At last the US Congress sees the West bank and Gaza uses that money to attack Israel. Why should America finance attacks on America's only real friend in the middle east.
Abbas is punished by $200m cut in aid from US
Congress makes Palestinians pay for seeking UN recognition
Saturday, 1 October 2011
The United States Congress has blocked nearly $200m in aid
for the Palestinians, threatening projects such as food aid, health care, and
support for efforts to build a functioning state.
The decision to delay the payments runs counter to the wishes
of the Obama administration and reflects Congressional anger at Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas's so far unrealised pursuit of Fatah-Hamas
reconciliation and statehood recognition at the UN.
The freezing of the funds, which were to have been dispersed
in the US fiscal year that ends today, is the most tangible sign yet of the
seriousness of Congressional leaders' threats of an even wider halt to funding
in the coming year if Mr Abbas continues with his actions at the UN. It was
strongly condemned yesterday by the Palestinian Authority.
There have been persistent demands in Congress to withhold up
to $600m – the average amount given by the US in bilateral assistance to the
West Bank and Gaza every year since 2008 – in the next financial year over the
issue.
The administration remains, as does Congress, opposed to the
Palestinians' application for full UN membership, which Mr Abbas submitted last
week. But it argues that assistance to the Palestinian people is what a US
official described as "an essential part of the US commitment to a secure future
and two-state solution for Palestinians".
Former President Bill Clinton, among others, this month
warned legislators to leave the issue of aid to the administration, adding:
"Everybody knows the US Congress is the most pro-Israel parliamentary body in
the world. They don't have to demonstrate that."
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