Posted on 05/05/2006 10:21:07 AM PDT by libertarianPA
GAZA (Reuters) - Thousands of Palestinians held rallies across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on Friday in support of the militant Hamas-led government which continues to face diplomatic isolation and aid cuts from donors.
Palestinian officials have warned the economy could collapse within months as Israel and Western countries led by the United States keep up pressure on the Palestinian Authority. The West has cut direct aid while Israel has stopped tax transfers.
The resulting aid cut-off has deepened poverty in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Thousands of Hamas supporters held protests across Gaza, some burned Israeli and U.S. flags. Others carried banners which called U.S. moves "a starvation and siege" of Palestinians.
"These are wrong policies. You are leading the region toward a big explosion," Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri told supporters in Gaza.
Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, refuses to recognize the Jewish state or disarm, key conditions demanded for resuming aid.
The government has been unable to pay salaries to 165,000 Palestinian Authority workers, whose wages are a key driver of economic activity in Gaza and the West Bank.
Palestinian officials say U.S. pressure has also thwarted a Hamas-backed plan for the Arab League to deposit donor funds directly into the accounts of workers.
The government needs $120 million a month for salaries and has failed to pay March and April wages. Officials say it is also unlikely to secure funds for May salaries.
Thousands carrying Hamas flags held a solidarity rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah, with collection boxes passed round by Hamas officials.
"Although it is a small sum, it will encourage others to help," Ismail Abed, 37, a Ramallah merchant said as he placed money into one of the boxes. "It is a symbolic gesture," he said.
Women and young girls also handed over their jewelry.
Supporters in Ramallah cheered as Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh spoke to the crowd via a video link from Gaza.
"We may starve but we will not cave in," Haniyeh said.
A Palestinian official said Haniyeh had been contacted by a Saudi Arabian businessman who had donated 8 million Saudi riyals ($2.1 million). It was not clear how the money could reach the government.
ABBAS TO VISIT GAZA FOR TALKS
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was expected to travel to Gaza later on Friday from Ramallah for talks with Haniyeh, officials said. The meeting could actually take place on Saturday, they added.
They said the current cash crisis was among the issues to be discussed as well as efforts to try and bring funds into Gaza.
Hamas crushed Abbas's Fatah faction in January elections and there continues to be disputes over security forces.
Officials said Abbas and Haniyeh were also expected to discuss security responsibilities.
Factional clashes wounded 30 people last month after Abbas, who wants to revive peace talks with Israel, rejected Hamas's appointment of a leading Gaza militant as a senior Palestinian security chief.
Do you mean to tell me that we aren't paying someone who wants to kill us in a timely fashion???? THIS is an outrage. /s
Chickens rally in support of Tyson Foods.
Cows rally in support of Outback.
Tuna rally in support of...
Is it possible to nominate a whole group for the Darwin Award?
" We DEMAND you give us money so we can blow ourselves up!"
We've been giving them hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars annually for decades and authored a "roadmap" that ushered in Israel's Gaza withdrawal and will eventually give the Palestinians their own (terrorist) state and they repay us by burning Old Glory? Typical.
I say we start sending aid over there in the form of liquor and crack.
If the Palestinians are Darwin candidates, how come their numbers are multiplying faster than anyone else's in the world?
Oh, dear. If your mom didn't tell you about the birds and the bees, I really don't feel like I should intervene.
Darwin theory doesn't address just the simple ability to copulate, but the superiority to thrive and push out neighbors.
Well there's a grand idea. Maybe if they all stand together in one big group, and all are given a grenade each, they can all pull the pin at the same time and achieve that big explosion.
Problem solved. No more starving, no more Palestinians,(there never were any such thing as a "Palestinian anyways) and no more rockets launched at Israel.
Of course, Iran has a different idea for a big explosion, but the result is more or less the same, no more Palestinians. It is in all likelyhood where the Iranians will detonate a nuclear device, outside of Israel, in "Palestinian" territory.
The Islamic woman's duty is to deliver as many little future suicide bombers as possible. Plus, thanks to the generosity of the UN and EU,(and the US government) it generates a comfortable income of foriegn aid. They will pop out babies till they either die, or just can't have anymore, then they send them off to blow themselves up when they hit the right age. This generates martyr pension, for when the foriegn aid gets cut off. It's the cycle of life in "Palestine".
If the Palestinians are Darwin candidates, how come their numbers are multiplying faster than anyone else's in the world?
Because the world pays them to throw rocks, bomb innocent people and to breed. In the real world they would have starved to death long ago.
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