Paying the bills

It was predictable that the EU would find some way to pay for the
Palestinians, the darlings of the liberal-left, rather than see them suffer.
They have been paid for from cradle to grave, total welfare support for 60
years, no wonder they lack any initiative. But all the billions paid before
have gone, so they are living from hand to mouth.
How can one can object to "humanitarian" aid that bypasses the Hamas
Government and goes directly to the Palestinian people? But, really is there
such a thing? The mechanism of funding the PA through Pres. Abbas has been
considered and rejected by the Quartet, since in effect that would be funding
one side in a very delicate power struggle. So this week the Quartet came up
with suggestions to pay the ca. 160,000 PA employees thru the World Bank
the IMF, or the UN. For the Palestinians nothing is impossible. But, how is
paying salaries "humanitarian" aid? I assumed such aid was for food, water
and basic supplies, not Government salaries, that really is a hidden payment
to Hamas, which will allow Hamas to continue to run the show.
At the same time Israeli companies that have been selling and delivering all
basic necessities, from bread to gasoline, are not being paid. The PA owes the
gas company ca. m$120, so they have discontinued deliveries. So immediately
the PA has run out of gasoline, although Israel continues to deliver water and
electricity, having taken the unpaid bills out of the tax revenues that have
not been paid to the PA since Hamas took over. But, Israel gets no thanks
for the delivery of these basic services to what amounts to an enemy country.
The spokesman in English for the Hamas Government criticized the Quartet for
not blaming Israel for the mess the PA is in. Of course, its Israel's
"occupation" that has caused this situation, not the PA's incompetence and
stupidity, even though Israel has withdrawn completely from Gaza.
Today, bowing to international pressure, the Olmert Government agreed to
restart paying the tax revenues to the PA, but only thru a mechanism that will
avoid the Hamas Government. How this will be done, and whether or not Israel
will cooperate with whatever mechanism the Quartet works out, remains to be
seen. But, the US, while softening its approach and giving m$10 for health
purposes, and the rest of the Quartet have announced that this aid will be
only for 3 months. If by that time, Hamas has not reversed its policies of
not recognizing Israel, not rejecting the use of violence and not accepting
previous PA agreements (such as the Road Map Plan), then the aid will be
stopped. At least that's what they say now. One can comfortably predict that
the EU will find ways to circumvent its own rules in order to keep paying for
the poor suffering Palestinians.