Rajaraja Chola
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I am the author of this thread. I was looking at the news. Palestine have submitted documents to informally join the International Criminal Court (ICC). USA and Israel have threatened with major economic measures such as cutting of AID to Palestine Authority(PA).
I was like, WTH. USA and Israel were considered as the enemies of the Palestine and Muslims as a whole generally. They were even giving funds for the PA inspite of having such a negative image. So I did a little googling myself.
The numbers are the bit contrasting and shocking.
1. The USA as a whole have been providing some 500 million $ assistance as AID to the PA annually.
2. Israel, the enemy of Palestine, have been providing some 200m $ AID, along with some 150m$ tax receipts collected on behalf of the PA.
3. The EU have been providing around 300m$ annually. Norway provides 53m$ separately.
4. The Arab League, the highly rich nations of this world, provide a paltry 124m$.
5. Saudis, the thakedars of Islam, have funded around 600-700m$ since 2002 until now. My neighbour is not even in the donor list.
So the Islamic nations are just rallying around for the Palestinians cause for domestic consumptions?
The sheiks are building around Infrastructure for Billions in their countries, but are hesitant to provide a few millions to their own brethren( as they call Palestinians ). Why is the double standards? Publicly attacking the USA and Israel (which of course they are doing nothing to solve the problems) but internally backing off from even helping the people?
Whats the motive then? This false Brotherhood ?
Foreign aid and budget deficit
After the Oslo Accords and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PA) in 1994, economic growth declined in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and has not recuperated since then. Under previous Israeli control, economic growth was steady and rising among Palestinians. The alleged Israeli "occupation" could not be held responsible for that.[27] However, due to infested conditions in the territory it administers, the PA has received unprecedented financial support from the international community. According to the World Bank, US$ 929 million were given by the international community to the PA in 2001, $891 million in 2003 and $1.1 billion in 2005 (representing 53% of the budget in 2005). The main objectives are support to the budget, development aid and public health. In 2003, the US funded $224 million, the EU $187 million, the Arab League $124 million, Norway $53 million, the World Bank $50 million, the United Kingdom $43 million, Italy $40 million, and the last $170 million by others. According to the World Bank, the budget deficit was about $800 million in 2005, with nearly half of it financed by donors. "The PA's fiscal situation has become increasingly unsustainable mainly as a result of uncontrolled government consumption, in particular a rapidly increasing public sector wage bill, expanding social transfer schemes and rising net lending," said the World Bank report.
There are thousands of articles like this on net.
@sreekumar @hinduguy @Hindustani78 @Srinivas @Syama Ayas @Infinity @Kaniska @mujhaidind @acetophenol @Mike_Brando @Maravan @Lord Aizen @SarthakGanguly @Tshering22 @JanjaWeed @nair @Sidak @utraash @DRAY @BDforever @bongbang @Echo_419 @TejasMk3 @sathya @levina @Hiptullha @Oscar @Horus @Jf Thunder @haviZsultan @Zarvan and others....
My words may not be proper, but I do make my point
I was like, WTH. USA and Israel were considered as the enemies of the Palestine and Muslims as a whole generally. They were even giving funds for the PA inspite of having such a negative image. So I did a little googling myself.
The numbers are the bit contrasting and shocking.
1. The USA as a whole have been providing some 500 million $ assistance as AID to the PA annually.
2. Israel, the enemy of Palestine, have been providing some 200m $ AID, along with some 150m$ tax receipts collected on behalf of the PA.
3. The EU have been providing around 300m$ annually. Norway provides 53m$ separately.
4. The Arab League, the highly rich nations of this world, provide a paltry 124m$.
5. Saudis, the thakedars of Islam, have funded around 600-700m$ since 2002 until now. My neighbour is not even in the donor list.
So the Islamic nations are just rallying around for the Palestinians cause for domestic consumptions?
The sheiks are building around Infrastructure for Billions in their countries, but are hesitant to provide a few millions to their own brethren( as they call Palestinians ). Why is the double standards? Publicly attacking the USA and Israel (which of course they are doing nothing to solve the problems) but internally backing off from even helping the people?
Whats the motive then? This false Brotherhood ?
Foreign aid and budget deficit
After the Oslo Accords and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PA) in 1994, economic growth declined in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and has not recuperated since then. Under previous Israeli control, economic growth was steady and rising among Palestinians. The alleged Israeli "occupation" could not be held responsible for that.[27] However, due to infested conditions in the territory it administers, the PA has received unprecedented financial support from the international community. According to the World Bank, US$ 929 million were given by the international community to the PA in 2001, $891 million in 2003 and $1.1 billion in 2005 (representing 53% of the budget in 2005). The main objectives are support to the budget, development aid and public health. In 2003, the US funded $224 million, the EU $187 million, the Arab League $124 million, Norway $53 million, the World Bank $50 million, the United Kingdom $43 million, Italy $40 million, and the last $170 million by others. According to the World Bank, the budget deficit was about $800 million in 2005, with nearly half of it financed by donors. "The PA's fiscal situation has become increasingly unsustainable mainly as a result of uncontrolled government consumption, in particular a rapidly increasing public sector wage bill, expanding social transfer schemes and rising net lending," said the World Bank report.
