Associated Press: Palestinians ask for $5.8 billion in aid
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will ask the international community this week to nearly double aid through 2010, for a total of $5.8 billion.Abbas says he needs help with a huge deficit run up in years of strife, but also is promising to curb spending and spark economic growth.
The Abbas government's 2008-2010 development plan, obtained by The Associated Press, will be given to officials from donor countries in Paris on Friday, ahead of a high-level donor meeting there on Dec. 17.
Seventy percent of the aid is to go for budget support, including $120 million a month to pay wages for the bloated public sector, and 30 percent is to be spent on development projects.
Palestinian Planning Minister Samir Abdullah said the government hopes to decrease its deficit gradually, stimulate the economy, including private sector investment, and to become less and less dependent on aid.
"Our ultimate goal is to end economic stagnation," he said, holding out hope for a balanced budget within six years, perhaps even sooner if Israel moves quickly to lift crippling restrictions on trade and travel.
The Paris conference is meant to build on the momentum from last week's Mideast conference in Annapolis, Md....
Some background on the subject might be helpful (I would suggest finding out where all this money went, before caving to new demands... but that's just me.) This is by no means exhaustive, just a survey of what I can easily find. I understand there may be some overlap, but how are we to know what's what? Do you think anyone anywhere is keeping track?
Yesterday, 22 "international donors" pledged over $160 million to support the UNRWA, the main UN agency providing aid to Palestinian "refugees."
Two days ago, President Bush welcomed PA Minister of Youth, Abu Daqqa, to the White House:
... one of the things that interests me a lot is the fact that we are going to help the Palestinians develop youth centers, places where young Palestinians can come and learn new technical skills, or language skills, or have mentoring programs -- all aimed at saying there is a hopeful future; a future where you don't have to adhere to violence; a future where radicalism is not in your sights; a future where peace is possible.
See also: "Palestine Is Open for Business" -- the U.S. government is partnering with the Aspen Institute's Middle East Strategy Group "to create jobs and economic activity in Palestinian areas."
Rice praised the partnership -- which will be headed by Walter Isaacson, president of the institute, and co-chaired by Sandy Weill, former chairman of Citigroup; Lester Crown, chairman of Material Service Corporation; Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine; and Jean Case, chief executive of the Case Foundation.
Two days ago (Dec. 3) Secretary Rice declared that the US aims to up Palestinian econonomic aid to $ 400 million
June 2007 saw the poorpalestinians raking it in:
... from The Netherlands $ 8.4 million
UAE: $ 80 million
Qatar: $ 44 million
Saudi Arabia: $ 50 million
Norway: $ 10 million
May 2007 al Reuters:
Under U.S. pressure, Israel released $100 million in tax to Abbas earlier this year. But Israeli officials later complained that the Palestinians violated agreements on how the money was to be spent, casting doubt on future transfers.
April 2007: Supreme Court of the State of New York ordered $30 million in Palestine Monetary Authority funds unfrozen....
March 2007 article - Arrested terrorists receiving U.S. weapons - mentions an $86 million U.S. government grant slated for Fatah's intelligence unit, perhaps referring to this: January 2007: U.S. promised Abu Mazen $86 million. But who knows?
February 2007 - Saudi Arabia promised $1 billion in aid to the New & Improved Fatah/Hamas Unity Government. Don't know what happened to that.
According to a U.S. assessment, "international aid [to the PA] effectively doubled in 2006, from $350 million to $700 million. Later reports (May 2007) said that it almost tripled ... to $ 900 million. Take your pick.
Then there was all that Suitcase Money,
which no one has indicated is or is not included in the Arab contributions or Iranian promises, though that could be the case (pun intended):In May, there was $4.5 million transferred "in notes." Before that (sorry, I don't have a date) the Hamas spokesman delivered $800,000. June saw $20 million in seven suitcases + $2 million come into Gaza via Hamas "ministers," and in November, $4.2 million. Later in November, another $20 million.
