Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Palestinians hope for economic relief, now that the international community has found a way to funnel money to the Palestinian people while keeping it away from the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian economist said. But not everyone is happy about the decision.
The U.S., European Union and other countries suspended all financial aid to the P.A. following January parliamentary elections in which Hamas won a sweeping victory.
The U.S. and Europe said the boycott would be lifted if Hamas recognized Israel, renounced terrorism, and agreed to abide by previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
Hamas, which is committed to the destruction of Israel and establishing an Islamic state in its place, has so far refused to comply with the conditions for lifting the boycott.
The Hamas refusal and the resulting aid cutoff have resulted in a severe financial crisis in Palestinian areas. Some 145,000 Palestinian civil servants have not received their salaries for March or April because the money is no longer there.
The World Bank said this week that it had underestimated the poverty and unemployment crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Representatives of the Quartet - U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia - met this week to discuss the crisis. They ended up endorsing a "temporary international mechanism...[that] ensures direct delivery of assistance to the Palestinian people."
The "mechanism," to be developed by the E.U., is intended to funnel badly needed aid to the Palestinian people while bypassing the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government.
$2 for 26 pounds of tomatoes
Hamas reacted with skepticism to the Quartet's announcement. But Palestinian economist Omar Shaaban, who lives and works in the Gaza Strip, called it "good news" that might alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians.
This has been the worst time for the Palestinians because it comes after five years of intifadah, a time when many Palestinians lost their jobs, Shaaban said.
The crisis goes beyond the nonpayment of salaries and includes the closure of borders, which prevents Palestinians from seeking work in Israel. The closure of the Karni crossing has stopped the flow of goods into and out of the Gaza Strip; and some USAID projects have been suspected as a result, he added.
Since the beginning of the year, the Karni crossing has been closed 70 days, about 60 percent of the time, said Shaaban. Gaza cannot survive without trading with Israel. On the Palestinian side of Karni, shipments of textiles and furniture are just waiting to be exported, he said.
On the streets, 12 kilos (26 pounds) of tomatoes are selling for $2, said Shaaban, and no one is buying because the local Palestinian markets are flooded with produce that should have been exported. "Everybody is suffering," he said. "No economy can survive [like that]."
More realistic
According to Shabaan, some Palestinians think that if Hamas is bad for the U.S. and Israel, then it must be good for the Palestinians, and vice versa. That makes them dig in their heels and support Hamas even more, he said.
Shaaban pointed to a recent public opinion survey indicating that Hamas enjoys more support among Palestinians than the rival Fatah faction of P.A. Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
On the other hand, there are signs that the sanctions have had some effect.
"Day by day, the people become more realistic," said Shaaban. Hamas and the people realize that they need foreign aid, he said. But he chided the international community for punishing the people who elected Hamas.
Shaaban argued that the international community must give the Palestinians some breathing room by continuing the aid, which would "release the tension."
Israel willing to help
Israel has welcomed the Quartet move to help the Palestinians and has offered to participate in whatever process that funnels money to the people. Since February, Israel has withheld about $50 million a month in taxes and customs fees it collects for the Palestinians, putting it in an escrow account.
"Israel signaled its willingness to help," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
"We want the mechanism to succeed... We don't think the Palestinian people should suffer because of extremist [leadership]."
Nevertheless, Regev said that Israel did not want to do anything that would strengthen the P.A. government in its current form or give it any legitimacy.
In the West Bank, gas stations have started closing down because of a fuel shortage, reports said on Wednesday. The Israeli company that supplies fuel to the Palestinians has stopped doing so, citing mounting debts.
It is not clear if the revenues that Israel is holding could be used to pay that bill. Some of the funds already have been used to pay for the P.A.'s electricity, supplied by Israel's power company.
Not a good idea
Not everyone is happy with the new arrangement to transfer money to the Palestinians. .
Likud Knesset member Yuval Steinitz said the Quartet decision was "wrong and damaging."
Continuing in this direction will result in "supporting a terrorist regime," Steinitz was quoted as saying.
The Zionist Organization of America also voiced its opposition to the creation of a system to transfer funds to the Palestinians for salaries and humanitarian assistance.
While press reports suggested on Wednesday that the new program would include a way to pay the salaries of P.A. government employees, both U.S. and E.U. officials said a decision has not yet been made on that point.
The U.S. decided this week to send $10 million in emergency medical aid to the Palestinians.
In a letter to President Bush, the Zionist Organization of America said that giving U.S. taxpayer money to the Palestinians sends a message that there are "no serious consequences" for backing terrorism.
"All monies are fungible and this U.S. money frees up other P.A. funds to buy arms and fund further terrorism against [Israeli] Jews," ZOA said. "This only strengthens and helps prop [up] the Hamas terror regime, when [they] should be weakened and destroyed...
"It's time to be Churchillian and make it clear to the Palestinians [that their] agenda will go backwards and not forwards if they don't change their policy of murder and destruction of Israel and finally join the world of civilized nations that prepare their children for a productive life and not for death and hatred," the organization said.
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