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Jerusalem and Washington bring Palestinians to the brink of starvation
The House of Commons International Development Committee has recently published a report of the findings of its visit to Israel and Palestine.
It paints a devastating picture of the impact of the economic sanctions imposed against the Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority (PA) by the United States and the other major powers, including Britain. In so doing, it demonstrates the collusion of the whole of Europe and of the United Nations with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and its brutal suppression of the Palestinians.
The electoral victory of Hamas—branded by the US as a terrorist organisation for its militant opposition to Israel—led, on the insistence of the US and Israel, to the economic boycott and isolation of the PA.
Israel illegally withheld the tax and customs it collects on behalf of the PA, US$60 million a month or approximately 50 percent of the PA’s monthly revenues, while the Quartet, the US, European Union, Russia and the UN, cut off all direct aid to the PA, depriving it of a further 25 percent of its budget.
Most of the PA’s money is spent on the payment of salaries to its employees, the Palestinian public sector, including doctors, teachers and officials. It is also the “financier of last resort” for Palestinian utilities and public institutions, which can no longer pay their creditors as the international banks have withdrawn credit and other facilities in part because they fear anti-terrorism litigation from the US.
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/pale-m21.shtml
The electoral victory of Hamas—branded by the US as a terrorist organisation for its militant opposition to Israel—led, on the insistence of the US and Israel, to the economic boycott and isolation of the PA.
Israel illegally withheld the tax and customs it collects on behalf of the PA, US$60 million a month or approximately 50 percent of the PA’s monthly revenues, while the Quartet, the US, European Union, Russia and the UN, cut off all direct aid to the PA, depriving it of a further 25 percent of its budget.
Most of the PA’s money is spent on the payment of salaries to its employees, the Palestinian public sector, including doctors, teachers and officials. It is also the “financier of last resort” for Palestinian utilities and public institutions, which can no longer pay their creditors as the international banks have withdrawn credit and other facilities in part because they fear anti-terrorism litigation from the US.
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/pale-m21.shtml
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International aid to the Palestinians grew from about $1 billion in 2005 to more than $1.2 billion in 2006, despite a boycott of the Islamic militant Hamas government, United Nations officials said Wednesday.
Much of it was emergency aid from Europe, the UN and the Arab world funneled to people outside the government in order to ease a humanitarian crisis largely triggered by the international sanctions imposed in the wake of Hamas' victory in the 2006 parliamentary elections.
Critics say the sanctions have cost the donors more money while causing long-term damage to the Palestinian economy.
In the past year, the Palestinians received more than $1.2 billion, compared to $1 billion in 2005, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.
Mario Mariani, the head of the European emergency aid mechanism, said total European aid came to about $700 million in 2006, an increase of more than 30 percent from the year before.
Palestinian officials said it's a rough estimate, because it's not clear how much money came from the Arab world, particularly Iran, or was smuggled into Gaza in cash-stuffed suitcases by Hamas officials.
The aid was delivered less effectively because - in an attempt to bypass the Hamas government - it went to multiple recipients, including Abbas' office and Palestinians' personal bank accounts, rather than to the Treasury.
"More money was spent in a less coordinated manner," said Pierre Bessuges, OCHA's deputy director in the Palestinian areas.
Palestinian economists warn that some of the damage inflicted by the sanctions is irreversible, including the flight of investors, loss of trust in the economy and weakening of government institutions. Also, with aid restricted to averting a humanitarian crisis, development projects have largely been put on hold.
"There is no investment, nothing, zilch," said Bassim Khoury, president of the Palestinian Federation of Industries. "You are creating a country that is not sustainable in the future."
Israel is pushing for a continued boycott due to the platform of the newly formed Hamas-Fatah government, which does not abide by the international community's demands for the renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Wednesday, however, that Israeli officials "wholeheartedly support efforts by the international community to upgrade support to the Palestinian people."
Since the sanctions began, the international community has stopped most development projects and frozen aid to the PA, while Israel has withheld millions of dollars in tax transfers.
More
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/840384.html
Much of it was emergency aid from Europe, the UN and the Arab world funneled to people outside the government in order to ease a humanitarian crisis largely triggered by the international sanctions imposed in the wake of Hamas' victory in the 2006 parliamentary elections.
Critics say the sanctions have cost the donors more money while causing long-term damage to the Palestinian economy.
In the past year, the Palestinians received more than $1.2 billion, compared to $1 billion in 2005, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.
Mario Mariani, the head of the European emergency aid mechanism, said total European aid came to about $700 million in 2006, an increase of more than 30 percent from the year before.
Palestinian officials said it's a rough estimate, because it's not clear how much money came from the Arab world, particularly Iran, or was smuggled into Gaza in cash-stuffed suitcases by Hamas officials.
The aid was delivered less effectively because - in an attempt to bypass the Hamas government - it went to multiple recipients, including Abbas' office and Palestinians' personal bank accounts, rather than to the Treasury.
"More money was spent in a less coordinated manner," said Pierre Bessuges, OCHA's deputy director in the Palestinian areas.
Palestinian economists warn that some of the damage inflicted by the sanctions is irreversible, including the flight of investors, loss of trust in the economy and weakening of government institutions. Also, with aid restricted to averting a humanitarian crisis, development projects have largely been put on hold.
"There is no investment, nothing, zilch," said Bassim Khoury, president of the Palestinian Federation of Industries. "You are creating a country that is not sustainable in the future."
Israel is pushing for a continued boycott due to the platform of the newly formed Hamas-Fatah government, which does not abide by the international community's demands for the renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Wednesday, however, that Israeli officials "wholeheartedly support efforts by the international community to upgrade support to the Palestinian people."
Since the sanctions began, the international community has stopped most development projects and frozen aid to the PA, while Israel has withheld millions of dollars in tax transfers.
More
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/840384.html
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