Splits emerge between U.S. and Europe over aid for Palestinians

IHT ^ | Thursday, February 22, 2007 | Helene Cooper

[Esther Ruth]

Splits emerge between U.S. and Europe over aid for Palestinians By Helene Cooper

Thursday, February 22, 2007

BERLIN: Fractures between the United States and Europe have begun to appear over whether the new Palestinian unity government was likely to receive international economic support, even as the Middle East peace negotiators officially continued their wait-and- see approach.

After the meeting here of representatives of the so-called quartet of Middle East peace negotiators — the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union — the group released a statement on Wednesday that "reaffirmed" its support for a Palestinian government that would recognize Israel and renounce violence.

The U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has said repeatedly that unless the new unity government meets those conditions, the United States will continue its economic boycott of the Palestinian government. So far, the Saudi-brokered government, which included the moderate president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, and the militant Islamic movement Hamas, does not.

But European officials appeared more willing to hold out the possibility of finding members of a new unity government with whom to work. "There are ways that we can be flexible," one European official said.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who has said that the United States and Europe should look for ways to engage Hamas, was pointed during a news conference about not threatening to continue the boycott if the new government did not recognize Israel.

[Esther Ruth]

excerpt

In the U.S. Congress, Representative Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, is blocking $86 million that the Bush administration wants to strengthen Abbas's security forces. An aide to Lowey said she would lift the hold when the State Department provided guarantees that the money would be used only for nonlethal security assistance.

The United States and other Western countries cut off close to $1 billion in direct aid to the Palestinian government after Hamas won parliamentary elections last year.

[Leisler]

Giving money to the so-called palistinians is like giving machine guns to the Apaches. You know, for other tribes and stuff.

Good for Nita Lowey.

[edcoil]

Zero to go.

I don't see where in the Constitution it says the king shall tax the citizens and give that money to foreign kings.

[Nevadan]

It seems to me that with if all the billions and billions of dollars that have been given to the Palestinians by the US and other countries as aid over the years (along with all the money given to the the families of homicide bombers by Saddam) that the Palestinians should be some of the wealthiest "poor people" on the planet! But their lot never seems to improve, no matter how much money is poured into that group for supposedly humanitarian purposes. Both Europe & the US knew how much Arafat pocketed for his personal use, but we kept on giving even more. How stupid can we get? What has all the money given accomplished other than funding of more terrorism?

[Esther Ruth]

What's even more stupid is that we the people have still not been able to throw all these tea party politicians who keep wasting our money like this out on their keesters.

[Nevadan]

I think it is because the funding of just about anything in the Federal budget, once begun, rarely ends.