Back to Gabrielle Goldwater's Reports
Funding Jew-Killers
By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 7,
2006
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21944
Some $125 million of ghumanitarian aidh made the U.S. the single
largest contributor to the Taliban in May of 2001. Soon after, following 9/11,
the U.S. declared war on this terrorist regime.
Today, the U.S. is also the largest donor of ghumanitarian aidh to the
Palestinians, despite their democratic choice of a terrorist HAMAS regime.
President George W. Bush ordered the severance of diplomatic relations with the PA at the end of
March 2006, saying: gWe support the election process, we support democracy, but
that doesn't mean we have to support governments that get elected as a result of
democracy.h Earlier, Secretary of State, Condoleezza
Rice declared: gThe principle is very clear. Wefre not going to fund a
Hamas-led government.h
On the other hand, a statement made by the
Quartet ? the U.S. the U.N. the U.K and Russia - on March 30, 2006, gencouraged
continued humanitarian assistance to meet the basic needs of the Palestinian
people.h This encouragement seems to contradict the
statements of the President and the Secretary of State.
To confuse
matters further, State Department Deputy spokesman Adam
Ereli seemed to agree with the Quartet. He said that the U.S. will only
work with gindividuals and organizations that: a) are not affiliated with Hamas,
b) are not part of the cabinet or ministries that come under the authority of
Hamas." He concluded, "That leaves room to talk to a lot of people.h
Who
are these people? HAMAS won the mandate of the majority of the Palestinian
electorate based on its uncompromising determination to destroy Israel, and its
Cabinet is made of nineteen HAMAS activists with five
other supporters. The Muslim Brotherhood, the parent
organization of HAMAS, reacted to its triumph as ga victory of the Islamic
nation in its entirety.h
There is literally no authority within the PA
with whom the U.S. can speak. Claiming that Mahmoud Abbas, the titular leader
of the PA, represents the more gmoderateh Palestinians is meaningless: He
allowed this terrorist group to participate in the election gin the name of
democracy,h then gpermitted HAMAS to form the new
government,h and agreed to preside over it. U.S. citizens concerned with a
sensible foreign policy and accounting for their tax dollars should demand that
the U.S. stop all direct and indirect funding to the PA.
The PAfs new
Planning Minister Samir Abu Eisha, argued that the
results of the Palestinian elections should be recognized: "The Europeans and
others supported holding elections,h he said. gSo, ethically, they should accept
and respect the choice of the Palestinian people." Indeed, we should recognize
them for what they are ? a terrorist regime- and treat them
accordingly.
Instead, the U.S. is the biggest contributor to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East). Of nearly $925 million UNRWA gave to the
Palestinians since the October 2000 start of the Intifada, the U.S.
donations accounted for 33.25%, or $172,285,212. And the U.S. continues to give
money to UNRWA even now.
As for the Abu Eishafs argument that gaid
cutbacks would have dire consequences for the
Palestinian people, putting pressure on education, health and social services,h
we should ask whether to support people who choose terrorism and death as a way
of life. The international donors gave $1 billion aid in 2005 alone.
This did little to inspire democracy. Instead, it
encouraged the Palestinians to vote for a terrorist regime that teaches children
gthe moral desirability of being a suicide terrorist,h
and whose Cabinet members swore gDeath for the sake of Allah is our most
lofty aspiration.h
Meanwhile the new HAMAS government cries poverty, and
claims it is bankrupt.
This, in spite of $77.5
million check to the PA from the EU days before the HAMAS government was
installed.
The
HAMAS run PA was promised another $72.7 million, to pay salaries to its 140,000 employees, including the new HAMAS government
officials. While handing over the check after the Quartet decision, EU external
relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, declared that HAMAS would not
receive this money until it gfall[s] into line with the international
community.h Actually, her action demonstrates that the international community
fell in line with HAMAS.
What did HAMAS do with the $77.5
million given to the PA? Apparently, it is using the money to increase
the attacks on Israel. In the last 4 days alone (April 2-April 6) 40 Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip on Israeli
targets.
The fact is, HAMAS constitutes the PA.
Giving money to the PA is funding HAMAS ? which helps
establish and strengthen a terrorist, Taliban-like state in the Middle East.
HAMAS political chief, Khaled Meshaal declared on March
30th: "Hamas will continue its armed struggle against Israel
while in power!"
This is indeed a far cry from the presidentfs
vision.
Indeed, as with the Taliban, the U.S. should sever all
diplomatic relations with the HAMAS-run PA; that should include closing all PA
offices in the U.S. and cutting all aid, until a reliable accounting and
monitoring system can assure that no money goes to HAMAS.
President Bush
strives to bring democracy to the Middle East. On February
4, 2004, he declared: hTrue democratic reform must come from within.h
But, in the case of the Palestinian people, Islamo-Facism, not democracy, came
from within.
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is author of Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed?and How to Stop It,
Director of American Center for Democracy and a
member of the Committee on the Present Danger.
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