Embracing a Terrorist Unity Government

It is simply scandalous – though hardly surprising – that so many European governments would rush to fawn all over a terrorist regime dedicated to Israel's destruction. But what is truly incomprehensible is that the US would play along with this charade too

Well, it didn't take long for Western governments to lose their resolve and begin talking with the Hamas-Fatah terrorist unity government.

The ink had barely dried on this unholy alliance between the warring Palestinian factions, when senior diplomats began beating a path to the doors of senior Palestinian ministers.

The first to break the taboo against meeting with members of the Hamas-dominated government was Norway's deputy foreign minister, who smiled alongside Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on Monday in a disgraceful display of political pandering.

That very same day, Hamas of course claimed responsibility for a shooting attack that wounded an Israeli civilian near the crossing point with Gaza. But that didn't seem to bother the Norwegians one bit.

Then, on Tuesday, the US Consul-General in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles, traveled to Ramallah to sip coffee with Palestinian Finance Minister Salem Fayyad. A senior European Union envoy came to town the next day, and a slew of officials – from the Belgian and Swedish Foreign Ministers to the ambassadors of Russia and Switzerland – have now declared that they too will be holding talks with the new Palestinian regime in the coming days.

It is simply scandalous – though hardly surprising – that so many European governments would rush to fawn all over a terrorist regime dedicated to Israel's destruction.

But what is truly incomprehensible is that the US would play along with this charade too.

Hamas, like Al-Qaeda and the Sunni insurgents in Iraq, are a thuggish gang of murderers. Conferring legitimacy upon them by holding diplomatic contacts, press conferences and photo-opportunities with them is not only immoral – it is counterproductive. It sends them the message that they can continue to use violence with impunity, without even being thrown out of the diplomatic cocktail party circuit.

Shame on Europe, and on America too, for embracing – however partially and reluctantly – the government led by Hamas.

Look Who's Threatening to Deport Palestinians...

You won't be reading much about this in the mainstream press, because it doesn't involve Israel
A Middle Eastern government has announced that it is considering a plan to deport untold thousands of Palestinians from their homes, forcibly uprooting them and compelling them to leave.

It won't be the first time this government has threatened such a move – in fact, back in 1995, it carried out those threats, and sent numerous Palestinians packing.

But you won't be reading much about this in the mainstream press, nor will you hear nary a peep of protest from much of the left and its sympathizers over the cruelty and brutality of such a move.

And that's because the government in question – believe it or not – is Libya, which views this as a form of protest against the policies of the new Palestinian Authority (PA) government.

In fact, the PA is so concerned about the possible Libyan move, that PA Minister for refugee affairs Dr. Atef Adouan went public on the issue, telling the London-based newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi this, "We hope that the Libyan leadership will act wisely and with patience. Deporting the Palestinians from Libya would cause greater suffering to the Palestinian refugees."

Further proof, once again, of the cynical and manipulative manner in which the Arab states continue to exploit the issue of Palestinian refugees – and of the selective morality of those who criticize Israel on a regular basis.

Palestinian Finance Minister Admits Aid Money is Stolen

It is time for Israel and the West to stop propping up a corrupt Palestinian regime
If you read just one article this week about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, make sure it is the one that appeared the other day in the UK Sunday Telegraph.

Headlined "Palestinian minister admits aid millions lost", the article contains some astonishingly earnest admissions from the new Palestinian Finance Minister, Salam Fayyad, who admits that hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid has been siphoned off thanks to corruption and malfeasance.

After noting that some $700 million of aid has been sent to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since January of last year, the article states:

"Now, Palestinian Authority spending is out of control, salaries are being paid to workers who never turn up, and nobody can track where the money is going, according to Mr. Fayyad.
There was no way to be certain that aid was being used as intended, he admitted. "Please write this: no one can give donors that assurance. Why? Because the system is in a state of total disrepair."
Mr. Fayyad said incoming funds have been widely dispersed with no central authority to monitor them. Some have gone to people who do not appear on the Palestinian budget ledger. "Where is the control?" asked Mr. Fayyad. "It's gone. Where is all the transparency? It's gone."

This only confirms, of course, what many of us have been saying for some time now: that sending aid to the Palestinian Authority is a recipe for disaster. Instead of benefiting those it is intended to help, much of the money, as Mr. Fayyad pretty much admits, ends up lining the pockets of corrupt Palestinian officials.

Just another reason for Israel and the West to stop aiding the PA now. There is no reason to continue propping up the corrupt Palestinian regime.