Mere Rhetoric: How Much Did Palestinian Aid Increase After the Hamas Election?

So remember how the Palestinians - those peaceful and oppressed lambs of the international community - elected a genocidal government? And remember how that government was devoted to rolling back all of the agreements that had secured them billions in international aid per year? And remember how the international community said "well obviously, if you don't fulfill your obligations then you won't get the aid you were promised in exchange for fulfilling those obligations".

Liars:

International aid to the Palestinians grew from about $1 billion in 2005 to more than $1.2 billion in 2006, despite a boycott of the Hamas-led government, officials said Wednesday. Much of it was emergency aid from Europe, the United Nations and the Arab world that was funneled to people outside the government to ease a humanitarian crisis largely triggered by the international sanctions. As the world weighs whether to also shun the new Palestinian government, a coalition of Hamas and Fatah, critics say the sanctions have cost the donors more money while causing long-term damage to the Palestinian economy.

Honestly, we're out of diatribes. This is how it is. The Palestinians can be as open as they want about the shell game that they're playing. They can pocket a decade and a half of Israeli concessions and go right back to their open, pre-Oslo commitment to destroy Israel. And they will be rewarded with billions in aid.

References:* Report: Palestinian aid rises to $1.2 b. [JPost]

Previously:
* Not Content With Not Cutting Off Palestinian Aid, US Will Actually Increase Funding to Supporters of Terrorism
* Why "Humanitarian Aid" is a Myth (Or: the Definition of the Word Fungible)
* The Palestinian Deprivation Myth - Maybe If They Spent More Of Their Massive Aid Packages On Medicine and Less On Suicide Bombings...

About

Omri Ceren is a PhD student studying Rhetoric at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. He lives in downtown Los Angeles.
Email: omri@mererhetoric.com
IM: mererhetoricblog (AIM | ICQ | MSN | YIM | gTalk)
Skype: omriceren
Social Networking: Facebook | Friendster | Koolanoo | LinkedIn | MySpace | Twitter

Approbation