Last night, in response to my article about the Holy Land victory in Dallas, jihadists and propagandized “useful idiots” began flooding my site with semi-illiterate factoids and insults which border on anti-Semitism. Their rage is palpable. They blame all evil and human suffering on the (small case) “zionists.” Defenders have come forth too. Generally, their spelling and sentence structure are a lot better which suggests that indeed, ignorance remains a great enemy.
I have faced such self-righteous rage before, on campuses, at rallies, in meetings. Such people rarely listen to reason or to any other point of view nor are they ever swayed by facts.
But here are some facts anyway.
The Palestinian leaders, (not the people), are heavily funded by the entire world. The leaders siphon off the money for their own bank accounts, villas, and lifestyles while the people continue to suffer. Palestinian “handlers” manipulate the misery of the people and turn sad young men and women from impoverished and often fatherless families into homicide-suicide bombers.
By the way, the apt phrase, “sad young men,” is Dr. Anat Berko’s phrase. We met recently in New York. Dr. Berko is the author of The Path to Paradise. The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers. She is a Lt. Colonel in the Israeli Defense Force. However, she showed me photographs of a father, a grandfather, and a great-grandfather all wearing full Arab dress. The Iraqi government threw them out “like dogs, like Jews,” and confiscated their considerable properties and businesses. Yes, like so many Palestinian refugees, Dr. Berko’s parents still have keys to their homes and factories in Baghdad–but they have not run an elaborate con game on the entire world, they have not demanded perpetual aid and support, they have not hatched wildly unrealistic plans to return or even for compensation.
Now, if any Palestinian dares challenge Palestinian tyranny, they are killed or forced into exile.
There are literally only a handful of exceptions. Last year, a very genial gentleman, Bassam Eid, came to visit. He is a very brave Palestinian who founded the first organization to monitor Palestinian-on-Palestinian violence, including corruption, intimidation, censorship, lynching, etc. When I asked him about the oft-repeated accusation that Israelis are “humiliating Palestinians at the checkpoints,” he laughed. “Real humiliation, even danger, is what Palestinians face if they visit Cairo or other Arab capitals.” I asked him why he was still alive, was his family a very powerful one? Again, he laughed. That, indeed, was the only reason. Bassam Eid was in New York because Rabbis for Human Rights were honoring him. I wonder how often he’s been honored by Saudi or Iranian mullahs?
Indeed, I wonder how often the Saudi Princes and other Middle Eastern oil barons have funded educational opportunities for non-Muslims and non-Arabs? I ask, because in May, of 2008, the American mathematician, David Mumford, co-winner of the 2008 Wolf Foundation Prize in Mathematics, announced upon receiving the award that he will donate the money to Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah, and to Gisha, an Israeli organization that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement. Professor Mumford said:
“I decided to donate my share of the ($100,000.00) Wolf Prize to enable the academic community in occupied Palestine to survive and thrive. I am very grateful for the prize, but I believe that Palestinian students should have an opportunity to go elsewhere to acquire an education. Students in the West Bank and Gaza today do not have an opportunity to do that.”
Palestinian terrorists have benefited not only from altruistic westerners. The entire world (The United States, the United Nations, The European Union, The Saudi government, individual humanitarians), have literally poured billions upon billions of dollars into the disputed territories of Gaza and the West Bank. It has all mainly gone to buy weapons and into the pockets of corrupt leaders. Even when this is known, the world does not stop “helping” the Palestinians.
The free world is not un-informed. It has simply chosen to pay the Islamist-terrorist goons off in the hope that they will keep beating up on the Jewish state, (and on each other too), and keep out of London, Madrid, D.C., NYC–whoops! The payoffs didn’t exactly work, a rogue group of Islamists hit these cities anyway.
By now, the world also knows that the troubles, (the pogroms and Intifadas), may start with the Jews but it never, ever ends with us. Thus, the free world is desperately playing for time–while they cast about for a plan. The clock is ticking in terms of Iran’s plan to annihilate Israel with nuclear weaponry–but, people everywhere continue to dance, sit at cafes, lie on beaches, and shop–yes, given the economic meltdown, the sales are incredible.
For those who are open to facts, there are many floating out there in the universe. You can choose among American, European, and Middle Eastern sources. I’ve chosen one article and have summarized it. And yes, it is from a Zionist source which means that it can be trusted. The Israelis neither exaggerate nor lie, they don’t doctor photographs, sacrifice and hide behind children in battle, seek to dominate the entire world—and project their own criminal intentions onto another group.
Islamic terrorists, and those who support them with money, do that.
The Palestinians living inside the Palestinian Authority have been given far greater international financial support than most other suffering peoples. Since the signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993, the U.S. government has committed more than $1.3 billion in economic assistance to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Since the end of 2000, Arab states have transferred to the PA monthly financial aid of $45 million (since April 2002 this sum was increased to $55 million). The EU transfers to the PA approximately $9 million monthly. By the end of 2001, the Palestinians had received $4 billion (the figure is now closer to $5.5 billion) since the 1993 Oslo agreements. This is the equivalent of $1,330 per Palestinian.
By comparison, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II provided $272 per European (in today’s dollars). These PA revenues do not include the $8-14 billion in assets the Palestine Liberation Organization is believed to have accumulated over the years through drug trafficking, illegal arms dealing, money laundering, fraud, extortion, and legal investments.
In 1996, $326 million disappeared from the PA and the Palestinian Legislative Council established a commission to investigate the loss. The subsequent report concluded that nearly 40 percent of the PA’s $800 million budget had been lost through corruption and mismanagement. The PA’s comptroller wrote: “The overall picture is one of a Mafia-style government, where the main point of being in public office is to get rich quick.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member