Dec. 24th ('06): Olmert Meets Abbas, Agrees to Thaw $100 Million in Frozen Funds
Associated Press report published in the International Herald Tribune November 1, 2006:
Despite an international aid boycott of the Hamas-led government, some US$420 million in foreign aid reached the Palestinians between April and September, more than in all of 2005. Of the $420 million, $300 million came from Arab countries and $246 million of that was transferred directly to Abu Mazen.
September 2006: Donors pledged some $500 million
In June 2006, we heard about $1.5 million from one of the United Arab Emirates being used to build a Fatah "campus," complete with surrounding WALL to protect from salvaging and looting. You will note, somewhat tangentially, that also in June Olmert approved a shipment of 1000 M16 rifles from Jordan to Abu Mazen because time was "running out" to help him (six months later, time is still "running out").
In June too, the "Quartet" (US, UN, EU and Russia) agreed to channel humanitarian aid to the Palestinians outside the supposed boycott, and to that end established a "temporary and limited" fund. They said they would reassess in three months. Never did hear anything about that.
In April 2006, Iran promised the PA $50 million in aid. (In November, they upped that to $120 million.)
After Hamas took power in March, the PA government payroll expanded.
I apologize if any of these links are dead; I'm just copying them over from BtB2006, without checking for a pulse:
Caroline Glick noted (May 2006) that
Since its establishment in 1994, the PA has received more aid per capita than any other group of people in the world has ever received - more than the victims of genocide in Sudan or Rwanda, more that the victims of the tsunami in Asia, more than the Iraqis or the Afghans - more than anyone.In the same article it's noted that "terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons get $4 million a month," and more millions are paid to families of dead terrorists.
And weren't we talking about Muhammed Dahlan just the other day? He's been quoted as admitting that of the $10 billion in international aid that the Palestinians have received over the past 12 years, some $5 billion has gone missing.
31 May 2006: UN seeks 80 percent increase in aid to Palestinians
18 May 2006 BtB: PA Purchased Weapons with Israeli and foreign aid.
09 May 2006: USA to Transfer $10 Million to the PA "earmarked for development of the PA health system."
16 April 2006: Iran said it would give the PA $50 million in aid
In February 2006, Sweden increased their aid to poorpalestinians to $6.4 million.
2 November 2005: The US provided more than $4 million to pay salaries for Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades people if they would join the PA "security forces."
30 September 2005: Kim Howells, Britain's Minister of State for the Middle East, told The Jerusalem Post ... that financial aid to the Palestinian Authority might be withheld if the PA did not seriously begin tackling the terrorism in its midst.
20 September 2005: EU raises aid to Palestinians
14 September 2005: UNRWA needs 30% increase in funds "to deal with the new challenge in Gaza"
07 September 2005: Palestinian Media Watch revealed that after having signed a deal with the US for $50 million to help with housing and infrastructure, PA officials called to launch attacks against US soldiers and portrayed the US as "an enemy."
September 2005: Jewish American donors bought more than 3,000 greenhouse structures from Israeli settlers in Gaza for $14 million and transferred them to the PA>
08 July 2005: "G8 Nations" pledged $3 billion every year for three years to Palestinians... that would be $9 billion total.
May 2005: Japan pledged $100 million in aid to the PA "to promote the Middle East peace process"
26 May 2005: US pledges $50 million in direct aid for the PA as part of a $350 million package ... "to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians living in Gaza, where poverty and unemployment are very high, " Mr. Bush said.
In 2005, the US gave a total of $400 million in direct aid to the PA. In addition, the US was the largest donor to the UNRWA's budgeted $393.3 million for Palestinian refugees.
04 November 2004: PA official noted that salaries of all the civil servants come from foreign aid and . . . Israel.
In 2004, the UNRWA received a record amount of donations for Palestinian refugees, over $502 million.
P.S. Not to worry. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley met with representatives of Christians United for Israel on the eve of Annapolis. He assured them that "there are no current plans to pressure Israel" into anything.
Posted by: RR | Wednesday, 05 December 2007 at 09:32 AM