 billion anti-drug plan that Mexican officials contend infringes on their nation's sovereignty, a senior U.S. senator said Sunday.

Myanmar cyclone: Burma's junta turns away US aid ships By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent Last Updated: 1:46PM BST 04/06/2008 Four American navy ships, laden with relief supplies, are steaming away from the Burmese coast because the military junta will not allow them to help starving cyclone victims. On board the boats were 22 urgently needed heavy-lift helicopters, amphibious vehicles and water purification equipment. The Burmese regime claimed that, far from wanting to help the 2.5 million survivors of last month’s cyclone, the US was in fact intent on stealing the country’s oil resources. "I am both saddened and...

U.S. Navy ships positioned off the coast of Myanmar will soon leave the area after the country's junta refused to give them permission to deliver aid to cyclone victims, a top U.S. commander said Wednesday. Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Essex and other ships will resume their previous operations Thursday.

Mr Bush wrote that the July 7-9 summit of the Group of Eight major industrial powers, to be held in Japan, needed to take concrete action to tackle AIDS and other scourges afflicting Africa. "My message to my fellow leaders will be that our past promises are just empty words unless we provide meaningful follow-through," Mr Bush wrote. "And if we do, we can continue to help save lives and spread hope across the continent of Africa." Mr Bush said the US was doubling aid to Africa by 2010 and highlighted a $US15 billion ($A15.7 billion) AIDS relief fund launched...

BAGHDAD — Leaders and Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division distributed humanitarian aid to residents in Shula, a neighborhood in northwest Baghdad, May 26. Soldiers travelled door-to-door handing out staples such as rice, lentils and tomato paste to 100 residents. At the end, nearly 300 residents throughout Shula received aid during a three-day period beginning, May 24. Shula resident’s movement to and from markets had been hampered by criminal activity in the area, making Soldiers clad in desert uniforms bearing boxes filled with food a welcome sight. Capt. Joseph Sincere, a fire support officer with...

The United States has reached a deal with North Korea to provide 500,000 tons of food aid over the coming year to the isolated communist nation. The U.S. administration says the aid has little to do with its nuclear disarmament deal with Pyongyang, although both have involved an unusual intensity of U.S. diplomacy with North Korea, a nation President George W. Bush once included as part of a rhetorical ``axis of evil.'' ``We don't see any connection,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was quoted as saying. ``We're doing this because America is a compassionate nation and the United States and...

Myanmar's junta kept a French navy ship laden with aid waiting outside its maritime border on Saturday, and showed off neatly laid out state relief camps to diplomats. The stage-managed tour appeared aimed at countering global criticism of the junta's failure to provide for survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which left at least 134,000 people dead or missing. The junta flew 60 diplomats and U.N. officials in helicopters to three places in the Irrawaddy delta where camps, aid and survivors were put on display. The diplomats were not swayed.

Myanmar cyclone: Burma junta may be prosecuted over aid block By Philip Sherwell in New York Last Updated: 6:17PM BST 17/05/2008 Burma's ruling generals could be threatened with prosecution for crimes against humanity as a last resort to pressure them to allow an international relief operation to reach desperate cyclone survivors. A boy looks out onto his devastated village near Yangon, Burma "The strategy is to raise the bar for the consequences of not allowing humanitarian intervention by introducing the threat of prosecution for crimes against humanity," said a senior US health expert involved in the discussions. "The goal is...

The letter shows that the US has resisted the idea of loans, preferring to give developing countries grants. "We understand that grants would be the US preferred approach," the British ministers say. Both their departments are understood to have argued strongly that the money should be in direct grant form on principle, but were overruled by the Treasury. Last night several countries joined environment and development groups to condemn the loans. "We need urgently to prepare for climate change, but we are not in a position to pay back loans," said a spokesman for the Bangladesh high commission in London....

CHINA may allow more countries to help in rescue efforts in the earthquake-devastated south-west region, a Chinese embassy spokesman says. Beijing has agreed so far to allow rescue teams from Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, as well as Taiwan - which China considers to be part of its territory - and Hong Kong. "I personally expect more foreign rescue teams being allowed into China," Wang Baodong, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, told reporters. The offers from the four nations were accepted based on their proximity to China, "which may ensure promptness of the aid. "As I understand,...

A soldier of the Iraqi army 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi army division, hands out water to young boys before they wait in line for medical care at an abandoned school in the southern portion of the Sadr City District of Baghdad on May 8. The Iraqi army handed out relief supplies and provided medical care in an effort to help the people in the district. More than 250 people showed up to receive free food and medical supplies. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cohen Young. CAMP LIBERTY — Residents in Sadr City continue to receive humanitarian aid from...

