US Withdraws Aid to PA, EU Lapdog Follows suit

In a particularly rushed and ill-advised move, the US is cutting financial aid to the PA, in a show of hands regarding Hamas and the recognition issue. The US claim it will at the same time boost humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

The US's lapdog when it comes to all matters Middle Eastern, the EU, will also cut funding to the PA.

The move to cut funding to the PA to try and force Hamas to change position is the moral equivalent of shelling civilians: we know from past experience it doesn't work and rather achieves the opposite effect of the desired one. Rather than break morale and force people into submission, it antagonises them, leading to even greater intransigence.

It also raises serious questions about the West's "democratisation efforts" in the Middle East: here we have a democratically elected Government, elected with a landslide election victory, having its wings clipped from day one, simply because it doesn't do as we tell it to do, whenever we click our fingers.

The move also raises the spectre of other backers stepping in: Iran or another Arab state, further muddling the situation and adding to the West/Middle East polarisation.

BBC:

The Palestinians' new Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniya, has attacked the European Union and United States for cutting direct financial aid.

He said the move, taken in protest at Hamas' hardline position on Israel, was "hasty and unjust" and would not serve the interests of the Middle East.

The EU and US are calling on Hamas to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace agreements.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the aid cut would hit ordinary people.

Behind Mr Haniya's bravado, he and his ministers are deeply worried, the BBC's Caroline Hawley reports from Gaza City.

The new Palestinian government does not have the money to pay the salaries of its civil servants - it is broke and in debt, our correspondent says.

Officials say they will seek urgent help from Arab and Islamic countries.

Referring to his group's election victory in January, Mr Haniya said "the world should respect the choice of the Palestinian people".

"These decisions were hasty and unjust," he remarked after meeting Mr Abbas, the Palestinian president whose allies lost the election.

Mr Abbas said the Palestinian people "should not be punished for their democratic choice".

By cutting aid, the EU and US were "punishing all the people, workers and families", he added.

The suspension of EU money covers all direct aid to the government and payment of public employees' salaries with EU funds through the World Bank.

All this will play into Kadima's future plans for a "unilateral solution": valuable time is being lost here because the US/EU decision is unlikely to make Hamas reconsider its position any time soon.


Meanwhile actual shelling also takes place...

Keywords: Israel, Palestine, Hamas