What the Palestinians Want
by Khaled Abu
Toameh
May 4, 2012 at 5:00 am
May 4, 2012 at 5:00 am
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The
Palestinians want the US to endorse all their demands and force Israel to give
them everything. Palestinians are reminded almost every day that the US, which
has been providing them with billions of dollars, is a foe rather than a
friend, although no one seems to ask how come a foe is so generous. US aid
should be conditioned not only on transparency and accountability, but also on
an end to the campaign of hatred and incitement, as officially agreed in the
Oslo accords, but never implemented.
No matter how much the US tries to help the
Palestinians, it will always be viewed by many of them as an enemy.
Last week, President Barack Obama gave $147 million
to the Palestinians. A few days later, Palestinians demonstrated in Ramallah
against the US and boycotted a ceremony held by the US Consulate-General.
The protesters carried placards which read:
"USAID go out!" and "We reject aid from those who deny our
people the right to self-determination."
USAID is the leading provider of bilateral
development assistance to the Palestinians. This agency has given the
Palestinians more than $3.5 billion since 1994 for programs in the areas of
democracy and governance, education, health, humanitarian assistance, private
enterprise and water resources and infrastructure.
The demonstration in Ramallah was held outside
a hotel where US officials organized a ceremony marking World Press Freedom
Day.
Palestinian Authority policemen were deployed
outside the hotel to prevent angry demonstrators from disrupting the ceremony.
The protesters chanted slogans denouncing US
"bias" in favor of Israel. They accused the US of "covering
up" for Israeli "war crimes" and using blocking efforts against
the Palestinian leadership to seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state.
More than 20 Palestinian professional unions
and other organizations announced a boycott of the US-sponsored event for the
same reason.
Many Palestinian journalists who were invited
to cover the event also decided to stay away. Their representatives accused the
US of supporting Israel and working toward "normalizing" relations
between Israelis and Palestinians.
In a similar show of hostility, US diplomats
who visited Ramallah several months ago had shoes thrown at their vehicles.
As far as most Palestinians are concerned, the
"friend of my enemy is my enemy." Palestinians hate the US because of
its continued support for Israel. The Palestinians want the US to endorse all
their demands and force Israel to give them everything.
As one of the leaders of the demonstrators
explained, "The US will remain our enemy for as long as it does not fully
support the Palestinians."
US threats to veto Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas's statehood bid at the UN have only intensified anti-US
sentiments among the Palestinians.
The Americans can pour billions of dollars on
the Palestinians every year, but that won't change their hearts and minds,
especially toward the US. The same applies to the rest of the Arab world, where
the masses continue to strongly detest the US.
The $147 million that Obama released to the
Palestinians will probably help pay salaries of civil servants and improve
infrastructure in Palestinian cities and villages, but the aid will surely not
change the Palestinians' attitudes toward the US.
The anti-US sentiments are the direct result of
incitement by the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinians against the US.
Palestinians are reminded almost every day that the US, which has been
providing them with billions of dollars, as a foe rather than friend, although
no one seems to ask how come a foe is so generous.
US aid should be conditioned not only on transparency
and accountability in the Palestinian Authority, but also on an end to the
campaign of hatred and incitement, as officially agreed in the Oslo Accords,
but never implemented.
Related Topics: Khaled Abu
Toameh
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