Arabs Reneging on Promised Pledges to Palestinians
';From BBC:
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed that pledges made at the Paris conference were for the Palestinian people, not the US.
“Clearly when you make a pledge you ought to fulfil it,” she said after the talks.
US officials say that of $717m promised by Arab League members, only $153m of Arab pledges have been delivered, all from three countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Algeria.
Ms Rice was careful not to pinpoint individual Arab states for criticism.
It should be noted that Arab pledges only accounted for about 10% of the total pledges made at the donor conference, despite huge windfall oil profits and non-stop rhetoric about how important the Palestinian issue is to them.
Press reports of the conference show that Kuwait pledged $300 million at the time and has evidently not delivered a penny. Saudi Arabia pledged $500 million and the UAE $300 million, all over three years. I could find no reports of any pledges from Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen or other Arab countries.
Which goes to show that Arab nations care less about their Palestinian brethren than the West does.
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Elder of Ziyon may or may not be a real person. He (or she, or it) blogs at http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Yes, windfall profits. Everyone notices this.
Do you know Bush, himself, fed the Saudi thirst for more dollars? Here’s how he did it.
With the economy tanking; and “recession” looming; Bush tossed out to almost every American taxpayer, $500 or $600 checks.
It’s this cash that the Saud’s saw! Totalling Billions!
That’s why the price at the pump, now, for gas, is $4 per gallon.
Does Bush have a relationship with the Saud’s? YOU BET! But he’s getting screwed.
On the other hand, Bush saw 9/11 as an opportunity to finally go in and take out Saddam. The hard way. With troops on the ground! Do you know why? Because left to their own devices, from Kuwait to Riyadh, most of the Iraqis hated the guts of the sunnis.
Anyway, it’s been 7 years. So you can see the patterns, now. Riyadh did not become “king of the hill.” (Olmert didn’t go into Damascus in the summer of 2006, to “slice off Assad’s head.” He chose a different path. And, in spite of the Winograd report, you know nothing about the pressures this man faced!)
America has managed to do what the french and the english have already done; Made themselves less necessary to the scheme of things, among the arab states.
Taking off Saddam’s head was not a bad thing, mind you. But “playing for the saud’s” was a disaster.
Right now? Bush has removed General Fraser from the mix. So, more than ever, Olmert’s really in charge! And, the Americans are doing what they can, not to look like they’ve made foolish choices.
While Riyadh, watching the value of the dollar drop, grows richer on Bush’s generosity to American households. Where the “free cash” is getting spent at the pump.
See? Economics isn’t boring, either.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:04 pm
“Which goes to show that Arab nations care less about their Palestinian brethren than the West does.”
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Shows something else too.
It shows these arab nations haven’t changed their position since 1967. Their primary goal remains to eliminate Israel, not help the Palestinians. Arab nations talk a good game about all the suffering of Palestinians - but it’s quite clear their primary concern isn’t for the downtrodden Palestinians, but rather, sticking it the Zionist entity which they want to see annhilated.
If they cared, they’d pledge and send more than measly 10% of total pledge donations. Because they want to see Israel destroyed more than a healthy Palestine, they want to keep the Palestinians down so that this I/P conflict continues - with the Palestinians on the Arab front line.
It’s a shame the Palestinians can’t figure out they’ve being used for the past 40 years by arab leadership - which cares more for producing hateful, child suicide bombs than peace and brotherhood.