U.S. to transfer $200 million to Palestinians

[varelse]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1102682.html

The United States has transferred $200 million to the Palestinian government to help ease a growing budget deficit, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has been struggling in recent months to keep his government afloat, borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from commercial banks just to cover the public payroll.

The reasons for the shortfall include Israel's restrictions on the Palestinian economy, the border blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the failure of some donor countries to make good on their aid pledges, Fayyad said Friday, in a video conference with Clinton.

[timeforpeace]

1. Growing budget deficit. Man, that sounds familiar.

[MichiganVote]

2. Guess we'll have to have a war over settlements to get anything in Michigan

[varelse]

3. Our nation won that war long ago

it was a bloody, brutal victory - to our lasting shame. :(

[Scurrilous]

4. Eight US Congress members enter Gaza Strip

<snip>

"A delegation of eight US congressmen and women entered the Gaza Strip on Monday morning through the Erez crossing point between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip.

The head of the de facto governmental committee for hosting delegations, Hamdi Sha’ath, confirmed that the group had entered.

Sha’ath asserted that the delegation would visit destroyed buildings in the Strip and meet the director of UN operations in Gaza, John Ging, before they leave."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=214974