In October, international donors gathered in Egypt and pledged $5.4 billion to help rebuild Gaza. The pledges far exceeded hopes; the Palestinians had expected to raise about $2 billion. So $5.4 really was a great success.
History, however, has taught us that the momentum generated during these conferences falls dramatically after donors return home. When it comes time to collect, the figures come tumbling down to only about 20%–25% of original pledges. In this case, that puts the money at substantially less than the originally anticipated sum. It’s not just the Palestinians who face this problem–Iran’s promises to Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia’s pledges to Egypt face the same fate.
Even public promises heralded in the Arabic media in response to pleas to open wallets and help those in need in the Arab and Muslim world to either rebuild their communities, resupply their coffers or to fight on behalf of their causes fall way short of fulfilling their commitments. Since the donor conference, almost no one has paid their pledges and those monies that did come in were for only a fraction of the promise.
Qatar promised $1 billion, the Saudis promised $500 million. Nothing has been delivered. Zero. This is not a surprise.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon (R) speaks during a press conference at the Gaza Donor Conference in Cairo on October 12, 2014. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Thus far, of the $5.4 billion pledged, only $100 million has been paid, according to a December 19 Reuters report. Those funds were paid by the United States and the European Union. That comes to about 2 percent of the pledges—and those were monies already in the pipeline to help Gaza. In addition, Israel has provided a huge amount of material aid and is permitting much needed supplies to enter Gaza. That, too, should not come as a surprise.
According to the plan, 50 percent of the pledged money was earmarked to rebuilding Gaza and the other half was to bolster the Palestinian economy. Obviously there is a problem giving the money to Hamas. And the Palestinian Authority has not yet devised a plan to distribute and supervise the materials and the monies properly. So right now the building supplies that have been delivered to Gaza from Israel are either in storage facilities waiting for proper supervision or they have been stolen from those facilities and Hamas is using them to rebuild destroyed tunnels and create new ones.
The only group that actually fulfills pledges made at donor conferences and that regularly pays those pledges on time is the United States. And that is the only reason that the United States still has influence in the region. All the defaulting and derelict pledges made by other, mostly Arab and Muslim countries, means that the value of US contributions increases tremendously. Because the US pays and pays on time, the recipient, which in this case is the Palestinians, cannot turn around and run to their friends in Russia or Iran or Qatar for help and simply cast off the United States. They can’t do it because they do not have other benefactors waiting in line. And so they must, graciously or not, accept the money the U.S. is offering and also accept all the strings that the US attaches to that money. nd the U.S. almost always attaches strings to money.
So do other countries. But at least the United States comes through on time with the funds. The others attach strings and if they pay at all, it is in drips and drabs. It is hard to run a government and balance a budget when the donations you are counting do not arrive on a regular basis.
There is a strong sense of giving in Islam as outlined in the Koran. One of the Five Pillars of Islam is Zakat, which has been translated as almsgiving. But Zakat really means to be pure and to grow. The idea is that when you give, when you donate, your wealth is purified and it will grow. Zakat in Islam demands that 2.5% of your wealth be given to charity. That is 2.5% after nisab, after your needs are covered. The Koran also requires that 5% to 10% of your harvest be given as Zakat. Zakat should not be confused with Sadaqa, which derives from the same root as the Hebrew word Tzedakah. In Arabic it means truth and honesty and In Hebrew it means righteousness. In Islam, Zakat is obligatory, Sadaqa is encouraged. Clearly the Arab leaders do not see the needs of the Palestinians of Gaza as one of the eight causes listed in the Koran that need Zakat, causes like the poor and the destitute.
The Palestinians have been given promises. It seems that the Christian world, in the guise of the United States, the EU and Israel, are the only countries fulfilling their obligations. The Arab world is leaving the Palestinians all alone.
Welcome to the Middle East.
Read more at Promises, Promises: The Arab World Stiffs Gaza, Violating Koran | New York Observer
There are thousands of articles like this on net.
@sreekumar @hinduguy @Hindustani78 @Srinivas @Syama Ayas @Infinity @Kaniska @mujhaidind @acetophenol @Mike_Brando @Maravan @Lord Aizen @SarthakGanguly @Tshering22 @JanjaWeed @nair @Sidak @utraash @DRAY @BDforever @bongbang @Echo_419 @TejasMk3 @sathya @levina @Hiptullha @Oscar @Horus @Jf Thunder @haviZsultan @Zarvan and others....
My words may not be proper, but I do make my point
