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Foreign aid to Palestinians will also benefit Israel, U.S. By TERRY HOUSHOLDER
The graffiti on the wall of a Palestinian refugee camp my
wife and I visited two weeks ago said it all. ''Fifty years under the tent.''
The slums we saw the refugees living in were in stark contrast
to the luxurious homes of a Jewish settlement we toured which
overlooks the city of Bethlehem. Thanks in part to billions of dollars of American foreign
aid over the last 50 years, life for most Israelis today is comfortable. Not so for the 1.6 million Palestinians living in the West
Bank and another 1.02 million existing in Gaza. That's why I was pleased to hear President Clinton announce
Monday that his administration will boost aid to the Palestinians.
Clinton said the United States intends to increase its contribution
by adding $400 million to the $100 million a year it plans to
donate over the next five years. The United States has contributed
$500 million since 1993. The announcement came at a conference in Washington aimed
at helping alleviate Palestinian poverty. Forty-two other nations
pledge more than $3 billion to the Palestinians. The president said a strong Palestinian economy would help
sustain peace. Clinton, who plans a trip to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
Dec. 12-15, says the new American money will be used to help
create jobs, provide education, and strengthen the legal system
for the Palestinians. The Palestinian people, including minority Christians with
whom we talked, are desperate for support. Their economy remains
weak and per capita income is falling. Unemployment is above
25 percent, higher than the Great Depression era in America.
And 23 percent of Palestinian families live below the poverty
line. The Palestinian economy has incurred setbacks in the last
five years because of the growing Apartheid system Israel has
inflicted upon the Palestinians. For example, farmland is confiscated by the Israelis from
the Palestinians to create roads for Jewish settlements in the
West Bank; the water supply is shut off, creating hardships;
and borders are sealed in reaction to terrorism attacks. That
severely limits access to jobs in Israel for tens of thousands
of Palestinian workers. Restrictions on people and goods leaving the West Bank has
caused an estimated loss of $3 billion to the Palestinian economy
since 1993. Aid to the Palestinians - if properly disbursed - will go
a long way toward stabilizing the area and assisting the Palestinians
in creating a new nation. The Wye, Maryland land-for-security
peace agreement reached in October between the Israelis and Palestinians
has set the stage for talks on the final peace deal which hopefully
will create a Palestinian homeland. Unfortunately corruption does exist among Palestinian officials.
A European Union report released Sunday said European aid intended
to provide cheap housing for Palestinians has been used to finance
$20 million in luxury apartments for rich supporters of Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The U.S. Congress passed a measure last year which prohibits
direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, which has faced other
financial scandals in the past. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright said Monday the American assistance will be controlled
by the United States Agency for International Development. That
will ensure that ''every dollar is accounted for,'' she said. (The United States Agency for International Development is
the independent government agency that provides economic development
and humanitarian assistance to advance U.S. economic and political
interests overseas.) Aid to the Palestinians will ultimately be good for Israel as well as the United States. It will promote stability in the region and will show the Arabs that the peace table is the best venue for resolving conflicts. |
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