THERE is a certain familiarity to the concomitant series of actions and reactions when disaster strikes in the world. The US stands ready, willing and able to offer assistance. It is often the first country to send in millions of dollars, navy strike groups loaded with food and medical supplies, and transport planes, helicopters and floating hospitals to help those devastated by natural disaster. Then, just as swift and with equal predictability, those wedded to the Great Satan view of the US begin to carp, drawing on a potent mixture of cynicism and conspiracy theories to criticise the last remaining...

Burma cyclone: Burmese officials selling emergency aid supplies in local markets By Alan Brown in Yangonpauk Last Updated: 7:24PM BST 12/05/2008 Officials in Burma's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta area are appropriating emergency aid supplies and selling them in local markets, it was claimed on Monday. Burmese officials have been accused of selling aid supplies Burmese volunteers who are operating their own private aid missions to the area have said that they are having to hide from local apparatchiks in order to prevent them commandeering their aid and selling it on at markets. The Daily Telegraph learned of the alleged scam from...

President Bush weighed in as well at a White House meeting Wednesday with Republicans. But Hunter’s stance reflects what has been a steady undercurrent of criticism on the right. In trying to pull together the wartime spending bill and still meet other budget priorities, Democrats argue that it is unrealistic for Rice to expect the full $500 million at this time. In his letter to Bush, for example, Hunter argues that the $500 million has no place in the bill “much like other programs not intended to support military operations in the combat theaters of the global war on terrorism.”...

Teams of aid experts allowed into the cyclone-ravaged Irrawady delta have returned to Thailand with the bleakest of warnings: Burma is on the brink of a “devastating public health crisis” compounded by an emerging refugee disaster. But for the hundreds of aid workers who have flown into Bangkok from around the world, the chances of a sudden glut of the precious entry visas appeared slimmer by the hour. Rumours have begun circulating between international aid organisations that the Burmese regime is preparing to close its doors altogether: a decision, warned UN-affiliated aid workers, that will cost the lives of thousands.

The United States is offering to help China in its fight against a viral infection that has killed 34 children, including two reported Friday, and sickened thousands of others. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt is making a previously scheduled trip to Beijing next week and plans to discuss health issues with Chinese officials, with the outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease expected to feature prominently, U.S. Embassy spokesman Susan Stevenson said. The scope and volume of infections brings to mind the SARS epidemic of 2003, when China was criticized internationally for trying to conceal the emergence of...

The United Nations this week said the refusal of Burma's government to allow workers into the country's devastated agricultural region was unprecedented in the history of humanitarian relief. The human catastrophe produced by Burma's refusal to permit aid in the wake of Cyclone Nargis has stunned the senses of a world that has watched this spectacle for a week. There are uncounted numbers of persons dead, homeless and orphaned. Bodies still float in water. The World Health Organization has warned there could be outbreaks of cholera and especially malaria. U.N. member-state India warned the junta the deadly cyclone was headed...

(IsraelNN.com) Israel re-opened Gaza crossings Thursday for shipments of humanitarian aid after terrorist attacks forced a restriction of shipments on Wednesday. The Nahal Oz fuel depot also was re-opened, and 180 tons of cooking and 681,000 liters of fuel were transferred. More than 160 trucks moved through the Sufa and Karni crossings with medical supplies and medications, fruit, poultry, cleaning products, meat, juice, dairy products, sugar, garlic, nylon, fish, carrots, salt, soy sauce, meat preservatives, nylon for greenhouses, wheat and corn.

UN forced to halt Gaza food aid to a million By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem Last Updated: 2:38am BST 25/04/2008 The United Nations says it is being forced to stop delivering food aid to Gaza because of the fuel shortages caused by Israel's response to militant attacks. Palestinian refugees carry UN food aid at a Rafah refugee campAlmost a million Palestinians will go hungry if the UN stops deliveries, compounding an already dire humanitarian situation. The fuel blockade means pumps have already been turned off, causing water shortages and sewage problems, while the vaccination stocks at Gaza's main hospital were...

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian West Bank, besieged by Israeli occupation, political division and weak leadership, got a boost on Monday: the announcement of a plan, led by the American government, to help tens of thousands of people buy homes. The plan, which establishes a $500 million mortgage company, aims to build 10 new neighborhoods over the next five years and, in the process, create thousands of jobs in construction and real estate. In doing so, it could improve the depressed local economy and the political prospects of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, of the relatively pro-West Fatah party.