Fungible Funds

President Bush told Prime Minister Sharon that he was concerned about the welfare of the Palestinian people and wanted to find a way to help them through the hard economic times in which they find themselves (or put themselves). Mr. Sharon politely agreed that the Palestinian people have suffered economically from the war their leadership started against the people of Israel in October 2000.

President Bush told Prime Minister Sharon that he was concerned about the welfare of the Palestinian people and wanted to find a way to help them through the hard economic times in which they find themselves (or put themselves). Mr. Sharon politely agreed that the Palestinian people have suffered economically from the war their leadership started against the people of Israel in October 2000.

In that regard, the President might consider a measure proposed by Rep. Eric Cantor to cut off USAID money to the Palestinian Authority. [HR 3624 – The Peace with Security Act] Cut off American aid to help the people?? Yes.

For too long, the American government has been content to provide money through USAID to the PA, claiming that because our funds are directed to specific projects that we control, we are not supporting the purchase of illegal weapons, smuggling tunnels in Gaza, anti-Semitic textbooks or terrorist training. The best you can say for that proposition is that while American taxpayers may know what happened to their dollars, they have no idea what happened to the dinars, euros, rubles or zlotys freed up by American aid for nasty purposes.

Money is fungible. Every dollar we provide for social and economic services offsets money spent by the PA in ways that are antithetical to American and Israeli interests. And ways antithetical to the interests of Palestinians who would prefer to find a modus vivendi with Israel or establish a working economy rather than watch their leaders live in luxury while engaging in warfare against the Israeli public.

The welfare of the Palestinian people should be the priority of the PA, and the place it expends funds received not only from the US, but also from Europe. It is estimated that the EU has spent 3.7 BILLION euros (approximately U.S.$3 billion) on aid to the PA since 1994. Much of it is unaccounted for except for well-documented reports of very large European bank accounts for senior PA figures and the $50 million worth of weapons found aboard the Karine-A. Don’t the French, the Danes or the Italians wonder why, seven years after Oslo, so many Palestinians still live in refugee camps without sewers and running water? Don’t they wonder why the Palestinian economy is a mere fraction of what it was during the “occupation”? Don’t they wonder or don’t they care that their aid funds terrorism and drives the Palestinian people into greater poverty?

Well, we care. And we hope Mr. Cantor’s measure will direct the attention of well-meaning American lawmakers to the abuses of the Palestinian Authority against its own people, and the way in which American largesse in fact contributes to terrorism, anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism in the region.

We encourage our readers to find out the position of their Members of Congress on HR 3624 and if they haven’t signed on as co-sponsors, encourage them to do so.

Let us know what you find out.