Meanwhile, Back in Gaza, Pt. I

We (mostly) resisted the temptation to dump on the Palestinians for their depredations following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. We skipped over the destruction of millions of dollars worth of greenhouses. We trod lightly on the torching of empty synagogue buildings and their transformation into museums glorifying the killing of Jews. We didn’t mention the sheer stupidity of Hamas driving an explosives truck through a crowd of Palestinians; it exploded, killing 19 and injuring 80.

We (mostly) resisted the temptation to dump on the Palestinians for their depredations following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. We skipped over the destruction of millions of dollars worth of greenhouses. We trod lightly on the torching of empty synagogue buildings and their transformation into museums glorifying the killing of Jews. We didn’t mention the sheer stupidity of Hamas driving an explosives truck through a crowd of Palestinians; it exploded, killing 19 and injuring 80. We (hardly) mentioned the failure of the Palestinian Authority (PA) or the Egyptians to secure the Philadelphi corridor and the weapons smuggling that followed. Palestinian behavior in these and other instances is (mostly) self-revelatory and requires little comment from us.

But things must be said regarding the U.S. response. President Bush denounced the burning of the once-synagogues, but frankly, empty buildings are empty buildings – what was holy about the synagogue space is now holy elsewhere. But the destructive, anti-Semitic behavior that was driving the Palestinians remains and we wish Mr. Bush had saved some indignation for that. The U.S. has two levers of influence in Gaza – money and security cooperation by the PA with the U.S.; we will consider both.

At the end of July, the PA asked for an “emergency aid package” of $416 million. On September 19th, the day before a Quartet meeting on the Road Map, the EU announced that the PA would receive $612.15 million in aid in 2005: $342.8 million from the EU itself; the rest from individual governments. The U.S. put in President Bush’s January announcement of $350 million, plus $200 million in a supplemental appropriation to be given directly to Abu Mazen. (The House, however, voted 388-44 to channel the $200 million through approved NGOs and denied the President his usual authority to waive the restrictions. Senate action awaits.) The $315+ million funneled through UNRWA is separate. The total amounts to the highest per capita aid distribution in the world.

At the meeting on the 20th, the Quartet called on the Palestinians to “dismantle terrorist capabilities and infrastructures.” This is language lifted directly from the Road Map signed by the Palestinians and is truly a minimal contribution to statehood.

On the 21st, Abu Mazen dismissed the Quartet, saying, “This is an internal affair… We know more and are more capable than others of dealing with our brothers.” A Fatah legislator condemned the Quartet demand as a “flagrant intervention” in Palestinian affairs, adding, “The Quartet is not authorized to make such a demand…(it should) call on Israel to disarm armed groups that participated in the elections for the Knesset.” Hamas called it, “an attempt to drive a wedge between the Palestinians…The Quartet should have called on the Israeli prime minister to withdraw from all the Palestinian territories and to release all the prisoners in Israeli jails.”

The Palestinians appear to believe they are entitled to the world’s largesse and find requests for civilized behavior to be an imposition on their freedom of destruction. This posture has security implications for Israel, Egypt and the rest of the Middle East, which will be addressed in the next JINSA Report.