U.S. Congress freezes $200 million aid to Palestinians

[Enrique]

Source: AFP

U.S. Congress freezes $200 million in aid to Palestinians

Key U.S. lawmakers are blocking about $200 million in Palestinian aid in response to the territories’ UN statehood bid, congressional aides said Saturday.

Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have frozen the funding “until the Palestinian statehood issue is sorted out,” one of the aides told AFP.

The economic package is separate from security aid, which the US lawmakers say would be counterproductive to block. They fear that withholding those funds would weaken the ability of Palestinian security forces to quell anti-Israel violence.

A coalition of Israel-backing Democrats and conservative Republican lawmakers are angered by the Palestinian bid for United Nations membership. Both the United States and Israel insist that only direct negotiations can produce an accord leading to Palestinian statehood.

(...)






Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) talks to reporters with U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (L), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (2nd L), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (2nd R) and House Speaker John Boehner (R) after Netanyahu's speech before Congress at the Capitol in Washington May 24, 2011.(Photo by Reuters)

Read more: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/01/169675.html

[provis99]

1. just a bunch of anti-palestinian racism at work.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. K&R US was founded by trampling over indigenous peoples.

[BadtotheboneBob]

8. So you're saying our Black President is a racist?

Just asking...

[No Elephants]

21. Clearly, the post said nothing like that.

[totodeinhere]

9. Racism is not the right term. Most Palestinians are Caucasians which is the

majority race in this country as well. So I don't see how it could be racism when it's Caucasians on both sides. Bigotry might be a better word to use.

[No Elephants]

22. Well, though it is not p.c. to say so these days, if a race is involved,

it's Semite (not really a race). But, whatever, Jews and Arabs all originated in the same spot, which is apparently the problem, thousands of years later.

[Downwinder]

2. Starve them into submission.

[madrchsod]

3. sucking up to the israeli right...

anything for a buck...

[Honeycombe8]

4. Well, if you crap on someone's shoes, while they're holding your Christmas gift...

don't be expecting to then receive that gift. Duh.

Actually, only half of the aid will be withheld, looks like.

[Violet_Crumble]

11. How is wanting their own state crapping in the shoes of the US?

I thought the US supported two states?

[harrose]

14. We support two states...

... as a result of direct negotiations, not as a result of a unilateral attempt at declaration.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. 'We' wouldn't be cutting funding of state-building, then..

And as there's no such thing as membership of the UN being anything but 'unilateral', why is it that people throw that word around like it's a bad thing, but have no problems with the many unilateral actions of Israel, the occupation being the most obvious one of many?

[Honeycombe8]

32. I recently learned one very important thing about that. First, when the Jews went

to start the country of Israel after WWII, this was arranged by a group of people or countries. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. But you can't change history. Anyway, at the time the arrangement was made, the Palestinians were offered the deal of recognizing borders and becoming its own recognized country. They would not agree. Their position was that Israel had no right to exist, period.

Now they claim that no one will let them be a country. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It's really pretty simple. All they have to do is recognize that the Jews have a right to have their country, Israel, and they have to stop the terrorism. The Palestinians refuse to do either of those things.

Israel, OTOH, moved out of Gaza and gave it back, at the request of the U.S. and others, to show good faith and give the Palestinians more land and more freedom. Israel was concerned about terrorism from Gaza, since it would be easy to lob rockets over and kill Israelites, being so close and unprotected. Israel's fears turned out to be spot on. The Palestinians moved in and used the proximitiy to launch terrorist attacks and kill Israelites.

Israel's position is too firm. I'm not sure they should have been allowed to start a nation in that area. And it was morally wrong to kick Palestinians out of their homes and steal the land that became Israel. Notwithstanding that, I'm tired of hearing about how poorly the Palestinians are being treated, how they are not allowed to have their own country or roam about freely in Israel to work and shop, etc. Their movement is restricted because they keep killing Israelites. Well, duh! They only have to do two common sense things: recognize Israel (they refuse), and stop terrorizing Israelites (they either will not or cannot). It's ironic that they refuse to recognize Israel, while at the same time they want to work, live, and prosper in Israel. You can't have it both ways. As I say in another post, you can't crap on someone holding your Christmas gift, and then expect them to happily give you the gift.

[Posteritatis]

19. A petition to the General Assembly is as far from unilateralism as something can get. (nt)

[No Elephants]

24. Asking every nation in the UN is far from unilateral action. We do not support both states equally.

[Honeycombe8]

31. Yes, we do. REmember...the Palestinians seek to be a country, while NOT recognizing

that the Jews have a right to have the country of Israel.

They are seeking to be recognized, while getting out of having to recognize Israel as a country.

[Honeycombe8]

30. This was a way for Palestinians to try to gain acceptance as a state w/o having to...

negotiate with Israel. An attempt to gain statehood w/o recognizing Israel's right to be a state. The United States and others made clear to the Palestinians that their attempt to do this would be considered a hostile act to the attempted negotiations, and asked them not to do this. So, the Palestinians crapped on the request, and did it anyway. Remember, the Palestinians do not recognize the Jewish right to have the state of Israel.

