Saturday, May 4, 2019

Palestinian Leaders and Inconvenient Truths

by Khaled Abu Toameh • May 4, 2019 at 5:00 am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas understood that he had made a grave error in calling out his Arab brothers for their tightfistedness. This was a massive mistake because his Arab brothers do not tolerate any form of criticism. For them, Abbas should only be criticizing Israel and the US.
This is the old Palestinian blame game: always make Israel or the U.S. appear responsible for the suffering you inflict on your own people.
Like most Palestinians, Abbas is well aware that the Arab states are no longer willing to serve as a cash machine for ingrates. Under the current circumstances, the Palestinians are more likely to succeed in cajoling money from duped Western donors than from their loving brothers. From the Palestinian leaders' point of view, however, this is an inconvenient truth best hidden from their people.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is well aware that the Arab states are no longer willing to serve as a cash machine for ingrates. Under the current circumstances, the Palestinians are more likely to succeed in cajoling money from duped Western donors than from their loving brothers. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

The Arab states continue to lie to the Palestinians. At the last meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the Arabs "affirmed their commitment to support the budget of the state of Palestine by activating the resolution of the Arab summit in Tunisia to provide a $100 million safety net [to the Palestinians] each month."

The Arab foreign ministers announced their decision after listening to a speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who complained that his government was facing a financial crisis because of Israeli and US measures.

Abbas was referring to Israel's decision to deduct payments made by the Palestinian Authority (PA) government to families of security prisoners and "martyrs" from tax revenues that Israel collects each month on behalf of the Palestinians.