"Yes, an economy can be built from donations – if these are allocated for development, production and infrastructure, but this is not the case." Explained research author Adam Roiter, "The donations [go] toward the entrenchment of government institutions instead of the development of infrastructure, industry, human capital etc. What we have here is a schnorrer country [one begging off of others]..." "...facts on the ground indicate that the governmental apparatus and international aid organizations impede the growth of the business sector, while donations are used to preserve the ruling party rather than build a separate economy that is not dependent on foreign donations." © Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by
"It does not have any diplomatic privileges or immunities."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called this "an historic move to make the Palestinians proud for a very long time to come."
Thursday, 20 January 2011
January 19, 2011
"Not a Pretty Picture"
Before I look at that picture, which concerns political/diplomatic issues, I want to touch a couple of other bases:
Tonight and tomorrow are Tu B'Shvat, called the birthday of the trees. This is a Mishnaic holiday, important in the calculation of the age of a tree (needed for matters such as when its fruit can be eaten).
These days, however, it has become something of an ecological arbor day, with planting of trees here established as a traditional activity. Trees are treasured in this arid land.
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On a completely different note: Enid Wurtman, an extraordinary woman who was not only active in the Soviet Jewry movement, but is forever doing things for others, now desperately needs someone to do something for her. She is terribly ill and requires a new kidney.
I will not provide details here. If you are willing to even consider donating a kidney to save her, please be in touch with me. And, in any event, please pass this information along so that others might see it. Thanks.
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Now as to the picture that isn't pretty.
In response to a request by a PLO representative, the State Department last Friday granted permission for the first time to the PLO mission in Washington DC, at Dupont Circle, to fly its flag and call itself a General Delegation of the PLO.
Protested State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, "There has been no change in the status of the Palestinian mission here in Washington. It operates under guidance provided by the State Department.
If there is no change in the status of the PLO mission in Washington, at least informally, then I'm the Queen of Sheba.
Crowley then allowed that "we have granted [the changes] given the improvement in the relations between the United States and Palestinians.”
Those changes, he explained, have “symbolic value” that reflect those improved relations.
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Improved relations??
It was just the other day that I wrote about how PA officials spit in Obama's eye, when he asked them to refrain from bringing a resolution on "settlements" to the Security Council and they told him they were going to go ahead.
At that point I wondered if perhaps that would be the straw that broke Obama's back, and that he would finally become furious with them. But, as it turns out, if he is furious (and he may be) he's hiding it well.
The problem is that I was thinking in terms of a normal reaction from Obama, but what we see here is sick. This is Obama's "suck-up to the Muslims and maybe they'll cooperate with me" gambit. The ultimate in appeasement-style diplomacy,
It's of a piece with sending a diplomat back to Syria in spite of how that country has been acting. And it doesn't work. The likes of Assad and Abbas can smell Obama's weakness a mile away.
This is not reassuring with regard to Obama having the strength to veto that "settlement" resolution, should it be advanced for a vote. But maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.
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The chief of the PLO mission in Washington, Maen Areikat, offered words of praise to the US for granting permission, and said:
“I think it indicates the willingness of the American administration to deal with the realities on the ground.
“It's about time that this flag that symbolizes the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination and statehood be raised in the United States.”
Sort of grabs you in the stomach, doesn't it?
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The only one who got it straight is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee (bless her):
"Raising this flag in DC is part of the Palestinian leadership’s scheme to manipulate international acceptance and diplomatic recognition of a yet-to-be-created Palestinian state while refusing to directly negotiate with Israel or accept the existence of Israel as a democratic, Jewish state."
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At the same time that this was happening, the Palestinian Arabs were advancing their agenda of securing a state via international recognition in yet another way:
In a visit that was broadly touted as a diplomatic first, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev visited the PA and declared that nothing in Russian policy had changed. Russia had recognized a Palestinian state in 1988 (when Arafat declared the state from Algiers), and stands by that.
But that was Arab spin, for Medvedev hadn't made an historic move, he had only reiterated a decision that was more than 20 years old. Unfortunately, the world, reading press on this, is unlikely to grasp this.
And Erekat elaborated even beyond this, declaring, "We appreciate the Russian recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders (sic) whose capital is East Jerusalem." In doing so, he went beyond spin to fabrication. Medvedev had said nothing about borders or East Jerusalem.
What Medvedev did do is sign some agreements with the PA regarding projects in agriculture, communications and sports. He also announced that Moscow would be transferring $10 million to the PA, and inaugurated a new Russian museum in Jericho. It was in Jericho that he made his statement about a Palestinian state.
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At the press conference held with Medvedev in Jericho, Abbas -- in the words of Khaled Abu Toameh and Herb Keinon. reporting in the JPost -- "urged the Quartet members, who are scheduled to meet in Munich next month, to issue decisions that would oblige Israel to return to the negotiating table..."
"oblige Israel to return to the table" is diplomatese for forcing us to freeze all building so that they will then be willing to return, which in fact they could do at any time. The realities are simply being turned around here.
All of this feels a bit like a Palestinian Arab pincer operation, with everything being tried at once.
Abbas's comment at this press conference was that there were only two options: negotiations or violence and terrorism.
Interesting, this not-so-veiled threat. What happened to the option of getting international recognition -- which was what was supposed to make the Medvedev visit so important -- and securing a UN vote? These PA comments are tailored for the occasion and the listening audience.
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This entire scenario makes it clear that enormous strength is going to be required of our government. This is one reason the implications of the new line-up -- affecting which way the government will tilt and the degree of stability it now offers -- are so important.
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If the nations of the world want to establish a Palestinian state, they ought to realize that they're going to have to pay for it, pay for it, and pay for it:
Yoram Ettinger reminds us that:
"Since 1994, the highest per-capita-foreign-aid in the world has been provided – mostly by the US taxpayer - to the Palestinian Authority. Since 1994, there has been an unprecedented intensification of Palestinian anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-US hate-education and incitement in PA-controlled schools, mosques and media, an all-time high PA non-compliance with commitments made to the US and Israel and an unparalleled expansion of Palestinian terrorism infrastructure and activity. Thus, foreign aid has not moderated the PA. Foreign aid has rewarded PA hate-education, non-compliance and terrorism."
Citing a recent study, he writes that "...during 2009 and 2010 the PA's reliance on donations increased...The research...points to the PA's steadily increasing dependence on donation funds.
"The data reinforce the claim that there is no Palestinian economy, and that in reality [it] is almost exclusively supported by the donation industry.
One more example of just how foolish and willfully obtuse the world is.
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By proud comparison, a quick look at Israel's economic situation. From the London Economist, Dec. 29, 2010:
"Over the past two decades Israel has been transformed from a semi-socialist backwater into a high-tech superpower. Adjust for population and Israel leads the world in the number of high-tech start-ups and the size of the venture-capital industry. Twenty years ago Harvard Business School’s leading guru, Michael Porter, devoted just one sentence of his 855-page The Competitive Advantage of Nations to Israel; today there is a growing pile of books on Israel’s high-tech boom, most notably Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, by Dan Senor and Saul Singer." (Emphasis added, and with credit to Yoram Ettinger)
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I wrote recently about a program by Hadar Israel on Israel's Critical Security Needs for a Viable Peace, which featured three speakers. Here you have links to video segments of two of those speakers.
Maj. General (res.) Uzi Dayan, speaking about Israeli sovereignty, and the need for our soldiers to fight on our land, here:
Maj. General (res.) Yaakov Amidror, speaking about the mistake of ever relying on international troops, here:
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see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
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