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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GST who wrote (25373)	4/15/2002 5:11:33 PM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Just a guess. Bad guess. Here's an interesting report from UNESCO concerning the Palestinian economy from '94 to '99. During that period, UNESCO donors committed to more than USD $4bn in funds to the Palestinian Authority, and actually delivered about USD $2.5 bn. During Madeline Albright's tenure as Secretary of State, she did get Netanyahu to release all of Israel's promised funds to the PA. I cannot determine the exact amounts yet, but they were substantial. Where did the money go? I suspect a lot of it was stolen, wasted, etc. With aid at the levels the PA got, it should have been able to do wonders in a small country such as Palestine. arts.mcgill.ca

To: GST who wrote (25373)	4/15/2002 5:30:58 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Perhaps because there weren't any? There were whole tax-sharing schemes worked out under Oslo. The Israelis stopped paying when the intifada broke out. For some reason, they objected to paying the salaries of men who were shooting at them. They still provide water and electricity to the West Bank. Just a guess. Everything I have seen about the living conditions of the Palestinians suggests that they are dirt poor and in receipt of little meaningful aid from the US The PA still (!) gets $100 million a year from the US, more than that from the EU, tons and tons of support from UNWRA, and the ICRC. Not the mention millions from the Gulf. Lots of really poor people in the world would be thrilled to get what they get. The Palestinians are poor because their ruling kleptocracy a) used the money to buy weapons, and b) stole the money. Certainly very little economic development went on under Oslo. Biggest West Bank industry (apart from now-defunct tourism) is construction: Arafat's cronies are building the Jewish settlements.