Rice to announce "bigger Palestinian aid package"

I kid you not. It's headlines.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to announce a hike in aid for the Palestinians this weekend during a donor conference in Paris that aims to bolster efforts for Middle East peace.

"I think what everybody is looking for is some real tangible support for the efforts of Palestinian institution-building because that is going to be absolutely key in helping to bring about a Palestinian state," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

He refused to give any specifics on how much Rice planned to offer but she is expected to unveil a sharp increase over past amounts, given that the Bush administration had asked Congress to approve 400 million in economic support for Palestinians in the 2007-2008 budget which began on October 1.

Prior to the election win of the Islamist Hamas movement in early 2006, US aid to the Palestinians amounted to about 250 million dollars per year.

But since then, the United States has spent money bit by bit on the Palestinians, particularly through the release of 40 million dollars in emergency aid to Gaza residents last June, unblocked once Hamas seized control of the impoverished coastal strip.

France organized the Paris donor conference as a follow up to peace talks held in November in Annapolis, Maryland.

If Rice is able to commit the United States to an aid effort similar to what the administration asked for in the 2008 budget, the aid package over three years that Rice announce could surpass one billion dollars.

"First in Annapolis and next in Paris, we will be showing the world that the United States is fully engaged and committed to providing the necessary support, both financial and diplomatic and political," said Robert Danin, a Middle East official within the State Department.

"A significant US contribution will send the signal to the other donors at this time that now is the time to assist the Palestinian Authority and that a Palestinian government with the full and public support of the international community will help build a constituency for peace within the Palestinian society," he told the House of Representatives.

The George W. Bush administration has faced reticence from Congress, where some lawmakers are hesitant to approve funding for the Palestinians for fear the cash will fall into Hamas's hands.

For that reason, an 86 million dollar aid package that Rice wanted this year for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to beef up his security forces in the face of Hamas's growing ranks of fighters, was held up in Congress for several months.

Bush this year launched a public-private partnership run by the independent Aspen Institute with the aim of encouraging US companies to invest directly in the Palestinian territories.

A spike in US aid would mark a turnaround for the US administration, which had convinced its negotiating partners in the Middle East peace process -- Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- to suspend aid after Hamas's electoral win.

But the blockage only aggravated Palestinian' economic woes and radicalized public opinion in some quarters.

At Europe's insistence, a temporary financial aid package was set up through the quartet that would circumvent Hamas but allow civil servants to receive their salaries.

The United States has justified its change of heart by citing the recent nomination of Salam Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund official, to the post of Palestinian prime minister.

IT'S ENOUGH. GET ON THE DAMN PHONE AND CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. NO F---ING WAY SHOULD ANOTHER AMERICAN PENNY GO TO PALESTINIANS WHILE EVERY DAY THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ISRAELIS. NO F---ING WAY.

See also this Dec. 5th BtB post for a shocking look at some of the world's hemorrhage of "aid" to the Palestinians over the last couple of years.

Palestinians are the new Chosen People

And see all these posts - just from today:

Palestinians Try To Kill Israelis with Kassam on Friday

ONLY 9 % OF AMERICANS CONSIDER THEMSELVES "SUPPORTERS OF THE PALESTINIANS"

Palestinians trying to kill not only Israelis but also each other

Palestinians Trying to Kill Israelis and Sometimes Succeeding: THE NUMBERS

FATAH TRIES TO KILL ISRAELIS on Thursday and we're going to RAISE MORE MONEY FOR FATAH on Monday?!

And if you want more, just scroll through 3+ years of BtB Archives here and a year and half before that at blogspot. Pick any week at random, and see if they weren't trying to kill us then too. I would bet my house.... but not today.