Whether you agree or not, the U.S. as a nation made clear its position (this is the position of other nations, too), that this was an attempt to get around having to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel and recognize Israel. It won't work, of course. The U.N. doesn't have the right to declare a group of people as a country. They can recognize them in the U.N. for U.N. purposes, but they can't bestow statehood on any group of people. That can only be accomplished by OTHER nations collectively agreeing, in the majority, that a group of people in a geographical location is, in fact, a nation, with borders and a government, etc.

So...the Palestinians crapped on the U.S., who was holding billions of dollars in its hands, as usual, to give to the Palestinians. I suspect they thought that Obama and the U.S. was so weak that they would give free money to them, anyway. They were half right. They will get the part dealing with security, but the U.S. won't be giving them the rest that was just for the benefit of the Palestinians. I suppose the Palestinians can look to the U.N. to make up that monetary gift.

[Enrique]

12. are you talking about Israel building new settlements?

after we backed them at the UN? After we saved their diplomats' lives in Cairo? But wait, we didn't suspend their funding.

[No Elephants]

23. How did Palestine crap on Congress's shoes again?

[kelly1mm]

6. Actions have consequences. Duh! nt

[No Elephants]

25. Petitioning the UN should be punished? Why the Hell is it there, then?

[kelly1mm]

33. No state or group is entitled to US taxpayer money. Congress decides

whom we will support. Congress said if the PA petitions the UN for statehood funding for the PA could be cut. PA applied for statehood. Funding is being cut. Not a suprise.

I am sure they can make up the funds that are being cut from the countries that do support statehood. We can use the money here anyway.

[JDPriestly]

7. The Palestinians will surely replace this aid with aid from

their friends in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, etc. All those countries ready to vote to recognize Palestinian (without defined borders, I assume) membership in the UN will surely chip in to make up any deficit that withholding funds from the US might cause.

The US has the right to give its money to whomever it wishes.

[Violet_Crumble]

10. You don't see any problems with the US stopping humanitarian aid??

And any aid that would go towards state-building efforts? I find it revolting in the extreme that the US likes to portray itself as a fair mediator in the conflict, when in reality it's so blindly supportive of Israel that it tries to punish the Palestinian people for having the nerve to want the same thing nearly everyone else, including Israel, has, which is their own state...

You've assumed wrongly when it comes to defining borders in the statehood bid. Unlike Israel when it applied for UN membership, Palestine's borders for the West Bank is the internationally recognised Green Line, also known as the 1967 borders.

Yes, the US has the right to give its money to whomever it wishes, but it has no right to then turn around and claim it supports freedom and democracy when its actions show so clearly that it doesn't...

btw, there's another proposed Resolution been submitted supporting Israel's right to annexe the West Bank. Would the response to that be 'The US has the right to create whatever Resolutions it wishes'?

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-republicans-submit-resolution-supporting-israel-s-right-to-annex-west-bank-1.385394

[BadtotheboneBob]

13. I'd like to see an accounting of that aid...

... how much actually goes to help the people, how much goes in the bank accounts of their 'officials'. Yasser Arafat amassed a personal fortune of nearly $1 Billion during his years of Palestinian leadership.

[Violet_Crumble]

16. I'm sure you could contact the US government and ask if yr bothered about it...

The fact remains that stopping humanitarian aid and aid to help state-building efforts is a hypocritical move from a country that claims to support freedom and democracy, wouldn't you agree?

[No Elephants]

27. Are you implying that Arafat amassed a billion on US money? Arab money much more likely, IMO.

[No Elephants]

26. What the US does with OUR money should be in the best interests of U.S. taxpayers.

I am not sure that was the motivation here.

[buckrogers1965]

17. Irony thick enough to cut with a knife.

The irony being that Israel is constantly whining that the Palestinians don't recognize the state of Israel.

Meanwhile Israel doesn't recognize the state of Palestine.

I don't think they can even conceptualize how idiotic everyone on both sides looks for not supporting an immediate two state solution is.

[No Elephants]

28. Shhh. Everyone knows the Emperor's new clothes are beautiful

And, OF COURSE, Israel years for a two state solution.

If Palestine would only give up its one and only bargaining chip, and guaranty things no government can possibly guaranty, Israel would sit down to negotiate a two state solution immediately. And call off negotiations the first time anyone throws a stone.

[go west young man]

18. Where congress puts our money leaves no doubt where they stand.

$3 billion for the Israeli's vs $200 million for Palestine. Were a bunch of religious fucking hypocrites and the world see's it for what it really is.
I say quit funding both of em and fund the people who need help here at home. I'm tired of this government fucking "We the people over" while
people in congress continue to give money to their friends. Screw Israel and screw Palestine.

[plumbob]

20. So whose dick got sucked in this picture?

Or just a circle-jerk?

[No Elephants]

29. Why is Pelosi all handsy?